We are coming up on March 2021, and the world is still in the grips of the ongoing health crisis. While many of us are still doing our part to keep ourselves and others safe — wearing masks, not spending extended time with people outside of our homes, and washing our hands frequently to avoid spreading the virus — a lot of us are also feeling a tremendous amount of virus fatigue. Even with all of the tremendously important health information to keep in mind, it's only human to want to get out and experience the world around us.
Luckily, there are still plenty of ways to take family trips and be safe. Last summer, I packed up my kid and joined my friend and her daughters on a road trip out of state. Since then, my son and I have gone to the beach twice — once in October, and again in February. It turns out that there are plenty of ways to have fun together even now, and that can be true even during spring break.
Spring Break 2021: Hotels vs. Airbnbs
In normal times, my son and I are pretty frequent travelers. We love visiting places that are new to us, and we just as happily can return to the same spots over and over again. Spending so much time at home has been odd for us, and when I started thinking about traveling again, my first question was about where we would stay.
For starters, I just wondered which is safer right now: hotels or Airbnbs? Honestly, each choice has a few things to consider:
- Can you use a lockbox to access your keys, or do you have to meet with a person?
- Are you staying in a standalone unit, or is your room/Airbnb next to others (in an apartment building, for example)?
- What are the cleaning procedures for the place you're interested in?
We have tried out both since we began traveling again during the health crisis, and have felt really safe each time. Most recently, we decided to take a beach trip to Panama City Beach. February is the off-season, so I anticipated that we wouldn't be risking spending too much time around others (and I was right). But after completing the trip, I feel like we could have gone just about any time of the year (maybe not peak summer) and been OK.
Our Experience in a Hotel During the Health Crisis
For this trip, we ended up checking out the Osprey on the Gulf/Driftwood Lodge on the Gulf hotel by Gilmore Resorts. The team was happy to answer questions before our arrival, and everyone was masked up when we checked in. The process does involve interacting with other people, but they've installed a plastic partition in front of the desk to minimize germ spread. I spent a few minutes signing forms and receiving our wristbands (which were sanitized and also served as room keys), and we headed toward our room.
When we visited, there were only a handful of other people there, which was pretty ideal. The staff was entirely masked up, and other guests that we happened to walk by were great about pulling up their masks when we got close-ish to each other.
The cleaning staff did come by every day, but I just popped on a mask and told them we didn't need anything — I felt much more secure just letting them clean everything once we had left for good. Our room was great for the two of us, and we really loved having the option to buy groceries and cook right there. The hotel has heated pools and is right on the beach — which is always, always the way to go!
How To Make Sure Your Beach Trip Is Safe
First and foremost, I am by no means a medical and/or health professional — I cannot and will not offer medical or health advice. But if you're looking for practical tips for enjoying the beach during the health crisis, I can tell you what we did:
- Avoid traveling during the peak season if possible.
- If not, make sure you're truly distancing from others on the beach, and avoid going out during the most crowded parts of the day. My son and I love the beach in the morning before everyone else starts to come out, and there's nothing quite like enjoying the sunset after most families have already gone in for the day.
- Order food to go, or have it delivered if possible. If you have a kitchen in your room, consider swinging by a grocery store and making your own food.
- We didn't wear our masks on the beach because literally no one was around us, but we had them available if we needed them. When we went to the beach in October, we wore masks on the beach whenever another group or individual was within 12 to 15 feet as a precaution.
Other Spring Break Ideas: Airboat Tours
The second half of our trip was in Orlando, Florida, and I found Kissimmee Swamp Tours while looking up different things we might be able to do. I was super intrigued, especially since the tours are on the Everglades and each trip is restricted to your party only, so you're only on the boat with the people you're traveling with and the boat's driver.
The swamp tour ended up being one of our favorite things we have done ever — I am truly not exaggerating in the slightest. Both my son and I had only seen airboats in documentaries, and we had no idea what the experience of riding on one would really be like.
We kept our masks on for the duration of our one-hour tour, but I could understand how other people might feel differently about whether or not that was necessary. For us, it came down to the fact that we were joined by a driver who wasn't traveling with us — wearing a mask felt like the thing to do.
I also realize this tour is localized to the Orlando area, but airboat tours are available all over the US near lakes, rivers, and even oceans! It was a really special experience to be part of, and it was wonderful to be able to take my wildlife-obsessed son on the tour as well. We saw alligators (even little babies!), a multitude of birds, and so much amazing vegetation, and our driver happily told us stories about different animals who live in the swamp and identified the various types of birds that we encountered.
The airboat itself is pretty loud, but Kissimmee Swamp Tours gives everyone a headset and walkie-talkie that make it easy to talk to each other and to the boat operator. We mostly spent a lot of time talking out loud (even though we couldn't hear each other) and pointing at different birds and alligators, and our guide was great about stopping to tell us stories or point out a particularly giant alligator (like the one above).
We spent the rest of our Orlando trip at an Airbnb that had its own pool (highly recommend) and were even daring enough to brave a few hours at Universal Studios. If you want to know more about how that particular experience went (spoiler: it was way better than expected!), you can check it out right here.
