we're on a road trip!

That’s right! Two-thirds of Huckleberry Travel has taken to the road, where we’re going to travel through three time zones, seventeen states, and at least seven (!) National Parks. We’re doing it all in our trusty Buick Encore, named Bravo. (Get it? Bravo…Encore…) We actually left about a week ago, but the first few legs of the trip were to see family, so haven’t done a whole lot of posting about the journey, thus far. But, as I’m posting this, we’re currently in Wall, South Dakota, home of the world-famous Wall Drug, and just on the outskirts of Badlands National Park.

Needless to say, we’re getting lots of questions from people about this road trip—and most of those questions are about logistics, in light of COVID-19. Are National Parks open? Is it possible to stay in a hotel right now? Are there checkpoints at the border of each state? Are people in other parts of the country wearing masks and social distancing?

Well, we’ve got the answers to many of those questions, and we’ll be covering a lot of it on our website, as well as our social media pages. So, if you’re not yet following us on Facebook and Instagram, now’s a great time to start!

But let’s start with one of the threshold questions: Is it possible to travel domestically right now? It most certainly is. We’d been self-isolating in Brooklyn, New York for more than two and one-half months. We’d only left our neighborhood a few times, and were staying home and indoors almost all the time, except for essential errands and to stretch our legs. So, it was super weird to be getting in a car with three weeks’ worth of underwear and a cooler of snacks and hitting the road. In fact, when we came out of the Battery Tunnel and saw Manhattan for the first time in months, it just felt really strange.

And then, we had to tank up our car for the first time at a gas station in Pennsylvania. We were wearing masks. Would others be wearing them, too? Would someone make a stupid comment about our masks? (We’re aware that there are a fair number of people out there who inexplicably think that other people wearing masks is some sort of conspiracy theory to impose a new world order on people who enjoy the freedom to contract whatever respiratory virus God intends to smite them with.) How will we use the toilet on the road?

Here’s the good news. We’ve had no problem at all. For the most part, people working in restaurants are wearing masks. Restaurants and stores are all encouraging social distancing. And no one has accused us of being un-American because we’re covering our faces. Hand sanitizer abounds, and when we haven’t found a dispenser, we’ve been able to use our own supplies that we brought from home to keep everything sanitary.

I will say that except for people working in restaurants and stores—all of whom are covering their noses and mouths, masks have become less common, generally, as we’ve moved away from cities to more open spaces. The implementation of a state-by-state strategy for containment is noticeable. Illinois was more proactive about taking precautions than neighboring Iowa. Our one evening out in Davenport was significant in that very few people were wearing masks as they’re out and about. In Illinois, it was just the opposite.

But to answer that question— YES! You can see America this summer. The rest of the country is well aware of what needs to happen to keep us safe, and people and businesses in South Dakota are just as focused on your well-being as the people and businesses in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. So, if you’re tired of being cooped up at home, and you’d like to talk to someone with actual first-hand experience seeing our beautiful country post-COVID—well, you should reach out to us. There’s never been a better time to have a professional travel advisor in your corner, and we can help you plan a fabulous (and safe) road trip within the US.