No Summer Vacation? Time to Get Creative

With the coronavirus still raging, it looks like none of us are going away on a summer vacation this year. If we go anywhere, it will be local day trips, somewhere that doesn’t involve crossing state lines or getting on an airplane or cruise ship. Still, we’ve got to do something to break up the monotony.

Before you do anything, check your state’s department of health for the current movement status. Are you still on home quarantine? If you’re basically free to roam around your state, do that. Think: be active, be outside.

Prowl your town looking for lawns to volunteer to mow. Head for the town’s senior garden plots and offer to pull weeds.

Are you near any isolated, crowd-free water (river, beach, lake)? Take a folding chair and a book (or a fishing pole), plus a cooler of ice, water and sandwiches, and spend the day outside. Stay away from others.

Scour the internet for drive-in movies in your area. Many of them have opened up.

Walk around your town with a camera and a map.

If there’s a drive-up food bank near you, volunteer to hand out bags and boxes.

Look up all the veterans memorials in your area. Visit each one. Leave a small flag. Take a photo.

If you’re tempted to travel to another state, remember that many states have blocked visitors from coming in unless they agree to a two-week quarantine. Some states require returning residents to quarantine if they’ve been out of state for 24 hours.

And, if we’re feeling sorry for ourselves, consider: If active duty personnel had their travel slammed shut, sometimes in the middle of a duty station move, with the family already sent on ahead and their belongings in a van, you know that our concerns are much smaller.

No matter where you go, take a mask, hand sanitizer and gloves. Be safe.