How Safe is travel in COVID era?

[Joe]

We have been traveling from Maryland. In Gettysburg Pen. Right now. We are older and retired. Not really worried about Covid. More worried about social unrest as they call it. We stay away from areas reportedly effected.

[avanti]

‎⁨Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park⁩, ⁨near Memphis⁩, last Monday:

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[yvairguy]

I was on the road when this stuff hit and was out the whole time until about a month ago. If you are taking precautions they would be no different if home or on the road. Everywhere that I went there were a lot of other people traveling. There was a lot of pressure on finding free camping and places to park.

The only caveat would be if you were to get sick, would you rather be home or on the road.

[sehsteve@gmail.com]

Here is my experience: my wife and I left Los Angesles at the end of August and returned home 14 states, and 19 days later, in early September. We only reserved two sites at the beginning of the trip and had no trouble finding places to stay including Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons. BTW we were not far from you as we spent a night in the Ozarks about 90 miles north of Branson. My doctor told me not to travel, as I am a cancer patient (71) but we went anyhow, loaded up with groceries so that we did not have to shop anywhere. Great trip. Saw family in the Ozarks and Indy. Safe travels.
2002 Roadtrek Popular 190

[wny-pat]

Just made reservations at a Florida State Park in this coming Florida. It appears that they are booking up like normal. Out of 100 campsites, there were only 2 left, so I did not get much choice.

[wny-pat]

Originally Posted by sehsteve@gmail.com

My doctor told me not to travel, as I am a cancer patient (71) but we went anyhow, loaded up with groceries so that we did not have to shop anywhere.
2002 Roadtrek Popular 190

Steve, Am a 73 year old lung cancer survivor (large left lobe and cancer removed), and have 3 additional conditions which make Covid an increased risk for me. We wear proper mask and practice social distancing. We avoid restaurants, except for takeout now and then. Travel into the city to go to the VA medical center to keep appointments as required. We did take a trip to NC to pickup our new to us RT210. Did stay at a couple motels during the trip. Am not doing anything stupid. But we miss RV traveling! Once I get the RT fixed up and mechanical issues taken care of, we will be able to safely travel again. Just remember, we have to live in a new normal. And not get complacent about how to use the protections available to us. I've got a good forgetter!

[sehsteve@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by parmm@atlanticbb.net

Steve, Am a 73 year old lung cancer survivor (large left lobe and cancer removed), and have 3 additional conditions which make Covid an increased risk for me. We wear proper mask and practice social distancing. We avoid restaurants, except for takeout now and then. Travel into the city to go to the VA medical center to keep appointments as required. We did take a trip to NC to pickup our new to us RT210. Did stay at a couple motels during the trip. Am not doing anything stupid. But we miss RV traveling! Once I get the RT fixed up and mechanical issues taken care of, we will be able to safely travel again. Just remember, we have to live in a new normal. And not get complacent about how to use the protections available to us. I've got a good forgetter!

Thanks for response and yes we are in a new normal and wisdom/caution is needed. Glad you are doing well. I hope all goes as planned with your new RT, Congrats and that sounds fun. I am have multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer, and grateful to be in remission at the moment. We are careful, wear masks, etc. and avoid indoor places. Our old RT was terrific for us to get away and see sights. Hoping to get away again soon.
Stay safe,
Stephen

[jimlongusa]

We left home August 21st for Colorado and then on to Montana in our Class B. We only went outside the coach for fuel and we took precautions with sanitizer, gloves, and masks etc. After 2 weeks in Montana, we headed to Philadelphia. We utilized curbside shopping whenever we needed food or supplies. Stayed mostly in KOA sites and none of them were filled up. Visited family and grandchildren. Had great time. Back home on Sept 21st. Final Talley was 5998 miles. Class B is a great way to travel..

[jimlongusa]

How do you like your Xplorer 230 XLW? We have the same model and year.

[vwmaniaman]

We have a trip planned to Cumberland Mountain State Park in Tennessee in October and a trip to Florida planned in November. We got back a month ago from Springfield Missouri. I too am 73 and in pretty good health as far as I know and we love traveling in our big B Coach House 272xl. Earlier we went to Yellowstone on our annual vacation in our Roadtrek Versatile. We have both worked hard all our lives and intend to really enjoy retirement. We wear masks when required but try to stay away from chatty folks too.

[Juliem]

We drove to the DC area from Illinois to visit our son. Everyone in the campgrounds (all National Forest) with rare exceptions, has been Wearing masks. We busted an axle in Virginia and will be camping in the dealership lot for about 10 days, everyone here is masked and very careful. My hands are raw from extra hand washing, but it’s fine.

[dodgeCoachmen]

We traveled from LA to Portsmouth, NH and then back again. Always wore our masks, carried hand sanitizer and always had our food to go if we had to eat out. Be careful and always be aware of your surroundings. Avoid people who don't wear masks or at least keep them away from you if you need to converse with them. I'm sure you guys will be alright if you follow the guidelines. You will loose nothing by being careful and possibly everything by being not.

Wanted to add that always bring Lysol spray or any disinfectant spray and paper towels when you go to a motel. Make sure you wipe all surfaces and check the beds to make sure that they replaced the sheets.

[Seniorflyer]

Our Class B RT210P has made a forgettable year a bit more memorable visiting grandkids scattered on the southeast USA over the last 4 months. Agree with many comments in thread. With precautions and awareness we say get out and enjoy.
We are not big on campgrounds so once in a while we hit the hotel but also creatively stay at military bases and off beat locations like Pro Bass (where they have overnight slots) etc.
I feel more threatened standing in line at Costco! BTW I also have traveled back and forth to NJ during my mom's last few weeks on earth and have been impressed with SWA-clean jets, middle seats not booked and fewer passengers than normal. Do not be afraid!

