[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Friends,

Hate to be "that covid" guy. Once again, this post is my humble submission for those who are curious about taking precautions for covid and yet wish to travel.Attachment 2053687

Update - I attended a grih pravesh with my 75 year old mom and invested a full day chaperoning her non stop. I hope that my tips may help some of you as well. Ideally parents should only vacation but not socialize but if they wish to - please apply hotel like protocols!
a. Get them a nice fabric breathable (camric/voil) mask with NOSE clip - else the cute fabric mask will fall to the chin when they start speaking and become a nazar suraksha kavach!
b. Get a UVC air purifier to use when they socialize indoors and make this a non-negotiable for them to socialize
c. Chaperone her and other relatives to strictly stay 8-9 feet away and to adjust the mask every 2 min
d. Sanitize the washroom they will use as if it is certainly infected. Carry your harpic with you and open/close the door a few times to aerate it.
e. Force parents to eat outside where feasible (i'm looking to buy a portable table) - ideally make them sit in the open and serve them things one at a time (like my cheat day meal below)

I am now carrying my UVC air purifier everywhere - including in restaurants and hotels because there is no other solution at times. My mom cannot stand and eat like I do at every instance though we serve things to her in the car.



I am not stopping my travels as a matter of pleasure as well as economic duty as a good citizen with three trips in the next one month.

You can travel just as nicely as in the past - be VERY VERY VERY careful of where you choose to take off your mask - ideally do it in the open air only!

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

b. Eat in the open - else order the food in. Avoid AC restaurants

I'm getting tired of shouting this message but people think a sanitized cutlery will save them from COVID. No it will not!

I have not eaten indoors since the pandemic despite now having socialized 20+ times with non family members! Keep your mask on for the longest and take it off, only to eat!



No shame in being the black sheep who eats in the open, requests politely and gets away with it.



"Sir we get request for car service only from drunkards - yours is the first daytime request we ever got in 10 years from a stone cold sober person" - the manager of this famous dhaba near my place said while laughing!

[ruzbehxyz]

We, three friends did a road trip in the last week of October. The location was Zanskar, UT of Ladakh which is one of the remotest part of India.
Our main idea was to cross the new road from Shinkula into Padum, onwards to Dras and then do the Cliffhanger road with Sach pass. These are remote parts with very less tourists.

Some ideas and precautions:-
1. We used Ahmedabad as our first base because one of us had an investment place there.
2. From Ahmedabad we drove non stop to our base Manali and in the return we drove non stop from Chamba to Ahmedabad.
3. On the highway we did not visit any restaurant or dhaba as we carried food. We also had a stove for tea and all.
4. We used clean toilets at clean petrol pumps.
5. Used Fastag everywhere possible to minimize human interaction.
6. Every time we got off the car, we sanitized our hands. Masks were on throughout.
7. After Manali, we stayed at home stays in areas where there was no or minimum Covid.
8. We were tested at Khargiak village which is near the border of Himachal and UT of Ladakh.
9. Our breakfast and lunch was always our own food. At certain places we had warm dinner mainly because of negative temperatures and the body requiring it.
10. We carried our own water, about 80 litres.

The main idea was to minimize the human interaction and we were never admist any crowd.

[ccnarayanan]

We took a road trip to Goa in Oct-2020 and below were some precautions we had taken:

1. Wearing masks at all times (except to eat quickly, while on highways at cruising speed, inside the hotel room, or in open grounds with nobody around).
2. Using sanitizers before exiting the car, after re-entering the car, and before / after touching any surface which may have got contaminated (we carried small sanitizer bottles in person).
3. Avoiding crowd (and most importantly, minimizing the time spent when in an area with many people).
4. Eating in restaurants which have taken generally better care around sanitization and are less crowded (McDonalds, Cafe Coffee Day, and even Kamat which used to be crowded during pre-Covid era!).
5. Using disposable toilet seat cover when using washrooms on the highway (particularly for children and elderly).
6. Cleaning the commonly touched surfaces in hotels with sanitizer wipes and fabric disinfectant spray on bed / pillows upon check-in.
7. Wearing masks in the hotel room during housekeeping and room service.
8. Using FASTag in toll booths.

We ate at restaurants, had filtered / mineral water, used credit cards / cash, as well as touched many surfaces inadvertently or when needed. Nothing happened to any of us.

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

We, three friends did a road trip in the last week of October. The location was Zanskar, UT of Ladakh which is one of the remotest part of India.
Our main idea was to cross the new road from Shinkula into Padum, onwards to Dras and then do the Cliffhanger road with Sach pass. These are remote parts with very less tourists.

Some ideas and precautions:-
1. We used Ahmedabad as our first base because one of us had an investment place there.
2. From Ahmedabad we drove non stop to our base Manali and in the return we drove non stop from Chamba to Ahmedabad.
3. On the highway we did not visit any restaurant or dhaba as we carried food. We also had a stove for tea and all.
4. We used clean toilets at clean petrol pumps.
5. Used Fastag everywhere possible to minimize human interaction.
6. Every time we got off the car, we sanitized our hands. Masks were on throughout.
7. After Manali, we stayed at home stays in areas where there was no or minimum Covid.
8. We were tested at Khargiak village which is near the border of Himachal and UT of Ladakh.
9. Our breakfast and lunch was always our own food. At certain places we had warm dinner mainly because of negative temperatures and the body requiring it.
10. We carried our own water, about 80 litres.

The main idea was to minimize the human interaction and we were never admist any crowd.