My family loves to travel. We like to travel together as a family of 4, and when we’re able, my husband & I love to travel alone. There’s nothing better than seeing things the way my kids see them. There’s also nothing worse than hearing the groans from the backseat as we tell them to turn off their screens & “enjoy the scenery!” But traveling during a pandemic is a little different.

Let The Adventure Begin

Recently, our family drove to Colorado, yes we drove through five different states while traveling during a pandemic! We made it to Richardson, TX, before we decided to stop. We took our masks, Clorox wipes, and Lysol sprays & checked into our hotel room around midnight. After spraying or wiping everything down and using our pillows, we all crashed.

The next morning, we stopped at a drive-through for breakfast, again being extra cautious & headed out of town for our first actual stop, Guthrie, OK. The husband has family there & it was nice to relax. My kids swam, ran around mask free, fished, rode four-wheelers (don’t worry, they wore helmets!), and enjoyed life without too many restraints. Our short time with family ended & we were back on the road!

Colorado Here We Come

We checked into hotel #2. Again with the Clorox & Lysol & masks. We even had to make an appointment for our family to swim in the indoor pool. It was just the 4 of us, and we got 1 hour only! Colorado Springs requested the public wear a mask, but it wasn’t mandatory. We spent two days in Colorado Springs & then drove for 2 hours to Breckenridge.

Once you arrived in Breckenridge, we checked into our Airbnb. We were provided with Clorox wipes there, so we didn’t have to use our own. There we hiked and enjoyed most of our time outdoors. We didn’t need a mask unless we were in town. Dining was open indoors or out, but we chose to dine al fresco every time, not because we were afraid of getting COVID, but because the weather was incredible and we didn’t want to waste a second it!

Enjoying The Sites

Two days later (are you noticing a trend?), we loaded up the car and kids yet again and drove five hours to a little box canyon called Ouray. After we ate lunch outside, we masked up and took a tour of the Bachelor Syracuse Mine. We went 1500 ft into the abandoned mine from the late 1800s, and once the tour finished, we panned for gold. We came up empty, but it was still fun.

Then we got back into the car and drove just a little farther to the town of Telluride. There, masks weren’t a choice but a MUST. When we checked into our hotel, we were given face masks, in case we’d made it this far without them, I guess, and Clorox wipes. We had to wear masks everywhere in town except if we were in our hotel room.

Shops were open, but very few people were allowed inside at once. I remember one place had a max of 15 people. When a store reached max capacity, they’d rope off the store until people left. Many restaurants, however, were still closed to the indoor dining. We chose outdoors because what southerner can resist 74-degree weather in July?!

Heading Home

Finally, after you guessed it… 2 days, we loaded up our rental car yet again & drove home! 3:43 am Mountain Time. Our goal was to make it to Tyler, Texas, before we stopped but decided to skip the hotel and drove straight home.

I wish I could tell you it was easy to travel during a pandemic, but with each state border crossed, our house, our bed, our four-legged family member seemed farther away. I had no idea that 7 out of the 20 hours spent on the road would be driving across Texas! If you did the math, you know we didn’t get home until around 12:45 Monday morning! I’m not sure if I’d ever attempt a 20-hour drive again because it took days to recover, but I would surely travel by car, with or without my kids, even while traveling during a pandemic again!

Just be prepared for plans to change, and don’t get disappointed if something you truly wanted to do wasn’t open. It may not turn out to be quite the adventure you’d hoped. Just make sure you know the rules and laws of the places you’re visiting!

PS: We pulled our masks down or off for photos only, and our photographers stood well over 6 ft. away from us!

To read more tips on travel, visit 6 Travel Tips when Traveling with the Family and Traveling with Tots.

Copywright 2020 by Magnolia Moms

Cancelling is one thing, but requesting refunds or store credit took a lot of time and patience. Time I have and lately, surprisingly, patience too. Probably because I have no plans, the irony.

