for years we drove a car to Ft Lauderdale from Boston in the fall and back again in the spring...close to 1300 miles

We'd leave around 4am the 1st day to get beyond NYC by 9am...but we'd never drive more than 9 or 10 hours a day (today I might drive longer...but never straight through...my reflexes aren't what they used to be to begin with)

If I had to travel north today I'd drive...and like we did before, we'd pack lunch, food to make more lunches and frozen dinners that we prepared (the frozen food eliminates the need to carry cold packs or ice)

like in the past we'd stay in a Residence Inn, or those like it that offer a mini kitchen, so that we could avoid restaurants and enjoy our own food

I'd ask the desk clerk upon arrival for a room that has been unoccupied for at least the past 3 days (shouldn't be difficult, as travel is way down)

when I gassed up the car I'd use an old plastic grocery store bag as a glove and discard it in the trash

the rest rooms in the rest areas are usually kept clean...but, ya gotta go, ya gotta go

and use hand sanitizer whenever we got out of the car

We just traveled 1;250 miles north. One night in motel. Wife Lysol sprayed/wiped every surface before bringing items in. Easy trip. Rest rooms and food clean and available. Recommend driving

Have a safe trip!

The last time we did that over 5 years ago was the very last time. Never again. You get to a point where you are not even aware how tired you are but by the grace of God, we made it.

Recently traveled back to Missouri. One night Tuscaloosa at Residence Inn. Low occupancy and room had not been occupied since March. Felt safe. Rest areas not so clean!

I too have no fear about flying at this time. Flew back to Boston. Just sanitize, wear mask and you’ll be fine. Planes are cleaner now than ever.

My commute from TV to home is 1265 miles and I go by car. I hope to never have to take a plane again since it's been a horrible experience since Sept 11th 2001 and I prefer having my car with me at all times. I stop at a hotel after 12 hours the first day, and have an extra 9 or 10 hours to drive the next day. I drive alone, but if you have another driver in the car it should be pretty easy.

I don't mind flying if I'm going on an arranged group vacation (tour) where hotels, and transportation are provided. I'll even go on a cruise (did two so far this year) and be very comfortable.
However, if I'm heading up north to visit family, I prefer to drive (car or truck, doesn't matter which) so that once there, I'm free to travel around and not depend on others for transportation.
I like the idea of airlines leaving the middle seat empty, even if it means a 50% price increase.

Drove 1050 miles a week ago and stop 3 times for gas. Drove straight through to IN. Packed a few snacks and drinks. Used wipes at the gas pumps and after a bathroom visit. Stopped at a rest area for a bathroom break. Surprised the restroom was fairly clean. Still used wipes and sanitizer. Traffic was light to moderate. We noticed that most of the hotels were open and were pretty full based on the cars in the parking lots.

auto train

Made it back to Maine
 

Traveled 1,454 miles in 20hrs back to Maine. Traveled 900 miles the first day and stayed at the Hampton Inn on the north side on Hagerstown MD. Very clean, we brought a set of our own sheets for the bed and just wiped everything down that you’d normally touch as extra precaution. Traveled the remaining route the second day and was home by 2:00pm. We made our own lunches and ate as we traveled. We did stop at some rest stops along the way which were of no problem because most often you were the person in there! Traffic was extremely light the entire way making it easy trip. Our route traveled was 75 to Ocala then 301 to 200 to 95 to 26 to 77 to 81 to 84 to 90 to 290 to 495 then 95 into Maine. because of the light traffic we made it in record time. Normally it takes us about 21 to 22 hours. This time just 20 hours! Hope this info helps! This Covid-19 is like the threat of terrorism. It’s something to be taken seriously but don’t let it control your lives. Everything we do in life comes with a level of risk. What we can do to minimize those risk and go on living our normal lives is what’s most important! So all be safe as possible and live your lives without fear! 🤔😉

Agreed! My husband and I are supposed to be in South Dakota for the summer right now but we are still here. We are so cautious now of flying, being in airports, being in crowds, and being near people who ignore the simple precautions. We would drive, but we’re pretty cautious too, about hotel rooms and eating in roadside restaurants. If we don’t make it back to South Dakota it’s ok. We have learned to adapt to so many things already.

