Since March of last year, the farthest I’ve gone from home is probably the Hillsboro area which is around 75 miles away. I go to the grocery store, the doctor, my boyfriend’s house, and I pick up takeout at least once a week. I’ve gone on short drives or walks to try to regain some of my sanity and I’ve gone to the Oregon Gardens or tulip gardens and socially distanced from others to get out of the house. There are ways to travel without endangering yourself or putting others at risk.
Road trips seem significantly less dangerous in terms of COVID-19 exposure since you’re not in a space like an airport with hundreds of other people at once. If I was on campus this semester, I’m sure I would’ve wanted to go home, but I’m also lucky that home is only an hour and a half away. Another option for getting out of the house is to go to local, outdoor sites where you can safely socially distance yourself from others and go on a walk, a bike ride, or a hike.
It’s important as we get closer to everyone becoming eligible for the vaccine that we keep in mind that, although things are better, COVID-19 is not over and it probably won’t be going away soon. Sure, we’re able to cope better than we could a year ago, but there are still plenty of people who haven’t gotten the vaccine or who aren’t socially distancing and following CDC rules. It’s important to not only think of yourself but to also think of the people you could potentially impact by traveling across the country during a pandemic. Especially since frontline workers and people ages, 16-44 with underlying conditions aren’t eligible for the vaccine until April 19th.
If you do plan on traveling within the next couple of months, be conscious of your impact and how you can better protect yourself and others from exposure to Covid. Make sure to sanitize, socially distance, mask up, and get tested regularly. Your consciousness and carefulness could save someone’s life. — Grace Alexandria
Picture by Grace Alexandria: Photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California during Alexandria’s spring break trip in March 2019.
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