Quieter cities, empty beaches and mountaintops, plus coronavirus safety measures are three good reasons to right now. Whether it be a staycation, an island getaway, or a trip across the globe, practice safe travel with this ultimate packing checklist for traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus Travel Tips
- Do your research in advance. Read up on your destination’s entry requirements and protocols while visiting. For example, some country’s require visitors to provide a negative coronavirus test taken with 72 hours of traveling. Others may require you to fill in an online form with your travel details before embarking.
- Most places are requiring face masks to be worn on public transport as well as in stores and shopping malls.
- Avoid overly crowded areas, especially indoors. The majority of confirmed cases come from large indoor gatherings.
- Continue to practice social distancing throughout the duration of your trip.
- Make sure you have travel insurance in case anything gets canceled or if you get sick.
Post-Coronavirus Travel Packing Checklist
Bring along these items to help ensure your safety and enjoyment throughout your trip during these unpredictable and strange times.
Reusable Face Masks
As a sustainable traveler, I highly recommend bringing reusable face masks as opposed to the disposable blue ones. These will not only look better but will better for the environment as well.
Pack a few that you can interchange throughout your pandemic travels. It’s also a good idea to bring a spare mask in your day pack in case you drop one or it gets dirty.
You will also need to clean the masks to keep them working properly. You can wash them in a sink with hot water and plain soap and leave the to dry somewhere sunny.
Etsy has some of the absolute cutest face masks, like the tie dye ones shown above. You can filter through and find masks made in your home country, so you can help support local businesses too.
Here are some of my favorites. Click the images to visit the shop.
Plain solid soap
For washing your hands and cleaning your face mask between wears, pack along a plain, fragrance free solid soap. This will help keep your skin from feeling irritated by harsh detergents or artificial fragrances.
Plus, a solid soap doesn’t have to squeeze into a 150 ml bottle for TSA travel requirements unlike liquid soap.
Small bottle of hand sanitizer
Luckily, most shops and restaurants should have hand sanitizer when you enter the building, but when that’s not the case, keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in your day pack.
If you already have a big bottle of sanitizer at home, don’t go out and buy a small bottle when you could just buy a cute sanitizer holder instead.
Wet wipes as phone screen cleaner
Our phones carry lots of germs. Fight them off with a travel-friendly screen cleaner kit. These biodegradable wet wipes will help ensure your phone is virus free along with any other surfaces you fancy cleaning as well.
Travel pillow
Beyond just its regular use of traveling comfortably, travel pillows will help keep your face off direct surfaces. So a cozy pillow like this silk travel neck pillow to your safe travel packing list.
Reusable water bottle
Many water fountains are turned off right now as a safety measure against the coronavirus. Instead, pack along a reusable water bottle that you can refill back at your hotel or accommodation.
All your necessary documents
Passport, driver’s license, insurance card, necessary visas, and any required COVID-19 landing forms should be packed in your carry on or somewhere safe. Make sure you have required documents on your packing checklist before you travel.
Travel day bag
Whether you prefer crossbody bags, totes, or backpacks, add to your packing checklist a comfortable day bag to carry around all your essential items during your trip. Here’s a stylish vegan backpack option.
Wear a face mask, follow guidelines and save this packing checklist for traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic to help keep you safe during your trip.