I am happy to report that most places offered a REFUND and/or credit.  That’s good news, so I’ll take it. We could all use some money in the bank or in my case less balance on the credit card. I wanted to share my experience as I navigated through the online and on hold process.

Here are some tips I learned along the way:

Be prepared

Have every confirmation number ready and your credit card in front of you. I know this is the day and age of computers, but it’s hard to toggle between several screens on your phone and fill out forms. I found it easier to write it down on a piece of paper and fill in forms (or to read about the current protocol for requesting refunds) on a laptop.

Then you can enter or speak the numbers easily. If you are a copy and paste person – then by all means do that on a word document.  But compile it and have the information ready. You’ll feel prepared mentally too!! Don’t forget to have a good attitude! If answers are not quick to surface, at least you started.

Call if you can

One of my trips was through Costco and I was not able to located the form to request a refund (Funny thing is, I did find forms for credit for future use). Though the website said do not call, I did it anyway. If I had to hang up – so be it.  I went to my office, aka the laundry room, and was prepared to give 30 minutes to the wait time. I was pleasantly surprised that I got a human asap. She was lovely. She spoke to the cruise line and verified it was cancelled (duh!) and said that notes were made and a refund will be issued. Music to my ears. 

Airlines are also not advertising this but I read on our carrier if a flight is cancelled we get a refund. So again, I called and got a human asap. She verified my flight was cancelled and walked me through how to get the refund (again I was asked if I would like a certificate for future flight).  I still had to fill out a form online but she pointed me in the right direction. Incidentally, she is a mom too and asked how “homeschooling” was going. Looks like we all crave conversation. This was an interesting read, and may provide more insight into airline refunds.

Also be sure to check out our Frugal Friday post. This tip is about flight refunds.

I called our travel insurance provider, AIG. Again, spoke to a person within minutes. With my policy number readily available, she told me that I would need to email indicating that the cruise was cancelled and they would proceed with credit toward another travel insurance policy for a future travel event. Sounds good to me. I do plan on traveling again!

Refunds for Event Tickets

I had tickets for local events. All of them gave me options. I decided for one of the ticketed events, to give as a donation. I received a letter in the mail indicating that status for my records. The other two events, I asked for a refund. Speaking from my experience only, most local places are ready to talk on the phone and are happy to do whatever suits you. I promised all that I would be back next year. The least I could do was share my goodwill, and I plan to keep that promise. 

Recreational Sports Fees

For the kids’ recreational sports, I sent emails and asked if the registration fees could be considered donations or if I could get a refund. Obviously, we didn’t get much of a soccer season and I am doubtful we will have a baseball season. The soccer folks were able to give me some funds back. On a side note they were hopeful to get some type of soccer season in May and June. If your kids are huge soccer fans than maybe worth waiting it out. Baseball has not been quick to make a decision about refunds just yet. But, I’m not sure we want to participate if it’s later in the year. I will have to follow up at some point.

Membership Dues

I stopped going to the gym in early March. It’s interesting that as the number dwindled in how many could gather, my gym tried to keep up with the changes. Fortunately, in April they froze all gym memberships and realized there was no viable way to continue. I asked for a freeze earlier and had to do paper work. In the end they had to cease operations anyway. This is when I noted that most places come around. I’m just that person that had the foresight to go ahead and ask. 

Insurance Premiums

Car Insurance recently emailed me that they plan to refund 20% back for those of us with active automobile insurance. The refund will be mailed next month. Considering that I have not left the house, let alone drive, that is good news. I did email and ask, but I believe that this was in the works. Contacting your local agent and letting them know you are no longer commuting could result in lower premiums.

I wanted to share my experience because I am sure there are many of us who are in the same situation. It was not a chore I looked forward to, but I had to try. Once I started, it felt good to know people were all on the same side. These are unusual times which require unusual reqests and unusual solutions. Refunds are not expected, but for now they are acts of kindness and a reminder that we are all in this together.

