Thanksgiving is upon us, and if you’re navigating the best way to celebrate. After all, it’s not that simple this year, with a little thing called the pandemic. Maybe this is the first time you’ll fly since the start of the year, and you wonder what travel will be like. Maybe you’re hosting and you need ideas on how to keep everyone healthy and safe. Or maybe you’re flirting with the idea of flying the whole the family for a private island for your own Thanksgiving celebration. And of course it’s on the table to social distance and take off on your own. You have questions, we have ideas and your holiday COVID travel tips.
In-Person Celebrations
If you’re strictly going by the book this year, the CDC recommends to forgo the extended family celebrations. Instead they suggest you opt for breaking bread with those who are directly in your household. We’re not recommending going against these rules in any way, shape of form. However, we know that you want to find creative ways to see your elderly parents and grandparents. It’s been a balance for everyone, to keep the numbers low so we don’t have a full-blown lockdown. But, you also want to maintain our sanity and emotional health. Therefore, know the rules of the road.
Here are a few holiday COVID travel tips:
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A Biden-Inspired Thanksgiving Car Rally
So we need to ask you to go with us here on this idea, as it’s a bit outside the box. But we were inspired by our friend Christina and her family’s idea to have a safe, socially distant food exchange. The idea is you get to see everyone and share food, just in a different format.
Under this strategy, you find the relative with the largest driveway and/or yard. Everyone then brings a food contribution to individually place on the table. Once all the food is set up, then everyone comes with their Thanksgiving Tupperware to the table. A family member (masked, gloved and COVID tested of course) will help you fill your family plates to go.
Stay or To-Go
You can either eat in the car or take home. This way, you will all still share food, and can even get a glimpse and some big virtual hugs and hellos into family. It’s certainly a Thanksgiving that will be memorable and one that we’ll all reminisce about for sure.
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Outdoor Thanksgiving Dinner
If you’re set on having a Thanksgiving dinner, please think about hosting it outside. With heat lamps, on high at tables set up by household that are properly social distanced. Have food placed by table, so you’re only passing the peas with your direct household. Do up the décor with lights and holiday music though; social distance can be special. Have hand sanitizer and a special bathroom not in the main house set up for guests to use. Also have Lysol wipes to minimize any inadvertent spread of the virus.
A Thanksgiving Zoom
OK this isn’t’ an in-person get together but recreate the Thanksgiving chaos with a big family over a Zoom call. Or bring your family to your dining room table via computer and eat together by Zoom.
The Quarantine Strategy
For those who are going to do in-person family gatherings, we suggest you start limiting in-person interaction with others 7 days prior to seeing your family. We are all in the world right now. We are dining out, going to the office, seeing friends, having coffees and hitting the open shops. All of course are important to keeping our economy alive. But see if you can sacrifice right before you see your family, and also get a rapid COVID test. This can go a long way to having piece of mind. It only works though if everyone in your bubble does the same.
Thanksgiving Getaways
Now the other alternative, is to pick your family bubble to celebrate the holidays with, and all get a family COVID test and head for the hills. Or in this case, we suggest a sunny, island holiday with clear waters. Add in a socially distanced villa or hotel like Amanyara in Turks and Caicos, and blow it out like it’s 2019. We’re thinking going Kardashian like The Brando, or Mustique, which will COVID test your entire gang on arrival. While you may not be making out with a stranger at Basil’s this year, you can feel good about social distancing around the island.
Special At Home Celebrations
For those who are going to follow the rules more closely and stay home, why not take the chance to just blow it out. Here are a few ideas:
· Make an extra special dinner this year.
Break out the caviar. (We like Black River from Uruguay). Break out the vintage champagne. Pull that super special bottle from your cellar. You’re worth it, and just by surviving this year, you deserve it especially more.
· Go out for a splurge dinner.
You haven’t splurged on travel (unless you also rented out The Brando for your 40th birthday). So why not go out to the nicest restaurant in town? Do something so different from your normal routine that it feels like a unique experience and one that you won’t feel like you’re missing out so much on tradition. And no dishes, no cooking can sound pretty good after self-catering all your meals for a good part of this year. Here are a few of our suggestions if you’re based out of NYC.
· Have At Home With Galavante cater your dinner.
This is and is not a shameless plug, because our Chef de Cuisine, Ben Vaschetti, will rock your world with his made to order, custom Thanksgiving dinners. We will have drop-off services the day before Thanksgiving, or if you’re feeling really baller, Chef Ben will come in to make the feast in your home. Check out just a glimpse at the possibilities of an At Home With Galavante dinner here.
COVID Travel Tips
For many of us, this Thanksgiving will be the first time we’re dipping our toes back into travel. Whether you’re taking a road trip home or to Blackberry Farm, or hopping on an airplane, here are a few COVID travel tips:
1. Wear your mask, and if you’re flying, wear two masks.
Here’s what we mean; it may seem obvious, but whether you are pumping your gas for a quick minute, running into the store or interacting with anyone within 6 feet, always wear a mask. It protects others around you should you be a common asymptomatic carrier of the virus. And it could save someone’s life, including your own. If you’re flying, change your mask every 3-4 hours. Or if it’s especially damp, wear both a KN95 and your fashionable mask on top. For more advice from the medical experts, checkout our article with NYC Cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum here.
2. Social distance as best as you can.
If you’re on an airplane, that means when you deplane, to stay seated until the row before you deplanes. Try to maintain the 6 feet apart. Also who you fly matters. We won’t call out the airlines that pack the planes publicly(you know who you are). But we will say Delta and JetBlue have done a bang up job on travel.
3. Always carry hand sanitizer.
And use it like you are proudly OCD. After every touch of a door handle, escalator, shopping cart, coffee station – you name it, you should sanitize. Check out our article on luxury hand sanitizer – of course we have the list.
4. Wash your hands frequently.
The first thing you should do upon arriving anywhere. Whether it’s a restaurant, your Mom’s or your house, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and hot water. This is probably the most effective of COVID travel tips, besides #1 above.
While our COVID travel tips won’t guarantee your safety against contracting COVID, it will at least provide some sort of defense. Stay safe out there – we’ll all get through this together. It will be a holiday to remember, no matter what.
