As a professional travel advisor, it will be no surprise to you when I share that the need to travel is part of my DNA. From a young age, I have been a wanderer, first with my parents, then as a single young woman, and now I have the pleasure of sharing the joy with my own family. If I do not have a scheduled trip on my calendar somewhere, I may go into a state of mental desperation (haha).

So, armed with a lot of good information, and taking all the necessary and recommended precautions, I set off to travel just as soon as I was able. I know this choice is not for everyone, and I definitely respect that everyone has different levels of comfort with being in public right now: some are high risk, or live with high risk individuals, and some are simply risk adverse. I happen to fall into the category of “As soon as I can travel, I will”.

I am presently self-quarantining from my home in Vermont. Over the past 4 weeks, I traveled from Vermont to Florida, and from Vermont to Colorado. I want to share with you my own experience with each and the good, the bad, and the ugly about it.

PLEASE NOTE: I AM NOT TELLING YOU TO TRAVEL OR NOT TRAVEL. THIS IS SIMPLY ONE PERSON’S EXPERIENCE TRAVELING OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS. YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!

FLORIDA

THE FLIGHT: Not all airlines are proceeding with the same caution. Some are choosing to fly at full capacity while others are committed to reduced capacities and only sell the middle seat when the person is traveling with the others in the row. As your travel advisor, I can help you navigate the different companies and what they are doing. We chose to fly JET BLUE, one of the airlines committed to safe measures of distancing and reduced capacities.

*** I’ve said this before, but would like to repeat, air on a plane is recirculated several times per minute thru hospital grade HEPA filters. ***

Walking towards our gate at Bradley Airport

The airport was not empty by any means, there are people traveling. You are not permitted in the airport anywhere without a mask. On security lines, people were standing 6’ apart. Most food outlets were closed, so be prepared for that.

Aboard our Jet Blue flight, middle seats are only used when people are traveling together. My son is behind me in the middle seat.

Boarding was very calm and organized. In the past, people hovered for their rows to be called. Today, people are remaining seated, and apart, until the row is called. They board the plane from back to front. It was extremely efficient. You cannot board the plane without a mask.

Upon boarding, there was a faint but noticeable smell that our cabin had just been cleaned. They also hand you sanitizing wipes as you board, which you can use to wipe down your area. Our flight was probably at about 60% capacity with middle seats empty. There was no one in the row in front of us and in the photo, the people you see near me are my family. The airlines are not serving any hot food. Instead, we received a prepackaged snack pack that they often sell on board. Drinks were served and Ice was offered.

THE HOTEL: The purpose of our trip, which has been long planned, was for our family to get our scuba certification over a 4 day course. Thus, we chose to stay the Disney Vero Beach Resort and Spa. The hotel told me that they were at full capacity, which did surprise me because it did not feel this way. We were checked in to our room outside, while we waited in our car. The cast member who helped us was masked and gloved. Once we parked our car, we saw signs that told us only 2 people were allowed on the elevator at a time, or 4 if you were all part of the same party. There was hand sanitizer and wipes by the elevator. We are a family of 5 so we took two separate trips to get to our room.

Our room was clean and neat, and smelled sanitized as well, but I did wipe down the lamps, phone, remote, and other “high traffic” areas just to be cautious.

Masks are required in all public spaces at the hotel, and this is well enforced. Only once did I see 4 college aged kids walk by me outside without masks. There is hand sanitizer and wipes at every entrance and exit to the hotel.

The Beach at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort and Spa

The pool and beach were well organized. To sit at the pool, you had to wait to be seated as the areas were already separated by 6’. This was a mild inconvenience, but again, a good safety measure. If you wanted to swim, no mask was required in the pool. The beach was similar, you have to make a reservation for chairs, and all the chairs and cabanas are preset to be socially distant.

The Spa was closed.

Dining at the hotel was equally organized and cautious. At the lunch grill, no refillable drinks were allowed to be touched by anyone but the drink owner. So if you have a refillable cup? The cast member fills the drink of choice in a paper cup and you can pour it in your refillable cup. Anytime someone opened the entrance or exit, a cast member wiped the door down. People were socially distant both inside the commissary and by the tables.

At the restaurant, tables were limited and about 10’ apart. Disposable paper menus were used so the could not be touched by others. The servers wore gloves and masks. We were required to wear masks until we were seated at our table. Room service is also an option at this hotel.

Activities and being in public: Vero Beach is in Indian River County, next to Palm Beach county (a known hot spot). The only activities we did aside from being at the hotel was scuba lessons. We booked private lessons only so we did not have to be with other people. Our instructor is covid tested on a regular basis. All the equipment in the store is sanitized if you touch it (like if you were shopping for goggles). The dive boat crew remained masked the whole time as well, unless we were diving.

We did dine out several times, and the same precautions were observed everywhere I went. I was surprised that everyone we saw while we were out wore masks, as that is not always the case where I live. I frequently saw staff force people to wear a mask if it was around their neck or not on their nose properly. When walking outside, masks were not required but when we were downtown, there were very few people. We took them off here for the photo.

Our flight home was equally as enjoyable. I did, however, observe one person not wearing a mask at the gate, and several others did not have them over their nose. I was quite far from these people so, while disappointed, did not feel unsafe at any point. I do not think the Orlando airport did as good a job of enforcing masks as they did at Bradley and wrote them to tell them so.