Meanwhile, I have plans to go to Disney in the fall. I’ll hope for the best.

In all my traveling, I’ve learned a few things about traveling with my kiddos.  I hope these things will help you in planning your next vacation with the family.

1. Pack extra clothes

First up, make sure they’ve got extra clothes especially undies. I HATE washing that stuff out in a hotel room sink! My husband will wash clothes while we’re away, but not me. I’m on vacation!  When traveling with kiddos sometimes accidents happen so you want to be sure they have plenty of clothes. I also try and make sure we’ve got a pullover, because even at the beach it can get chilly at night.  If you’re traveling to a destination where you will be walking outside a good bit, grab some inexpensive ponchos and throw in your bag just in case you get caught out in the rain.

2. Bring a first aid kit

You want to be sure you have the basics of a first aid kit with you. When traveling outside the United States, medicine that your family takes for minor ailments may not always be available and if it is, you are paying big bucks for it. I always pack children’s Tylenol, children’s Motrin, and adult Advil and Tylenol. Just be sure to have those different medicines that you know your family may need.

For some reason when we went to Disney World I had decided to pack a thermometer. I just had a feeling that it may come in handy and it ended up being a fantastic idea.  I’m so thankful I took it! My daughter got sick on that trip, and I was able to relay this information to our doctor at home. I had also packed various medicines so I was able to give her some relief until we got to an urgent care clinic to see a doctor. Unfortunately, the wait time to see a doctor rivaled that of the wait time for the new Disney Avatar Flight of Passage ride!  Insurance cards are also another important thing to pack for just that reason, now whether it’s an adults only or family trip, I always make sure I have our cards on hand.

3. Practice using an Uber

If you are not familiar or comfortable using Uber/Lyft or hailing a cab, then I suggest you practice before traveling.  It can be a bit intimidating if you’re having to learn how to do those things for the first time once you land at the airport. Download the app and practice around town if you must!  Order a Lyft/Uber to take you to pick up dinner one night, just so there’s no confusion. 

4. Order passports in plenty of time

If you’re traveling outside of the US, make sure you’ve gotten your kids passports if they don’t have them, and if you do, make sure they are still valid.  Passports are good every 5 years for minors under the age of 16. Applying for passports for kids isn’t easy or quick. Both you and your spouse must be present, and you need a copy of their social security cards, birth certificates along with the adult photo ID.  We will be visiting the British Virgin Islands while we’re away so passports were a necessary part of our trip. It’s a process, but worth it when you’re done. Be sure you plan to get passports in plenty of time before your trip. This is a very important step. Clink here to learn more about how to apply for a passport. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply.html

5. Have your Mary Poppins bag ready

If you’re traveling alone with younger kids, make sure you’ve got your Mary Poppins bag filled with toys they’ve never seen before to keep them interested and calm during the flight.  If you’re driving make sure you’ve got snacks that are within reach and plan safe spots for stopping to stretch and get out some energy! I also like Chic-fil- A because the restrooms are clean and there’s a play area! Travel games are fun and can be educational as well.

6. Know that it’s never perfect

Finally, don’t expect to have a vacation to go exactly the way you planned.  Our trip to Disney where my daughter got sick isn’t what I had in mind. I envisioned all of us loving all the rides, laughing, and enjoying our time together in the most magical place on earth.  Instead, the only thing my daughter took away from that trip was her being sick and missing out on SeaWorld. Last spring break we went snow skiing, my husband envisioned it to be all of us smiling as we whooshed down the slopes, drinking hot chocolate and loving every single minute of it.  That’s not what happened, and while nobody ended up sick one of us did have to be skied off the slopes with the twisted ankle.

Enjoy the moments together and learn to embrace the changes that inevitably will come. Learn to laugh when things don’t go the way you plan, because it’s those moments that will make up your stories you share around the supper table for years to come. 

Happy travels!

For more travel tips check out Peggy’s advice on traveling with tots.