COVID-19 Getaway
California has been operating under a “stay at home” order as of Thursday March 19th, 2020. Since that time, I’ve been either at home or at the company office, which isn’t too far from my house. The company I work for qualifies as an essential business, and although most of my cohorts work from home, a few of us work from the main office for critical operations. There are days I wish I could work from home, but in our current configuration it is better if I’m at the office – and for the few of us that are there we are able to self-isolate with very little direct interaction.
The main reason for the California “stay at home” orders is to minimize contact between individuals. If you’re not going into the office, or the hair salon, or out to dinner then you’re not spreading the virus. After doing this for the last month California is seeing evidence in the data that we are “bending the curve” and thus helping the most vulnerable at having a lower chance of infection and possible death.
Along with the stay in place orders, travel is only acceptable for essential persons and reasons. Unless you are traveling to help someone in the fight against the virus, you shouldn’t be out and about increasing personal contact points. This includes flying, driving, staying in hotels, etc. When the stay at home orders first went into place, many people went out with mobile homes and trailers taking the time to isolate in the great outdoors. The problem with doing this of course is that even isolating requires contact for fuel and supplies, and even campgrounds, and suddenly you are not isolating any longer. It did not take long for officials to shut down beaches and park facilities after March 19th.
At this point I started thinking is there a way to take a close trip, and still isolate. Putting the ethics of such a choice aside for a moment, scientifically was there a way to meet the goals of the stay at home order but get away for a change of scenery. This got me thinking about a friend who has a second vacation home, and just before the shelter in place orders were issued, relocated his family to that second home. The main reasons were that infection rates were lower and medical facilities were more accommodating at the second location, and it was more advantageous for him, and his family to be there. What about families with a second home? Was it sensible for them to enjoy the second property during a pandemic?
A family traveling back and forth between two properties during a pandemic is certainly problematic. Again fuel, food, and resources are needed, and so now you are transferring your biological footprint from one area to another. That is exactly how to spread a virus. For the family that chooses one of the two properties to “ride out” the pandemic – no issues there if there is no travel back and forth and no one is ill at the onset. The family that chooses to live in two different locations during a pandemic, that is certainly a no-no.
Another thought experiment I had was to do a simple home rental at a remote location (we thought this one looked nice). The remote location would be closer to your own home, and at least close enough so that you wouldn’t have to refuel the gas tank at the remote home. If the family group was small enough (say at most 3 or 4 people) you could bring all your food and supplies and choose to exercise extreme caution at the rental property. Clean the property on arrival, and on exit. This sounds straight forward enough, and I have heard of a couple instances (second hand) were individuals have done this. There are some problems even with this carefully constructed scenario.
The Above VRBO On The Coast Of Northern Califronia
No matter how careful an individual is, a person leaves a biological footprint wherever they are. It might be light, and it might even be mostly safe, but they in being in two locations increase the odds for spreading the infection. Other individuals in the neighborhood may not exercise enough caution when in proximity to you. You might miss cleaning a surface at the second location. Even planning, you might need a supply or item at the second location. There might even be an emergency. No matter how carefully the plan is thought out, there really is only one safe way to guarantee non-transmission – do not go.
Back To Neighborhood Walks
So, what are Susan and I doing during this pandemic? Staying put. My travels have been confined to driving back and forth for the essential business I work for, and for walks in my local neighborhood. We have discussed the above options (ok I have discussed the above options, Susan listened), and the conclusion was that the right thing to do is stay in place. We have also talked about doing a simple day trip, bringing lunch with us, and limiting our time to a walk on the beach. We may do that, we will see. In the meantime, like most of us, we follow the virus data, and look forward to a time when we can travel once more.