All in all, I conclude that we made the right choice by going. My family quarantined properly when we returned home and none of us contracted Covid while in Florida. Again, this is MY PERSONAL experience only.

COLORADO

After the proper time in quarantine, my youngest son and I headed off to Colorado. My son is a competitive snowboarder and usually trains a lot during the summer. This summer, most of his training was cancelled, so we decided to enroll him at the Woodward Copper Snow Park camp at Copper Mountain, Colorado. Our family has frequented Copper once a year for the last 5 years as they host Snowboard Nationals, so we are familiar with the area and the Woodward park. We were joined by another family from Connecticut.

Flight: This time I flew from Newark to Denver on United. United, unfortunately, is filling their flights to capacity (when they can). Knowing this, I booked us in 1st class so we would not be seated with other people. Newark airport was a ghost town, and like Hartford, there were very few choices for snack or beverages. People were respectful, masked, and socially distant in the airport. The flight boarded from front to back and was a very pleasant process.

Aboard the plane, which was at about 75% capacity in my estimate, drinks were served and snacks were handed out in prepackaged boxes. Sanitary wipes were handed out as we boarded to wipe our own areas down.

Upon arrival in Denver, the airport was sadly empty. I say sadly because it is such a stark reminder of the sad state our country is in right now with this virus. We got our luggage without any problems, and rented a car from Silver Car, one of my top two favorite car rental companies (Midway in LA is my other) I like renting from them, because you scan a code on the car with an app, and you are off. There is no interaction with any people when you rent from them, you always get an Audi, and their pricing is excellent.

We rented a condo from Copper Mountain and everything there was clean and fine. The hot tub and pools were all closed here. When in the town of Frisco, people were required to wear masks inside, and people were extremely compliant.

ACTIVITIES

Sumner Orr enjoying the park at Woodward Copper

Snowboarding: My son went to Woodward Snowboard camp for 6 days. This was extremely well organized. My temperature was taken at drop off, as was Sumner’s. Masks were always required for the campers to be worn , except when eating, and the size of the camp was reduced from 150 kids to just 50. Frankly, with so fewer kids, the experience was better than we could have imagined. My son was with a private coach almost every day, even though I paid for group.

Cycling in Colorado is a perfect activity, cool temps in the 70s with low humidity!

Cycling: I went biking three times while in Colorado. The first time we rented from a company in downtown Frisco. Everyone wore masks and the bikes were wiped down before they were given to us. We cycled for several miles to a bike park, where cabanas were set up for shade, very distant from each other. All the kids wore masks that were in the park, and stayed distant from each other. The second and third rentals were from Copper Mountain. No more than 8 people were allowed in the rental area at a time and people were required to be masked and socially distant. The Bikes were sanitized prior and after we used them. There is a shortage of bikes because they must wait 48 hours before re-renting a bike.

Taking a break from snowboarding, these kids also enjoyed golfing in the Rockies!

Golfing: Again, everything sanitized and socially distant. The kids rented clubs, which were sprayed down. The Golf carts were also sprayed down. Because tee times are spread apart, we were not near anyone else for any of the holes.

Enjoying smoothies and iced tea after a bike ride in downtown Frisco

Dining: Diners were not permitted into a premise without masks. People are seated very far apart. Also, there are no menus. There are QR codes at each table, so you scan them and the menu pops up on your smart phone. I thought this to be extremely clever and hope to see it even post-covid!

Hiking: No risks here, didn’t see anyone and when we did, they were far away. We also visited RED ROCKS, and everyone here was masked or socially distant as we were outside.

Mountain Rider: This is like a down hill manual roller coaster, many ski mountains have them in the summer. All employees wore masks and each coaster was wiped down after use. There were markers on the ground for people to stand on line, but since there was no crowd, that was not a concern.

The flight home was super. United had to change the equipment last minute, so rather than their typical first class with wider seats and elevated service, were flew on a 787 with their Polaris class, which meant my son and I had our own cubicles with flat lying chairs, and we basically napped the whole flight home. There was no one seated near us at all. We only had 80 passengers on the entire plane. The airport, again, was a ghost town. There were a few fast food venues and cafes open, more so than in the East Coast airports.

CONCLUSION

Traveling now is quite different, and in many ways, I found them to be improved. I will even go far to say that I think this is an EXCELLENT time to travel as there are NO CROWDS!! It’s amazing, we felt like we had the world to ourselves in both instances. Flying was dreamy, planes clean and efficient. Hotels and activities took extraordinary precautions to sanitize and observe the recommended measures for the public. The camp had 1/3 of the kids which made it a great experience.

If you chose to travel now, you must manage your expectations and be flexible. You may have to wait extra time for an elevator, you will have to wear a mask everywhere you go (which you probably do when you leave your home), food options are more limited. You will leave your room from time and time, and then say, “oops, I left my mask in the room”, and have to go back. You may have to wait to be seated at a pool or beach. But for this traveler? These were minor inconveniences in exchange for the privilege of traveling.

MY EXPERIENCE TRAVELING THIS PAST MONTH

FLORIDA

COLORADO

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