I have had a lot of questions asked about flying during COVID so I thought I would write a post about my experience! First of all, I know that everyone has their own level of comfort with this pandemic and so one must always do what feels best for themselves and their situation. As we had already flown in April (from FL to NYC), we were not scared or anxious about flying and knew the airline protocols and practices. We felt confident in our ability to protect ourselves from germs and knew that we would be safe.
1. Wear Masks
It is required to wear a mask during the whole process of flying — boarding, on flight, and deplaning. And absolutely everyone adhered to that rule. You saw a whole variation of masks on the planes — some people also had the plastic shield on TOP of the masks, some people wore goggles, some had balaclavas and some people wore gloves. We simply wore our masks and that felt comfortable and good.
California loving. How can one not WANT to fly out here???? We didn’t wear masks on the beach but we were far from people.
2. Wipe your seats down with Clorox Wipes
This is now my third plane trip where I carry a huge tub of clorox wipes and literally wipe everything down. The seat, the seat belt, the windows, the arm rests, etc…EVERYTHING. And literally every other person on the flight did the same thing — it is not considered weird at all, and even if it were — to each their own! This is a virus and we need to protect ourselves.
Fewer people wear masks on the streets of LA than in NYC….but we went to get pizza and so we wore them. Plus, it’s sending out a message to society that we are in this together.
3. Bring your own food and water
We flew United and they offered a bag of water, pretzels, and alcohol wipes. We didn’t need them because we had our own water and we ate before the flight (in the car on the way to the airport) so we didn’t need to eat anything (even on our cross country flight). The flight attendants would not touch your garbage and you were required to throw your own discards away. The attendants also didn’t work much and spent most of the time in the back in their seats.
Tennis. I know this has nothing to do with flying, but I thought it was a fun picture that highlighted Cruzzie’s lack of tennis attire.
4. Encourage your kids to not touch the tray and watch their own devices
The fewer things you have to touch, the better for everyone. I know this is stating the obvious, but just to show you how few things we actually touched. It was literally our seat that we sat on that had been clorox wiped.
Traveling on bike is fun, too. And less risky than air travel….
5. Bring hand sanitizer
When we had to use the bathroom, we would wash our hands very well afterwards, and then using a paper towel, open the door handle, and disposed it in the garbage immediately. Once we sat down at the seats, we covered our hands with hand sanitizer just to be extra careful.
In n Out — only in CA and Cruzzie is a happy camper…I have a feeling we will be going back there again, soon!
6. Shower immediately after
Once we got to our destination (our incredibly generous friend’s gorgeous home), we showered and put our clothes in the laundry. Goodbye airplane germs! Hello, west coast!
I am loving all the LA food and we get take out from different restaurants for lunch and eat outside. It is all super fresh and delicious and I love it so much! Here is food from Gjusta — the sister restaurant of Gjelina, that I love so much.
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I know these tips are not rocket science and may not be helpful, but I honestly have never felt safer on a plane. The planes are incredibly clean, people are very considerate, there are waaaaaay fewer people, and everyone was respectful of each other’s space. I know that a lot of people look down on traveling during COVID — and everyone does what is best for them and their family. To me, it felt absolutely safe and clean, and worth it. If anyone has other tips or advice on traveling during this time, please share!
I’ve found that getting Clorox wipes is next to impossible here in Eugene.