I normally am out and about every single weekend, travel to Germany a few times a year to see my family and take at least one big annual vacation abroad.

I live to travel, to see the world and have a good time with my friends and family. That is my aim in life.

Explore the world, learn about people, their culture, their way of life and spend some time with the people I care about and love. To push all negativity away from me, to be and stay positive and happy. That is also why Covid has not impacted me that much as I explained in my post Lockdown – A Glass Half Full Perspective.

I spend the first months of lockdown at home, but started to venture out again around the beginning of May to go for walks in my local parks and hikes in the countryside in my area.

At the beginning of August, I even started to venture out a bit further away from home around the UK and last week I decided it was time to see my family in Germany. I took another ferry with the car to the Netherlands and drove all the way to Berlin as flying was not an option for me. More to come on that in future posts.

The tips I put together are based on my own personal experience from my trip to the Isle of Wight, my day trips from the past months and my most recent trip to Germany.

I came up with these tips with social distancing and crowd avoidance in mind and hope they may be of use to some of you.

TIPS FOR TRAVELLING:

• Keep your face mask(s) with you at all times
• Take enough face masks with you when you are planning an overnight stay
• Keep a travel sized hand sanitiser with you
• Wet wipes will come in handy
• Wash your hands as often as you can and use hand sanitisers where they are provided
• Remember to avoid touching everything
• Travel off peak if possible
• Travel during the week and avoid weekends if you can
• If you fancy a meal in a pub or restaurant, book those in advance
• Prebook museum visits etc as indoor activities require you to show up at a specific time – they are timed entry
• If you have booked an activity for a specific time, make sure to really show up on time and do not be late
• Prepare your own meals to avoid restaurants if you are not comfortable being around too many people or eating indoors
• Outdoor activities will be more relaxed than indoor activities
• Go for walks and hikes – there are plenty of local once, look them up
• If possible avoid public transport
• Cycle or walk to places to also get some exercise in
• If you travel early in the morning or later in the evening, you avoid most of the crowd
• Opt for domestic travel – A Staycation
• Look up outdoor games you can do with kids
• If people get too close to you, ask or remind them politely to keep their distance
• Expect a different experience when visiting indoor sights and events eg. longer waiting times, queues, time pressure, less flexibility etc.

TIPS FOR TRAVELLING ABROAD:

• Have a look at your insurance to see if this covers anything Covid related
• Check if the country you (want) to travel to is on the “black list”
• Be aware that a country’s status can change any time so you might need to self isolate and quarantine when you come back home (happened to me – as of today I am in quarantine for 7 days, half way through)
• In the event of having to self isolate, make sure you have enough food and drinks at home for two weeks as you are not allowed to leave your home, possibly stock up on items such as cereal, milk, pulses, frozen fruits and veggies before you go on holiday
• Bring some food back from the country you visited if possible, if you have to self isolate and have no food at home to get you going for the first few days
• Instead of flying to Europe from the UK, try a ferry crossing or take the Channel Tunnel
• Be prepared to share your name, address details and telephone information when you travel to some European countries (for instance Germany) and want to eat out, yes even in McDonalds

Wow, that is a long list. Some of the points I mentioned might be obvious, but nonetheless they are worth repeating as it is about having a safe and hopefully good travel experience.

Have you travelled during Covid times?

Feel free to share any tips you came across that might be helpful!