TodayApril 15, 2022

Tips to stay safe on short and long road trips during COVID-19

Tips for a pandemic free road trip

If you are on a trip for a week or two, you can probably survive without calling friends and family every day. But it is important to let people know where you are so that they don’t worry. Make sure you have find my phone on your smartphone so that you can enjoy your trip and your family knows you are safe.

When you are traveling long-term, it’s important to stay in touch with people. It’s only natural that your friends and family will worry about you, and you’re going to miss them.

Staying in touch is also important for practical reasons because, even though you are enjoying an adventure around the world, you still have interests at home, like your house and your car, for example. If you plan a long trip, these are the best ways to stay in touch with everybody back home.

Get The Right SIM Card

Calling people is the most obvious way to stay in touch, but you need to make sure that you have the right SIM card unless you want a massive bill. Most standard phone plans will charge you a premium for making calls from another country, so you will come home to a huge phone bill if you use your normal phone.

You can get international SIM cards that allow roaming, meaning that you can use them in many different countries without extra charges. Alternatively, you can buy a cheap phone that is unlocked and then buy a new SIM card in each country that you go to.

Get Your Post Redirected

If you are away for a long time, you might miss some important emails and letters. But if you are sent something that requires immediate action, like a payment for something, and you don’t see it for 6 months, you will come home to a very tricky situation. You can get around that if you use a physical address service while you are away.

Your post can be sent to a different address and then scanned in so you can access it digitally via an app. That means you can check your post from halfway across the world, and you won’t miss anything important. It also stops unopened mail from piling up against the door, making it very obvious that the house is unoccupied.

Use Video Calling Software

Everybody is familiar with using video calling software like Zoom or Skype due to the pandemic, which is one of the best ways to keep in touch with people. Just be aware that you will struggle to get a connection if you are halfway up a mountain or in the middle of the ocean on a sailboat. When you are in a nice hotel with a strong wifi connection, you will be fine, but that won’t always be the case, so don’t rely solely on video calling software and always have a backup.

Be Careful With Social Media

Many people assume that social media is a good way to keep their friends and family in the loop while they are away, but you need to be careful. If you start advertising that you are halfway around the world, that could make your home a target for burglaries. Instead, use private messages to keep in touch with friends and family and wait until you get home before posting your pictures.

Staying in touch with people while you travel is important. Follow these simple tips, and you can maintain good communication throughout your trip.

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Lou Ann Hammond

Lou Ann Hammond is the CEO of Carlist and Driving the Nation. She is the co-host of Real Wheels Washington Post carchat every Friday morning and is the Automotive, energy correspondent for The John Batchelor Show and a Contributor to Automotive Electronics magazine headquartered in Korea. Hammond is a founding member of the Women's World Car of the Year #WWCOTY, and board member of the Women in Automotive.

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