As my birthday approached for December 2020, I began to wonder if there was a way to go out and about, aka a COVID travel plan that would be be COVID safe. Personally, I had hoped COVID would be out of the way and I could plan a trip to Ireland, but since it was still around I decided that a flight was just out of the question.

I have a Dad who’s at risk, plus, I’ve lost four people in the last six months. I didn’t want to be part of the problem in this pandemic or catch it myself.

So, I’m sharing how and what I did to save money (because I’m a budget traveler), as well as how my sister and I stayed safe on our trip. Because more than ever, as so many people have lost their lives, we should be aware of our bucket lists and those things we want to do before the end of our own lives. I for one, want to keep enjoying life as much as possible.

Make a COVID Travel Plan

If your plan is like mine, you’ll want to combine a budget trip with staying distanced from others. Here’s the plan.

1. Road Trip – Being in your car is the safest form of travel. I traveled with my sister who’s in my “pod” so to speak.

2. Places to stop – We started out at 9:30 pm on Thursday night from Albuquerque and stopped overnight in Gallup, NM at El Rancho hotel. I picked it because it mentioned on its website that it cleaned the rooms with covid safe practices, but also because it’s a cool place in Gallup.

3. Road Trip Food – We packed a ton of food – fried chicken, soda, cheese, crackers, etc. so we didn’t have to use drive thrus very much.

4. Great photos for your trip – I rented my equipment from BorrowLenses. If you want a great photo to print and put on your wall, or a photo book to remember one of the most amazing trips of your life, you’ll need something better than your cell phone.

4. Grand Canyon Stay- I didn’t know what to expect at the Grand Canyon, so I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. Luckily, doing this in the winter and during COVID, it wasn’t full of people.

The idea of where to go started with an email from Xanterra, the company that manages the Grand Canyon lodges. And if you want to travel to the Grand Canyon, you should sign up and get their emaikl notices. I saved 30% on the hotel room I nabbed at the Kachina Lodge. And this is a hotel that’s just steps from the grand canyon.

Some Important Notes about Saving Money

I highly recommend staying at the canyon. There is a small town a few minutes out of the park with motels and hotels, but I preferred being able to walk out the door to the canyon.

The down sides of staying at the Grand Canyon

First, there were only two places to eat in the Grand Canyon park. The El Tovar restaurant. The food there is wonderful, however, it’s expensive. It worked out to share meals with my sister. The other – the Bright Angel Cafe. It’s a walk up window where you can get a hot dog or a brauts and other quick items. My sister and I tried the brauts for a quick breakfast. Don’t do it. It was the worst brauts I’ve ever had.

My suggestion is to bring your own food items as much as possible (keeping in mind they don’t have microwaves in your room). And, share meals at the El Tovar. There are restaurants in the town outside of the park, but we had terrible service at the Mexican restaurant there.

For a COVID Travel plan – the hotel had rules in place to keep people safe, as didi the El Tovar restaurant. The Mexican restaurant in town had booths with plastic dividers.

Second, and the worst of what happened on the trip – when we checked in at the hotel I was told that $300 was going to be “reserved” from my bank account for incidentals. I nearly fainted. Not once was this ever shared on the emails sent to me about my reservation.

$300 may not be a lot to some people, but when you’re traveling on a tight budget that’s the difference between eating real food or eating potato chips for your meals. Luckily, probably because I looked like I was going to cry, the manager reduced the amount reserved. So, feel free to haggle if you want, just do it nicely!

Next blog, I’ll go into the whole trip and how it went. Watch out because there are tears and everything!

And, if you’re looking for adventure without getting out of the house – you should check out my 5 star book Toy of the Gods.