We're from Southern Maine originally. I hear that anyone coming in Maine is automatically put on a 2 week quarantine and it's effective until August. Our daughter was supposed to come and visit us and we're waiting, patiently, until they lift it.
:pray:

Back to RVing
 

My wife was concerned about getting up to see kids and G. Kids in the Midwest, we’ve been flying or driving over two days in the past. Unfortunately I have a compromised immune system. We‘ve had motorhomes and RV trailers for many years in the past. Since we already have a almost new tow vehicle we bought a 24’ RV trailer three weeks ago. Now we plan on enjoying the drive and take three days or more depending on our side trips along the way.

Hubs and I are snow birds at this time. We left The Villages early due to the virus and would love to fly back at the end of the month. Unfortunately, we probably won't fly again until there is a vaccine or the very least medication to combat the virus. As much as we hope and pray things will soon get back to normal, we are not going to sacrifice our lives for the good of the economy.

We would fly, in answer to your question.

Good luck and stay well.

Vermont
 

We drove to VT on May 1, stayed in rural North Carolina in a Days Inn. We brought our own sheets and sprayed everything solid when we entered. Ate food we brought with us. Stopped a few times a day at truck stops to use the restrooms. We have been home 8 days in self quarantine and feel fine! It is cold here! We had frost one morning and the high will be 52 today. There was little traffic and although we usually stay over twice, we were OK with just one night. 1400 miles so doable.

Driving is preferred for me. I would check the county of a possible hotel stay to see if they have a small or no covid cases.

[QUOTE=Cheapbas;1762484]Interested in opinions from snowbirds and/or full time Residents, if you had to travel 1000 miles at the end of the month, how would you do it? Air, automobile, other. What would you do, or what are you going to do? Maybe add short rationale.

We travel back and forth between TV and Michigan in a 35-foot motorhome, so basically are self contained. We left TV mid-April and had no problems traveling back to Michigan, approx. 1100 miles. Stayed overnight at WalMarts and prepared meals in motorhome.

Also have a place on a lake in Maine. Leaving in a couple of weeks. Auto train to Va. then straight thru to Maine. Rather be quarantined at the lake.

We just drove from The Villages to northeastern Ohio, over 1000 miles. It took us 15 hours. We left at 6 AM got home at 9 PM No traffic whatsoever. Actually a very easy drive once you have your mindset. We stopped twice for takeout, bathroom, and gas. keep in mind a lot of gas stations do not allow you to use their bathroom right now. Rest areas are open for restroom use.
We will be returning to the villages in a month or two. It was such an easy drive we do not have any issues with driving back. We preferred to fly but will play that by ear when we are ready to come back.

Maine has four stages of reopening. They are in very restrictive stage one until June, then enter stage two for the month of June, and then enter stage three in July. As of now, stage three is in place through the end of August. During the first three stages, all out of state visitors are required to quarantine for 14 days upon entering the state. That effectively closes out of state tourism for the entire prime summer season. If these restrictions are not relaxed it is anticipated that over half of the states lodging and restaurants will be forced to permanently close. VERY SAD

We are renters, and we chose to head back to NY State on April 8. We had the option to stay at least through April. We drove down, and drove back. My normal procedure would be to break it down to two or three days, staying in inns, and/or family, but with the coronavirus issue we opted to drive it all in one day. Left TV at 4:40AM and arrived home at 11:30.. It wasn't as bad as I thought, and if I hadn't gotten myself lost (all my GPS's fault of course) in DC, it wouldn't have been too bad at all. Normally it would be hell, but the traffic was light.