Safe travels all!

[Davydd]

We bought our first Class B for one of the express purposes of avoiding hotels and airlines forever domestically. We broke that vow flying to Washington DC a couple of times over the winter holidays to visit our daughter and family.

We can't avoid them when traveling overseas and have occasionally endured the petrie dishes of cruise ships and river boats.

[MountBranson]

Thanks so much, everyone, for the many replies and great advice! We have decided to do the trip as planned next month. I'll report on how it went afterwards.

[Doctor Old]

We are finishing up a month on the road from NC zig zagging our way to west coast and back. It’s been easy to manage the campsites and distance. Many are doing online or over the phone so one less personal encounter. We have stayed in everything from state parks to private luxury campgrounds. Only time we have had trouble getting spots is on weekends (and Labor Day) but we always end up with a decent spot. We booked our places one day at a time. For us, the campgrounds are secondary and the places we visit are primary. Stay away from the popular, well-known parks. We bought an annual National park pass and have more than gotten our money’s worth going to the lesser known parks. We actually got tested for COVID-19 at Albertsons in Idaho and we came up negative so it’s possible to see much of the US and stay healthy. Masks, wipes, Lysol spray and stay distant. Not always fun but not that hard.

[anwiteain]

I didn't venture too far out during the pandemic, but I often went camping with friends somewhere in the woods. Usually, my days were just spent at home, or I went out to have fun where there weren't too many people. Also, my friends and I visited a lot of historic restaurants from https://www.westgateresorts.com/blog/10-historical-nyc-restaurants/ and were thrilled. I didn't know we had such places until I read about them in this article. It was delicious and a new experience for all of us. We were excited. I want to find more places like this.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by yvairguy

The only caveat would be if you were to get sick, would you rather be home or on the road.

I don’t worry about getting sick to make a decision to travel or not. I had a stroke in Letchworth SP in upstate NY and survived a 58 mile ambulance ride to Buffalo General Hospital where I had a four day stay before heading home to Minnesota.

On our last trip out west we got our COVID booster shot early before heading out September 3rd. Traveling in a Class B makes you isolated for the most part from interacting with other people. When we ate in a restaurant we chose only ones with outside patios and in non-busy off hours. We made it as far as Yellowstone NP where we spent three days in the park before I came down with shingles. The classic blister rash from stomach arcing to my back on the right side. The park was still busy a full week after Labor Day. All campgrounds were full. Once again we cut our trip short on September 14 and immediately headed to Cody, WY where we got the last campground site in Buffalo Bill state park outside Cody. The next day we got as far as the Missouri River in South Dakota to West Whitlock Recreational Center where only 4 sites out of 100 were occupied when we rolled in around 6 PM. Then we headed home. I had a full blown case of shingles and I have been down for a month. Our original plans were getting home about now. Pain was a 10 but I got my flu shot yesterday.

We would like to make a trip to Minnesota’s north shore for a few days before closing down. The shingle blisters and rash are clearing up but the nerve pain is still there. I had my doctor’s visit yesterday and he said the nerve pain can linger up to two years in some people. Wowza! I can’t get the shingrex vaccine shot for at least a year now. I was scheduled for it March 2020 and COVID shut everything down and was cancelled. Stress, an injury event or high altitude can cause shingles to come alive. I definitely assumed I had stress with a new RV and the crowds everywhere and I was in high altitude of 7,000 feet or more. I asked if getting the booster shot could cause it. There is no definitive proof of that but it does provoke your immune system into activity.

It was clear that COVID drove people to RVing as an alternative and #vanlife was a big driver of it. I once went to Yellowstone in 1988 for a conference and it was empty the weekend after Labor Day at Old Faithful except for some bus tours of mostly foreigners. This trip one had to search for a parking spot in a parking lot after 10 AM or go to an overflow outlot. I appreciated my decision to downsize to a less than 20 foot Sprinter. I had few problems and would have been frustrated with my former extended body 24 foot Sprinter. There were many vans in proportion to other RVs in Yellowstone than I have ever seen before.

[Rocinante]

So, as fully vaccinated careful travelers who wear masks, social distance, etc., we have been able to travel / camp with our van this year without difficulty. We spent three months on the road from late May through late-August, and just returned from another two-week camping trip. So far, we've been fortunate, but I will again emphasize that we are fully vaccinated, we are careful, we wear masks when we're indoors or close to anyone outside our bubble, and we social distance. If we eat at a restaurant, we only do so outdoors. If the restaurant has no outdoor tables, we eat somewhere else. Sometimes, we get takeout and eat it in the van while parked nearby so the food is fresh and hot when we eat it.

[Davydd]

Update. We traveled again in January/February to Texas and South Padre Island and the border to Del Rio and back home. We mostly isolated and social distanced the whole time and spent a great deal of time outdoors.

We got our fourth shot a second booster in April and headed out for a month long trip. This time we attended an RV get together in Eureka Springs, AR and spent a lot of time because of rain in a community room with 20 to 30 other people.

Then we went to ARV Fest in Willoughby, OH with some 50 or Class Bs in attendance and perhaps mingled with 150 people for a few days, having meals and seminars indoors.

Lastly we culminated our trip attending the Indy 500 Race with some 300,000 people and saw just one mask wearer on leaving the race.

The whole trip I had in pursuing 8 new breaded tenderloin sandwiches in restaurants. That's one of my hobbies in creating a group on Facebook 13 years ago that now has 66,000 members. We didn't avoid restaurants this trip.

We didn't catch Covid. I felt I had been courting disaster though considering Covid numbers haven't subsided but symptoms have. After shingles, BTW, I still have some long term nerve damage pain, I feel we need to go on with our lives.