Travel has changed, and it may never be the same again. We will all remember where we didn’t go in 2020, what we didn’t see, and …….well that we did not do much except stay inside and watch people fight over everything, even toilet paper.
Well one thing that may always be changed is our travel packing lists for when we do get to go travel again. A few obvious items that you will need to add now and most likely for a while are
- Face Masks
- Disinfecting wipes.
- Gloves.
- Hand sanitizer.
Here are a few items you should have had on your packing list already, but now are more important than ever to include
A pen
Always travel with one. This helps in many ways.
Old School – You can never find a pen when you need one. You are on a plane and need to fill out immigration forms and the entire plane has 1 pen to share.
New School – Pens are something that the CDC says are hard to clean or disinfect, and sharing them should be discouraged. Add to this that most Hotel chains, including Hilton, have stopped putting pens in guests rooms. You will need one so carry one, and you will be all set.
A water bottle
Old School – All I have to say is plastic water bottles are getting banned from more and more tourist and vacation options. Also when buying bottled water it can cost you several dollars, a refilled water bottle has always been a good idea.
New School – Before you take a drink from a water fountain think about how many people have touched the button, and drank from the fountain (sometimes getting their lips on the actual water spout)
A reusable water bottle is good for the environment, good for your health and good for your wallet.
A portable power bank for your phone
New School – A charged phone is more important now than ever before. For many attractions, like national parks. museums and theme parks, you may need to reserve tickets ahead of time.
Some restaurants will serve you only if you’ve ordered ahead online. So having a phone charged and ready to place the order is very important.
And with many restaurants allow dine in, we are also seeing them go menu-less. Once your seated your table has a QR code to scan so you can pull up the menu on your phone and no one has to touch the menu or sanitize it between uses. Also this is a huge savings for the restaurants as anyone who works in food can tell you menus costs lots of money.
A contactless credit card
Old School – Contactless credit cards have for years been considered a safer way to pay to prevent fraud. This is also just cool, and I will add to this things like apple-pay, google-pay, and even the fitbit we just got now has touchless payments on it.
New School – Everywhere you go you are asked to please use credit for everyone’s safety. We got a national park pass and they asked that we use a credit card instead of cash. Places that had been cash only are now asking card only. Now not having to slide or swipe your card where everyone else has is nice.
A selfie stick
Disinfecting wipes
Old School – When you remember how much time is usually spent cleaning cabins, rooms, or rental cars, having a wipe to just do a quick double clean is not a bad idea.
New School – When you remember how much time is usually spent cleaning cabins, rooms, or rental cars, having a wipe to just do a quick double clean is not a bad idea.
Be safe, travel safe and ask your travel agent for advice.