Coronavirus Time For A Roadtrip?

This is the perfect time for a road trip, right? Besides, traffic should be light, and I could drive round trip from Miami to LA in 14 days. One of my favorite slogans is, "Do it now, tomorrow waits for no one."

A friend who was just furloughed for two weeks hopped in her car with her family and drove to Seattle to visit family she hadn't seen in years. When she visited her extended family, they would all wear masks and keep their distance in the backyard. She is staying in an Airbnb.

A number of online fitness instructors that I follow are leading their classes from getaways in the mountains or at the beaches where they have moved temporarily during the coronavirus epidemic.

And nowadays, with the spreading acceptance of remote work environments, workers don't have to be at home or an office to work or apply for jobs.

So I needed a plan to be minimize the risk of coronavirus contamination and fill this bucket. My mind was buzzing. Here was the plan:

• The only buildings that I would enter would be hotel rooms (except at check in), grocery stores, and gas station restrooms. I would not go into museums, restaurants, or amusement parks.
• The trip's goal was to see the changing American landscapes. From the rustic canyon's of the southwest, blazing Texas, swampy bayous, sunsets along the gulf coast, and reach the blue-green coastal waters of the Atlantic. 
• Food would be out of the ice chest for breakfast and lunch, with takeout or delivery for dinner.
• I would pack masks, gloves, sanitizer, and 14 changes of clothes.
• I would use disposable gloves at each gas station fill up.
• I would take my teenage sons since their schools are closed and my eldest could share driving duties.
• I would continue to apply for acting gigs and other jobs on my phone. If I landed an interview within the next two weeks (unlikely in the current environment), most places are conducting skype or zoom sessions I could do from anywhere.
• My wife could not go, but I think that she was looking forward to some peace and quiet after being locked in our apartment for 9 weeks with three grumpy boys - me included.

Doable plan right?

 Nope.

• Thirty minutes after I planned up this crazy idea, my eldest son walked out of his room with a big grin, "Dad my school opens tomorrow." There went my second driver.
• New Mexico is shut down to outsiders. Specifically, rentals to out-of-staters is prohibited. I would have to drive around the state or drive straight through without stopping - 9 hours from Phoenix to El Paso. With two drivers ok, just one, not so sure.
• Some states are only allowing first responders to stay in hotels. The Marriott in New Orleans told me today that recreational reservations will not be allowed until after June 1st, as long as nothing changes. 
• What finally closed the curtain was the weather. I am sure people from the South are laughing at me already. No, it was not the heat. It was the fact that the next two weeks are the height of tornado season in Texas and the South. I learned this after I looked at the 10-day weather forecast and saw heavy thunderstorms with hail and weather advisories every day next week throughout the South.

In conclusion, the coronavirus pandemic is not a good time for a road trip when rules and restrictions are changing daily and even the weather is telling you to stay home.

Would you still go?

Be safe and take care.

Posts Tuesdays and Saturdays