Beginning to travel again with a bit more thoughtfulness and responsibility from now on and a first trip to Peace Arch Park

***AS OF 8pm June 18th 2020 Peace Arch Park on the Canadian side will be closed until further notice***

We have always lived a life with our suitcases packed. My husband and I are the only people in our immediate families who don’t live in Vancouver BC, and we chose to live in Seattle WA because it fulfilled our career and life dreams but still allowed us to be within a few hours drive of all the people we love up north. So for nearly 20 years we have spent hundreds of weekends driving between Seattle and Vancouver and Vancouver and Seattle until suddenly in 2020 the border closed and it’s been closed now for way too many days to count. And in this physical distancing era where we need to stay 6 feet from everyone in Seattle we have become completely distanced from even driving by the houses of our families who we usually see at least once a month and we have lost so much time with them in our lives. We were more than overjoyed when we heard about Peace Arch Park and that this park might give us a chance to see our families again.

Peace Arch Park is a park that straddles the border between Canada and the United States

My aunt read an article in a Vancouver newspaper that Peace Arch Park recently opened up and couples trapped apart on both sides of the border were able to meet there. The park closed when the borders closed but as social distancing measures are easing in both countries and parks are opening again, Peace Arch Park is open now too. I think we’ve only been to Peace Arch Park on a few other occasions when we were passing through the area but it has never been a destination for us. And then an Instagram friend messaged me and said she was going to meet her family there, and that maybe it would be a place where I could see family too. Suddenly, I was filled with hope that I could see my family for the first time in months and I needed to figure out how to responsibly make the 2.5 hour trip up north.

On the US side, if you have a Discover Pass you do not have to pay the parking fee and when we went on a busy sunny day there was ample parking. We also brought lawn chairs and blankets to sit on so that we had more options of where we could hang out. I was thankful that the bathrooms were also open when we visited. We also brought our passports just in case.

The Chrysallis Inn in Bellingham, a dog-friendly hotel

We now have a 3 month old puppy, a teeny tiny yorkie poo and I read that when you drive with a pup you should limit their car rides to about an hour or so at a time before a bathroom break. We drive electric and would also need to charge at the Superchargers along the way. We were also worried if we drove all the way there (it’s about 3 hours each way) that the park might be too full or closed and we would feel even more devastated to be that close to family and not get to see them at all.

I ended up booking a room at the Chrysallis Inn in Bellingham so we would have two days of chances just in case and I thought having a place to stop and stay would minimize our time in restaurants, bathrooms and communities outside our own. I know there are so many opinions out there right now on how we should social distance, or wear masks or eat in restaurants or take out. My family firmly believes in wearing masks in public spaces, especially indoor public spaces and we were so relieved when I phoned the Chrysallis Inn that their employees wear masks, they have protective plastic screens at the front desk, there is keyless check in available and room service from the restaurant downstairs which was only open for takeout. They are also dog-friendly with a $50 pet fee. This is a hotel that is very prepared for travel in our new normal.

And if you ever need to stay in Bellingham, the Chrysallis Inn has a great location on the water. Our room was spacious and we had a big eating area and a lovely reading nook overlooking the water. The only downside is the trains that pass in between the waterfront and the hotel-they are definitely quite noisy. There is a nice waterfront pathway directly in front of the hotel and you can walk along the water for a really long time. About a 10 minute walk from the hotel along the pathway is a cute coffee shop where you can get take out coffee too.

Hotel Travel in a New Era

And whether or not we are ready for travel to begin again it is starting everywhere. I see so many people in my instagram feed going places, even by airplane and the only thing we all can do now is is be responsible for ourselves and our own health more than ever. And maybe we should have been doing this before, but having the whole world stand still because of a deadly virus made it all the more clear. We can’t expect anyone to keep us safe, or socially distanced or even to have the supplies we need. I was very hesitant to stay overnight in a hotel-I was worried about germs and how clean a hotel room can actually get. I really wish hotel rooms would settle the debate on if the top comforter on a bed actually gets washed between guests (I have heard horrific rumors….) and I hate when they put decorative pillows on what is supposed to be a clean bed area. As travelers we definitely need to advocate for safe and clean travel if we are going to be able to make this work.

So we brought hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies and even though the door said that the room was cleaned up, I also sanitized anything we might touch-doorknobs, light-switches, the toilet handle, toilet paper holder, nightstand table, etc. We brought all our own pillows and sleeping bags for the kids for this room with a pull-out couch. I also brought napkins, paper towel and cutlery so we wouldn’t have to rely on anything from the hotel for any of our meals. The place was so well run, we ended up ordering room service breakfast but I also had food packed just in case. We also wore masks anytime we were in an inside space and we took the stairs instead of the elevator to get to our room.

And how about thinking about how our travel affects the community we visit from now on?

This trip to Peace Arch Park was one that felt a bit like a necessity because schools are opening up in British Columbia on June 1st and I wasn’t sure how this would impact my family, many of whom are teachers up north and I also was worried the park might get closed again and we would lose our chance. We also made the decision to go because I knew that things were opening up in our communities and we’ve seen many people around us traveling and hanging out with friends and not wearing masks. Aside from the hubby working at the hospital, our family has had very few interactions outside of the house and we’ve even ordered most of our groceries and restaurant meals as delivery. So we are very low risk as carriers and we still will wear masks and sanitize our hands frequently to keep others safe. We also did not go to Bellingham as “tourists” to sightsee or shop and avoided many of our usual stops.

But there is a no-contact farm store near Bellingham that is perfect for social distancing

We did however, stop at a no-contact farm store that I had seen in my instagram feed. There is a place called Homefarm in Birch Bay near the supercharger where we need to charge our car. We popped by the farmstand and picked up some treats for our drive and it felt really nice to see such a cute little roadside stand. Here I shopped outdoors and by myself and it felt good to be able to support a business in this community while being physically distant.

And how will we travel next?

I know for certain that we will not be choosing to fly anywhere anytime soon. We will also not be traveling anywhere internationally until Canada opens its borders. In the meantime we will be looking for hotels with check-in policies similar to the Chrysallis Inn-where people where masks in public spaces, where we can be self contained with a kitchen or dining facilities and we will try to choose small hotels where we will not have to use an elevator to get to our rooms. We will also be looking for places that either get us closer to family or closer to nature.

Are you traveling as places open up in your area? How will travel change for you or do you think it will go back to the way it was before?

Terumi

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)