Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 18:53     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
I would not go. That travel does not sound essential to me.

But if you go, I would do the drive all in one day. You can buy disposables urinals on amazon. They have ones for men and women. I would still socially distance at least somewhat from your parents while you are there. Stay someplace else, or only spend time with them outside and masked. Do they have a portion of the house where you could stay that is separate from the rest of the house?
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 18:46     Subject: Re:Should we travel to see grandparents?
Op, I may be your parent's age. Can you social distance when you arrive? Do you have to stay with your parents? Would their house allow you to social distance? How long has it been since you've seen your parents? Six months, a year? If close to a year, you need to see them. Either way, I think it's a reasonable idea. Do you have a spouse to go along? I would be cautious before but I won't obcess on 2 week quarantine before. Break the trip into 3 days. Stay at a Residence Inn where you can cook your own meals. Take canned goods, other food you can fix. Bathroom in the woods. Girls wear a skirt. No hugs when you get there. Make sure your parents are serious re: social distancing. Tell them that's the price of you coming. I would go. I imagine your parents really want you to come, but ask. If they say yes, assume it's important enough to them to take the risk.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 17:15     Subject: Re:Should we travel to see grandparents?
No. I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 17:13     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
Please don't put human waste in trash cans. That is a health risk for the person who has to empty the trash can.

If you feel that a bathroom is too risky, pack your waste out with you.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 16:43     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We drove to a Covid hot zone to see older grandparents. It was not a hot zone when we planned the trip but became one. The bigger risk to our family is not seeing them for another year or more or never if God forbid. We took the precautions you are discussing. Plus we used a travel potty to avoid going inside, and got grocery delivery when we arrived, etc.


Can I ask how you made the travel potty work? Did the grownups go in it, too? Did you hide in the back of a minivan and pee in it? I"m not sure I understand how it would logistically work with adults in a car. Do you go outside in a woods with it?


I’ve peed twice right outside the car door. And I’m someone who never let my husband see my pee for 10 years. Strange times folks!
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 16:38     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Genuinely not understanding why people think there is such a risk of infecting them. Did you all read what I said? We would be quarantining for 2 weeks ahead of time. Like, literally not even going to the grocery store. The only risk point I see is the possibility of having to go to the bathroom along the way, and I said we're thinking of bringing a portapotty.

To date, we have been exceedingly cautious -- way more cautious than all the other people I know. Are those of you who are saying this not doing the things I'm seeing my friends do here (that we have NOT been doing) -- like sending your kids to camp, going to the pool, meeting up with friends, etc?


I’m trying to get ok with this too. Ours would be 15h to NY and we’d bring a kid potty with trash bags we’d dump in random outdoor trash bins. Our dr added as soon as you arrive strip and shower fwiw. Two of our docs said as close to 100% safe as you can get. Both would authorize tests for us 5-7 days out too for us and kids.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 16:35     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
We’re considering the same, but our drive would be 10-11 hours rather than 18. There is no way to completely eliminate risk, but it sounds like your plan keeps risks to a minimum. That said, I’d consider loading up on caffeine and driving straight through.

For a bit of perspective, my 80-year-old parents drove from their winter house in Florida back home to the Midwest in May. They did stop for the night halfway and had no issues. They said the hotel was practically empty.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 16:33     Subject: Re:Should we travel to see grandparents?
I am really stuggling with this as well. My parents are in FL. My Dad has suffered a massive stroke 2 years ago, recovered alot, but is failing lateley. He is 81 and I don't think has much more time. My Mom has nursing help 9 hours a day but the other hours are wearing on her. The numbers if FL are horrific, and I am scared to go. But I know they need me. Prior to this I was flying once a month or so to help. We are a very tight family. It was wearing me out, no doubt, but you do what you have to do. So do I go and risk myself, and maybe bring it to them or do I not, and miss his last days. Sucks all around.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 16:24     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Genuinely not understanding why people think there is such a risk of infecting them. Did you all read what I said? We would be quarantining for 2 weeks ahead of time. Like, literally not even going to the grocery store. The only risk point I see is the possibility of having to go to the bathroom along the way, and I said we're thinking of bringing a portapotty.

To date, we have been exceedingly cautious -- way more cautious than all the other people I know. Are those of you who are saying this not doing the things I'm seeing my friends do here (that we have NOT been doing) -- like sending your kids to camp, going to the pool, meeting up with friends, etc?


OP, I'm not sure why you don't realize that an 18-hour drive, unless you do it in 18 straight hours with no stops and certainly no overnight, will undo the two weeks of quarantining. Unless you plan to quarantine at your destination in a hotel and then see the grandparents after another two weeks.

You're saying above that "the only risk point I see is the possibiilty of having to go to the bathroom along the way," yet in the original post you mention you were "not entirely certain how to handle" "staying overnight." Which is the risk point? Bathrooms only? Bathrooms plus overnight somewhere? All of it is. Because unless you and DH are long haul truckers for your jobs, driving 18 hours between two people is too much, and yes, you'll have to stay somewhere somehow.

That undoes the two weeks of quarantine, period. What I don't understand is how you cannot see why it undoes quarantine and resets you to "exposed" if you quarantine but then drive a very long distance, stay anywhere, and stop anywhere at all.

Like a PP said: Right now any nonessential travel should be a "no." Essential means essential to life. It is not essential to your life or your parents that you see them right now or even soon, to be blunt.


