COVID-19

Pushed by a bizarre set of circumstances I’ve been on the road for the past five days; these are very strange days in which to travel, and I thought it’d be worthwhile to share a couple of quick observations.

The full story is immaterial, but to provide a bit of background, last week it became clear that I needed to procure some documents in storage in the suburb of a large city in the Pacific Northwest. Reflexly I attempted to arrange a direct flight out of DFW, and was thwarted on essentially every attempt with regard to local regulations imposed by the destination regional airport options and the communities in which they were based. The only viable option evolved to driving, which would / has involved basically traversing half the country in a mater of days by car.

My personal status of having recovered quite successfully from a dalliance with COVID-19 made me a bit more comfortable with travel-related exposures, though the decision was one my lovely wife and I pondered carefully.

Three quick observations (and I do mean anecdotal, personal observations) of note, and it goes without saying that conditions, risks, and restrictions vary MARKEDLY from state to state.

Food on the Road. In states more tightly locked down, food options in terms of accessing prepared, restaurant foods travelers are accustomed to seeking out largely don’t exist. I noted even fast-food type establishments that primarily serve drive-through menus were not consistently open, and when available (Laramie, WY for example) restaurant seating and service was able but limited.

My circumstances were a bit unique, in that in the few weeks prior I’d pre-planned a push into a 3-month run of fairly tight nutritional ketosis, therefore I packed 90% or more of my food into our trusty cooler and have thrived on a one meal per day approach, with excellent energy, endurance, and mental acuity/clarity.

I’ve outlined some of our favorite road trip foods here and here.

Fuel on the Road. Despite some reports to the contrary from friends, there’s been no difficulty whatsoever finding fuel along major travel routes, at what – from a historical perspective – are damned inexpensive prices.

Interestingly, only one fuel system (Costco) appears committed to cleaning pumps between users (and not consistently from store to store), therefore personally I took the highest level precautions (gloves, meticulous sanitation after) whenever stopping to refuel.

Lodging on the road. Relative risk to a traveler seeking lodging is all over the map when it comes to lodging; after some research I chose to seek out a chain with at least the highest level standards of cleaning and resting rooms (do your homework) as per their articulated plans, and found rooms spotless every time. It’s also incredibly easy to carry sanitizing wipes in and wipe down every surface you will touch, a likely unnecessary precaution but one I chose to exercise every time.

Overall, I’ve noted via observed traffic and lodging demands that travel remains, pending the region, MARKEDLY reduced.

Caveat emptor as you get out and about.

Images: Entering the Columbia River Gorge above and New Mexico vista below.