Symposia Medicus Office Manager and Conference Planner Alexandria Morales shares her travel experience during COVID-19.
In the midst of COVID-19, summer break was in full swing. However, while the rest of the world was putting operations on hold, no one told my 7-year-old daughter to stop growing up. We did not want her to miss out on creating more childhood memories, plus taking a family trip in the summer was an annual tradition.
This year, it took a little extra planning and patience, but we ended up having a safe, fun, and memorable vacation driving an RV up the California and Oregon coasts.
Using an RV checked off a lot of boxes on our list of criteria to make traveling as safe as possible. We could have our own bathroom, living area, and kitchen as well as our own outdoor space –away from other families. It was the perfect way to “shelter-in-place” while getting away.
My husband and I have never rented an RV before, although it has always been on the family’s bucket list. Including the nightly fee, taxes, insurance, mileage, and propane costs, the average rate to rent the RV was about $300 per day. That’s about what you would pay for a week’s vacation at a destination resort –only we didn’t have to pay for airfare per person! Best of all: we knew exactly how sanitized our transportation, sleeping accommodations, and eating facilities were for the entire trip.
We drove up Highway 101 along the California coast. It was a little winding in the RV, but it was an incredible experience. Between the rocky ocean shore and majestic redwood forests, the views were breathtaking.
We stopped at the Trees of Mystery in Klamath, California. They had great outdoor trails to go through and see all these amazing, still growing redwood trees. It was great because even though other people were around, it was easy to practice social distancing. We also took a gondola ride up to the top of Ted’s Ridge to take in the view of the treetops and Pacific Ocean. The property was stringent about social distancing and sanitation by spraying the gondola with disinfectants after each family and requiring masks in the bathrooms and store.
Our RV site at Coos Bay, Oregon was beachfront bliss. We had our own big space for the kids to run around and the beach nearby to play in the sand. It was a great two days to ourselves and we barely saw any other guests.
We then moved on to Seal Cove, Oregon. We walked from our RV site along a beach trail that led to Seal Cove Bay. It was an amazing ocean site with lots of crabs and space for the children to run and play in the ocean. We let the crabs get near, but we still did plenty of distancing from other vacationing families!
We stayed at a few more places in Oregon and drove another route home back to California. Everyone agreed that it was an excellent vacation and welcomed the change of pace. After being in the house for over three months, the trip was a breath of fresh air – and not just because we were camping and breathing in a lot of fresh air.
Most of all: the trip was safe. The kids had a blast traveling in the RV (they called it the “House on Wheels”) and had slumber parties with movies and popcorn. The adults could enjoy early and late night conversations by the fire.
Summer Vacation Trip 2020 could have easily not happened, but with a little extra planning and flexibility, it turned into one of the best family trips ever. I think renting an RV is a great experience that every family should try out at least once. Some may not like the “House on Wheels” and prefer hotels with housekeeping and room service. Others may love it and end up investing in their own RV. I would encourage everyone to try it first rather than not try anything at all.