100% this. You cant cherry pick your risks here. An 18 hour drive, that involves overnight stay is a risk. You can't cheat during a pandemic
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 16:23     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
NO!!!!!
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 16:21     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
Anonymous wrote:I recently traveled with my kids to see my high-risk father. We followed similar guidelines as you did, and it worked out. We got Covid a test at CVS before we left. Their tests aren't the most reliable, so we still quarantined before our trip. But if the test had been positive, we wouldn't have gone.

Our road trip was only 6 hours long, so we could limit our stops for bathroom breaks. I've heard that hotels and such aren't the biggest places to spread Covid 19, but who really knows...? I might consider camping at a campground along the way, but that's because we like to camp out anyway and it might feel more like an adventure for the kids.

For me and my dad, it was worth the risk. He was really lonely and really needed some companionship. Social isolation is also really hard on the elderly. My dad and I both agreed the risks were worth the rewards. Everyone's got to make their own calculation on that, though.


https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/24/880962631/taking-a-trip-to-visit-grandparents-or-older-relatives-tips-to-reduce-the-risk



A six-hour drive is very different from an 18-hour one. You can truly quarantine and then get in a car and go six hours without stopping, going without interruption door to door, especially with two drivers (barring traffic jams, I admit). Portapotty and/or portable urinal if a stop is truly urgent. Drive changeover after three hours is the quick stretch away from everyone and everything. Doable.

Not doable with 18 hours.

OP is
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 16:16     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Genuinely not understanding why people think there is such a risk of infecting them. Did you all read what I said? We would be quarantining for 2 weeks ahead of time. Like, literally not even going to the grocery store. The only risk point I see is the possibility of having to go to the bathroom along the way, and I said we're thinking of bringing a portapotty.

To date, we have been exceedingly cautious -- way more cautious than all the other people I know. Are those of you who are saying this not doing the things I'm seeing my friends do here (that we have NOT been doing) -- like sending your kids to camp, going to the pool, meeting up with friends, etc?


OP, I'm not sure why you don't realize that an 18-hour drive, unless you do it in 18 straight hours with no stops and certainly no overnight, will undo the two weeks of quarantining. Unless you plan to quarantine at your destination in a hotel and then see the grandparents after another two weeks.

You're saying above that "the only risk point I see is the possibiilty of having to go to the bathroom along the way," yet in the original post you mention you were "not entirely certain how to handle" "staying overnight." Which is the risk point? Bathrooms only? Bathrooms plus overnight somewhere? All of it is. Because unless you and DH are long haul truckers for your jobs, driving 18 hours between two people is too much, and yes, you'll have to stay somewhere somehow.

That undoes the two weeks of quarantine, period. What I don't understand is how you cannot see why it undoes quarantine and resets you to "exposed" if you quarantine but then drive a very long distance, stay anywhere, and stop anywhere at all.

Like a PP said: Right now any nonessential travel should be a "no." Essential means essential to life. It is not essential to your life or your parents that you see them right now or even soon, to be blunt.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 15:25     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Genuinely not understanding why people think there is such a risk of infecting them. Did you all read what I said? We would be quarantining for 2 weeks ahead of time. Like, literally not even going to the grocery store. The only risk point I see is the possibility of having to go to the bathroom along the way, and I said we're thinking of bringing a portapotty.

To date, we have been exceedingly cautious -- way more cautious than all the other people I know. Are those of you who are saying this not doing the things I'm seeing my friends do here (that we have NOT been doing) -- like sending your kids to camp, going to the pool, meeting up with friends, etc?


We are planning to do something similar, OP. My mom lives in Indiana and we're planning to go out in early August to stay for two or three weeks. We will also be quarantining at home for two weeks before going. We're driving and I'm going to take a camp toilet with us and a blanket to hide ourselves while using it for the drive out. Will take snacks with us and maybe do a drive thru for a happy meal but that's it.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 15:22     Subject: Re:Should we travel to see grandparents?
Anonymous wrote:I think we’ve reached the point where the answer to all non-essential travel is “no”. For those of us following the statistics and latest findings, inter-state travel is a bad idea on all counts.

It’s hard for all of us separated from our families but we have to take a united stand to stop the rapid spread and death.




+1. We’ve all got to stop with the selfishness and the-rules-don’t-apply-to-me and start thinking as a nation.

No, OP, you shouldn’t go.
Anonymous
Post 07/19/2020 15:19     Subject: Should we travel to see grandparents?
I recently traveled with my kids to see my high-risk father. We followed similar guidelines as you did, and it worked out. We got Covid a test at CVS before we left. Their tests aren't the most reliable, so we still quarantined before our trip. But if the test had been positive, we wouldn't have gone.

Our road trip was only 6 hours long, so we could limit our stops for bathroom breaks. I've heard that hotels and such aren't the biggest places to spread Covid 19, but who really knows...? I might consider camping at a campground along the way, but that's because we like to camp out anyway and it might feel more like an adventure for the kids.

For me and my dad, it was worth the risk. He was really lonely and really needed some companionship. Social isolation is also really hard on the elderly. My dad and I both agreed the risks were worth the rewards. Everyone's got to make their own calculation on that, though.


https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/24/880962631/taking-a-trip-to-visit-grandparents-or-older-relatives-tips-to-reduce-the-risk