Since COVID-19 hit, my younger sisters and I have been sheltering-in-place at my parents home in the suburbs of northwest Houston. When one grows attached to the same routine and only sees the same four people everyday, it's only natural to long for other places to go and other people to interact with. For a long time, I thought I was basically single-handedly saving the world by doing everything to avoid becoming infected with the coronavirus. I did my part by almost never leaving the house, wearing a mask, wiping down the groceries, washing my hands till they cracked, etc.

**Google Map of our drive North from Houston to Dallas, Texas**

Sure…I saw tons of people on Facebook still going on vacation to crowded and far away places. I’m not even that mad at people that go on vacation right now, I just wish I didn’t care so much about protecting myself and the people that I live with from the virus. That was until one day this summer when my sister suggested going on a weekend trip to Dallas. I thought there was no way we would go through traveling in the heat of a pandemic. What if we touch something? What would we do? How would that work? After constant debate, thought, and planning, we decided that we could go on a mini-vacation and lessen our risk of coronavirus infection if we take the right precautions.

My two sisters, Caroline and Kodi, my mom and I drove from Houston to Dallas for a weekend getaway with masks in hand. The four of us drove up comfortably, with snacks and blankets while listened to funny podcasts during the trip. When we arrived in Dallas, we checked into our downtown hotel just as we normally would have. My sister quickly met up with and ventured off her friends.

I forgot to mention that this whole trip was Caroline’s idea so that she could visit her friends four hours away. When they came to pick her up in front of the hotel, my mother and I immediately noticed that the girls in the car were not wearing masks. After we hugged her goodbye, my mother mentioned in her own quirky way that this was the last time we were going to hug Caroline for a while. I didn’t realize until later that my mother would make her quarantine in her room when we got back after we returned to Houston.

**My sister Kodi and I getting cozy in the car on our road trip to Dallas.**

How to Hotel

As for the rest of us staying at the hotel, we lounged around for a few hours so that I could finish some work. That night, we left for dinner at a local restaurant. Before we left, we put the “do not disturb'' sign on the door handle so that the housekeeper wouldn’t need to come into our room. I guess we thought that we shouldn’t have people touching anything in our space at all during our stay there. As we waited for the elevator, I noted that there were instructions on the wall to ask for only four people allowed on per ride and everyone was to stick to an individual corner. Leaving the elevator throughout our stay, we saw a surprising amount of people coming and going from the hotel. At least one to two people were in the lobby every time we left and returned. Everyone was respectful and wearing masks even though they weren’t mandatory in Texas at the time.

Eating at a Restaurant

At restaurants we had varying experiences. Every employee at every establishment was always wearing a mask. We always wore masks up to the hostess and to our table where we were then allowed to take them off. In some cases, some tables were set up for outdoor dining. We always had tables that were assigned for social distancing to keep people far away from each other. (In actuality they were not always at least 6 feet). When interacting with the waiter, it was kind of weird to stop wearing your mask to eat and drink while they were still wearing theirs. Now that I think about it, it probably would have been more respectful to wear our masks when we were not eating, or when the waiter came to the table.

**Kodi ready for dinner at a fondue restaurant**

I can just imagine being a waiter having to wear a mask with certain customers that might not be good at even chewing with their mouth closed. I think if I had the opportunity to eat at those restaurants again, I would keep that in mind and wear the mask whenever I was not eating and when our waiter came to the table.

Shopping

So the whole trip for the three of us was mostly eating and shopping. The shopping was pretty sporadic and we drove around different areas of the city looking for special stores that we would like.

Some stores had lines out the door because they were only allowing so many people in at a time. Eventually, we found ourselves heading to the mall to kill some time. I thought that I would have been really uncomfortable there with so many people, but it seemed to be very well kept. There were employees holding the doors open for people to come and leave so that nobody had to touch them. They were making sure that people had masks on or were giving them disposable masks for free. The railings and escalators and basically every surface that someone would touch were constantly being cleaned. Although there were many shoppers not wearing their masks properly, there was plenty of space to keep socially distant which we did our best to observe.

Meeting a Friend

I did decide to meet an old friend at a coffee shop to catch up over almond croissants. We wore masks inside to order and sat at a table outside. It was a small coffee shop that was enforcing social distance tabling inside, but not so much outside, making the outdoor seating area pretty close quarters. Thinking about after the fact, I kept my mask off after finishing my coffee while my friend and nearby strangers were less than 6 feet away. I don't know if I regret it, but forgetting to put my mask back on simply because I was more comfortable without it could have been pretty risky for me. However, it was great to hang out with a good friend face-to-face for one of the first times since COVID started. I really missed personal interactions with people outside of the house and this was sorely needed and really hit the spot.

Coming Home

Checking out of the hotel and reconvening with Caroline, we got back in the car and headed home. My mom was a real stickler making Caroline wash her hands and wear a mask for the entire duration of the road trip. On our way home we stopped at Buckees, a Texas mega-souvenir shop/gas station that sells any kind of snack you could desire. Of course this was before masks were mandatory in Texas businesses. All the Buckees employees were wearing masks, but most of the hundred or so shoppers in the facility were not. We made this trip a very quick “get in, get a BBQ sandwich, get out”.

**Sydney Garcia, mask advocate, ninja-in-training, or both?**

Quarantine at Home and Final Thoughts

As we arrived home, I felt tired and relieved that I didn't have to worry about public interaction and the fear of touching things anymore. For the next two weeks after we returned, our family made sure to stay at home and to check ourselves for any signs and symptoms of a possible COVID-19 infection. In particular, my parents made sure that Caroline kept her distance from the rest of the family. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a quarantine from us, but she had to wear a mask outside of her room and was asked not to eat or drink around us. Caroline (and the rest of our family) were fine after two weeks, but I think that my family was right to be concerned. Since she stayed in close quarters with friends for days, I can imagine that she had taken her mask off multiple times as well.

Weeks later we are all healthy and are continuing to wear masks and socially distance when outside of the house. I don’t necessarily recommend road trips and vacations during COVID, but I do understand the need to escape the house and interact with society again. I also realize that we were luckier than the majority of people to even have the opportunity to take this trip and I am truly thankful for that.

In the end, make sure to take care of yourself and do whatever truly keeps you healthy, both physically and mentally, while doing your part to protect others by wearing a mask, socially distancing, and washing your hands (for at least 20 seconds!).