“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” –Marie Curie

“Stay at home, social distancing, quarantine, isolation and hygiene maintenance”, these are the buzz words of the year 2020. Coronavirus has changed the entire definition of normal living. The entire humanity is shut inside the 4 walls of their home, the flights have been canceled, restaurants are closed, Olympics postponed, IPL canceled, Times Square is vacant and what not. Family vacations, honeymoon, and leisure trips have taken a back seat. The idea of booking a nearby hotel and spending a relaxing weekend with your partner has become a distant dream now. When people were wishing each other “Happy New Year 2020” on the 1st of January, well, nobody has thought it would end up with a pandemic. Living with uncertainty is not an easy task, but after a month of lock-down, it has become a habit. After 100 years, the world is facing a pandemic. It can only be controlled with social distancing and can be marked as a full stop with a vaccine. Since every night ends with beautiful dawn, the same way this pandemic will end and will end for good. In this world of a boom in healthcare services and aggressive medical research, a vaccine is just right around the corner. When this pandemic will end, the world will face a new post corona era to deal with.

Out of all the restrictions, one thing that everyone misses during this time is traveling. Traveling for food, vacations, work and booking a couple friendly hotel nearby to enjoy with your partner are some beautiful joys of life. Travelling liberates your soul as nothing else matters. Having new experiences, meeting new people, trying out new cuisines are the possible highlights of traveling. Though there are in the state of intermission now, it will again resume after the pandemic ends. But we as responsible human beings should take care of few things to travel safely during the post-corona-era.

1.     Avoid any unnecessary travel plans.

A pandemic has just occurred and people still need to recover from it mentally and physically. Even though it is over, that does not necessarily mean doing reckless, irresponsible traveling or traveling for fun. Travel plans should be made keeping in view the reason associated with it. Priority should be set for any emergency traveling plans.

2.     Avoid traveling with small kids and senior citizens.

They consider the demographic dividend who has a very weak immune system. The immune system of the small kids is in the developing stage. Whereas older people are immune-compromised due to various diseases like diabetes, heart diseases, etc. Hence, it’s better to avoid taking them for long-distance traveling. In case, they need to travel, special care has to be taken for their food, medicines, and hygiene.

3.      Always carry a small bottle of sanitizer with you.

Wherever you go, either long distance or short distance, always put a small bottle of sanitizer in your bag, handy. This will help in maintaining good hand hygiene. There will hand sanitizers installed at many public places, hotel receptions at a hotel nearby, restaurants, etc. to encourage people to maintain good hand hygiene.

4.     Avoid touching the materials in public places.

Traveling in a shared car/rental car services was a common thing during the pre-corona era. But post-corona era we have to do some lifestyle changes. Restrict touching the materials in public transportation and public places like station, airports, etc. keep that to a minimum. Use hand sanitizer as soon as you touch anything.

5.     Avoid experimenting with the food while you travel.

When we go to different countries, we love trying out new local cuisines and exotic meat. This is how we can experience the place and the lifestyle in a better way. But the post corona era should come with a check on these things. Stick to normal food habits of your comfort. Try to eat a vegetarian diet as much as possible when you travel. Make sure to inform the hotel authorities when you do book a hotel room about your food choices. Though the world is still unsure about the source of this corona-virus it has been anticipated that exotic meat like bat meats, Pangolin meat are the source of novel viruses. Hence, avoiding exotic meats for some time will increase the safety level.

6.     Make it a habit not to go to overcrowded places.

This is how we can avoid getting any communicable diseases. In case someone has to go to an overcrowded place, use masks. Masks can be the ones available in the market or can be handmade with a cloth. Wearing a mask is a must to avoid any aerosol, dust, bacteria, communicable diseases, etc.

7.     Always keep a contact number of your family doctor/physician with you.

A telephonic conversation/consultation with a family doctor/physician for any health crisis during traveling will help to tackle any serious situations.

8- Carry some emergency medicines

Medicines like paracetamol, some prescribed antibiotics, antihistamines, etc. should be kept while you travel. Make sure to get it verified from your physician. This will help you to take immediate action during any health emergency.

9. Opt for sanitized rooms

While booking hotels for your stay, make sure you opt for a properly sanitized room. The bathrooms should be cleaned and disinfected nicely. The crockery set should be sterilized to the optimum temperature. One of the simple ways to inquire about all these is by examining the paper tags that have been put on the materials after the cleaning is done.  Hotel rooms booked through websites like Mistay will get you good sanitized rooms at affordable prices.

The world is a beautiful place and COVID19 has temporarily stopped us from experiencing the beauty of nature. Someday, the world will come back to its normal self. People will travel, travel like no one else. But since “Prevention is better than cure”, hence we have to take all these precautions to ensure our safety.

At this time, we should adhere to the words by Pierce Brown from Dark Age,

“There will dawn a day when these hostile hours, these days of hatred and violence, seem the faintest of memories, but dark and steep and long is the road up out of hell. So do not tire, do not despair, do not abandon your brethren, and do not forget that through this darkness we and we alone carry the light of freedom. We must defend it with every cell in our bodies. If not now, when? If not us, who?”