*since I wrote this, we have now decided to practice social distancing because of coronavirus in Seattle and will not be traveling outside of the Seattle area for the next few weeks if not longer to help slow down the spread.
International travel is a necessity in our family because while we live in Seattle, a majority of our family lives across the border in Vancouver, BC Canada about 3 hours to our north. So hearing about people having to cancel travel plans because of Coronavirus here is a big deal to me. Right now we are on the frontlines of the outbreak in Seattle and while it isn’t currently drastically affecting our daily lives, many big companies are asking their employees to work at home and for some reason it is difficult to find toilet paper or bottled water in many stores. The kids still have school (but that could change any day now) and we didn’t make any firm spring break plans so we haven’t had to cancel anything yet, but we do have plans to visit Austin for a work conference that may or may not get cancelled later in March. I’ve been proactively looking ahead to April to see where we should go for Spring Break if we can still travel but know that we might just have to stay at home. Things keep getting cancelled and I’ve been glued to twitter updates to see what is going on in the world. I get worried when borders close and when we lose mobility – and I think many people who love to travel feel the same way.
Cancelling travel plans because of Coronavirus in Seattle
At first I didn’t think that cancelling travel plans because of Coronavirus in Seattle was something we needed to do but then I read an article by my friend Kim about how she cancelled her Japan trip and I understood why people might be hesitant not to go overseas: insurance coverage, getting stuck and high bills are all big reasons to reconsider travel if you already have it booked. Another friend is trying to cancel a European Cruise and Airbnb accommodation in Europe and is having a lot of difficulty because the areas are not yet considered dire enough to refund. I don’t typically get insurance above what is covered with my credit card but seeing how travel cancellations are playing out with the current coronavirus emergency, if I was booking expensive non-cancellable travel in the future I now might consider getting travel insurance. It is hard to know how serious this virus is going to affect our day to day lives.
So where should we all plan our Spring break vacations now?
We were originally contemplating Iceland, Hawaii or even Ireland for Spring break in April. Since watching how different areas have treated the coronavirus outbreaks so far, I don’t really want to go somewhere where we can be potentially isolated or where we might get stuck because the only option we have is to get where home by plane. We are definitely looking for places closer to home.
Someone asked me why I didn’t want to go to Hawaii from Seattle but I am scared that if one of the kids get an elevated temperature (and kids pick up every type of virus or bug going around) it would be a really big ordeal. I remember traveling during the days of SARS and I remember walking through fever sensors in Asia and I can only imagine how much technology has gotten better over the years. It does make things safer for us but with a heightened sense of fear everywhere I am trying to travel with as much control over our mobility as we can. We love California and realized recently how convenient Los Angeles is to fly to even for the weekend so we decided that California might be an easy destination from Seattle because we could even drive home if we need to. I currently have an itinerary booked that includes beach, desert and a hotel with a big pool. I’m hoping that we actually get to go but I’ve booked everything cancellable so that I have peace of mind.
Vancouver Island from Seattle perhaps?
We also have a trip to Victoria planned in the next little while. We love Vancouver Island and it is also really convenient to Seattle. Yes, it’s an island but you can get there by seaplane, airplane, the Victoria Clipper and a traditional ferry so there are many different ways to get there and back from Seattle. I’m not sure if we’ll head through Vancouver for this trip but Vancouver is also a great idea if you want a trip that’s close to Seattle that is by car only and it’s only a three hour drive. The only difficult part about travel to Vancouver Island from Seattle is that it is in a different country and if countries start putting restrictions on travel or travel insurance this could be problematic if you have a non-cancellable trip.
And how about Florida from Seattle for Spring Break?
We were tempted to go to Florida but knew we would want to visit a big theme park if we went and it seems like visiting a big theme park in the current virus climate might not be the best idea. In Asia, Disneyland in Shanghai and Hong Kong were closed down very quickly after emergency measures were imposed. I was at Legoland which we usually love just as we were hearing of more people in the US being identified as having coronavirus and I was surprised that we were probably one of the only families that I noticed using hand sanitizer before and after we got on rides. I watched an area where people were building with Lego bricks and very few people here used hand sanitizer even though there were a few hand sanitizing stations at the entrance and exits of this exhibit. My kids spent a lot of time in the NICU as babies so I am very wary of germs and washing hands and I’m continuously surprised at how much we take for granted on a daily basis and how many illnesses might be avoided if we simply washed our hands.
Precautions we will take for travel and daily life in Seattle because of Coronavirus
If we go on our trip, we will avoid major events, crowded areas, theme parks and constantly wash our hands and try not to touch our faces. Local businesses in our city are already hurting from people not visiting so we are also making a point to dine in restaurants where people aren’t dining and shop in local stores over major chains. In the case we need to stay home we have a lot of books and movies and games that we can get caught up on in the next little while. We are going to try and stay as healthy as we can and keep people around us as healthy as we can too.
Has the coronavirus affected your daily life or your travel plans in the next little while?
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)