With the holidays right around the corner means hectic traveling back home is too. However, traveling home for the holidays might be a little more stressful, even scary, in a Covid-19 world. With cases going up everyday and the fear of our country going back into lockdown, a lot of students are stressed about how they’re going to get home and how the traveling process is going to be, but have no fear, I’m here to share the best tips to travel back home safely this holiday season!
- Wear a mask all the time
I know this might sound a little obvious, but wearing a mask 24/7 while traveling is crucial to keeping you and everyone around you safe. While a lot of people still don’t understand the importance of wearing a mask, keeping your mask at all times (unless you’re eating or drinking of course) can truly help in the prevention of spreading not only Covid, but other illnesses too. And if you need to take your mask off to drink your venti iced coffee before your flight, I recommend making sure you’re far away from other flyers or staying in designated eating areas rather than eating at the gate!
While it might be hard to constantly wash your hands on the Greyhound or while you go through TSA, keeping a travel size hand sanitizer on you will be a lifesaver, just make sure it’s 100% under 3 fluid ounces! I recommend that after you go through security or touch anything in the station or airport sanitize as soon as you can because if you’re anything like me, traveling turns you into a frazzled mess who forgets about anything and everything until you get on the plane!
Jumping off my last point, sanitizing everything you can will give you such a sense of peace while traveling. I used to laugh at my mom when she would wipe down our airplane seats before we’d sit on them, but now I see where she was coming from. Flight attendants claim that airplanes hardly ever get deeply cleaned (hopefully that’s changed due to Covid) so bringing some disinfectant wipes and cleaning off your seat before sitting will definitely ensure a cleaner environment while you travel!
Even if you don’t feel sick, I recommend taking allergy medicine, vitamin C or even cold/flu medicine before your flight to help boost your immune system before you travel. Traveling via plane, train or bus means being confined to small spaces for long periods of time and while it might not prevent illnesses, boosting your immune system before being exposed to unknown illnesses will definitely help out!
5. Check travel guidelines before you leave
Take your temperature, get tested and see what your specific traveling company has set up for Covid-19 guidelines before you get all packed and leave. Nothing is worse than getting to the airport, checking in your luggage and getting to TSA only to get turned away because of something you didn’t check beforehand!