Made two trips back and forth in the last month or so. Back in early April the interstates were quiet with just truck traffic. Last week it was a totally different story. The roads were pretty full and the rest areas had enough people in them to make me nervous. Hate the hand dryers, especially now blowing the virus around.

We’re heading back to the People’s Republic of Illinois in just over 2 weeks. We have a cat and dog so we drive and will spend one overnight in Tennessee. LaQuinta and Red Roof allow animals and almost all of them have outside doors that don’t require traversing a lobby. We’ll bring our own disinfectant spray and sanitizer and use accordingly.

The states through which we will pass are already pretty much open, so as long as we can find a rest stop and some fast food for the trip, we’ll be fine, as I suspect most will be.

When we drive with the dog it’s either La Quinta or Best Western. After the last couple of Red Roof Inns, never again.

We are seasonal owners from northern WI
Here Dec.-mid-May, planning to head back, end of this week.
Not excited to do that as our WI governor is an idiot, basing the shut down on Milwaukee,
we are several hundred miles north, with ZERO cases on our county, but still locked down.
For the ride back (1400+ miles) will need to stay 2 nights, will do it in a reputable chain
motel, just can't handle a straight thru drive.
We have had 4 different friends come here renting in the high months, then driving back to WI, they had little
car traffic, and did stay in reputable chain motels with NO known problems. Said all
were very clean , and all had precautions taken.
Can't rely on "Big Brother" to keep us away from every possible condition, just need to do good self control.

That is the way we travel. No real "schedule". Just destination(s).

I would bring my tent and camp out!

I just flew here on Southwest. There were 18 people on the flight so plenty of seating which for reasons unknown didn’t stop one man from sitting right behind me and another man right across from me on the aisle. Go figure. I got up and moved further back where I had several empty rows surrounding me. Masks were not required for passengers but the crew wore them. No food or beverage service but you could bring your own. The first 5 or so rows were blocked off and not available to passengers.
The Orlando airport was practically deserted which was surreal but stores and some food places were open.
It was the least stressful flight I’ve ever been on.

As far as the safety of flying goes, don't you think that if it was so dangerous to your health to fly, and that pilots and flight attendants who on average fly 80 hours a month, that they would be calling out sick in masses and there would be nobody left to work the flights?

Just curious: How exactly do they know you just arrived and how do they monitor you for the 14 days? Do they put one of those ankle bracelets on you? My guess is that it is pure voluntary, unless the local government is spending a lot of time and money watching all the new arrivals.

We just drove 1340 miles from Houston TX to our home in TV and no problems. Hotels and restaurants open for dine in and pick up. Plenty of places to stop and all gas stations open.

I would’ve flown but we’re staying a month and cost of rental car is too much for a month.

800 miles
 

IMO taking your own, pillow, towel and bedroll is being paranoid. Friends drove 1500 miles a while ago, stayed in hotels 3 night, had no problems and are still healthy.

Good question, don’t know the answer. But we don’t like to break laws, so how it is enforced is irrelevant to us.

We will travel slightly more than that distance, about 1100 miles and we will do it all in one day. Leave at 2 AM and get there about 11 PM after time zone adjustment. We will take our own food (sandwiches and so on) and our own drinks. Gas and pit stops will be short and we will wear masks and gloves at these stops. One of us has a compromised immune system so we are not taking any chances.

How do we stay awake that long? We listen to an audio book...a long one spanning 11-12 discs usually. I could drive around the clock if I have something like that to listen to.

Before everyone gangs up and tells me how unsafe this is we have been doing this for years and I happen to be one of those people who rarely gets more than 5 hours of sleep a night (my dad was the same way actually) and functions just fine at this lower sleep level. My spouse cat-naps occasionally and keeps me company most of the trip so we do just fine. This is not for everyone though.

We have discussed how we would stay at a hotel if we need to and we are taking our own bedding, including pillows, and we have a big canvas cover to lay over a hotel bed before we put our stuff over it. Carry a plastic bag to drop the remote into (using a tissue to pick it up with) and alcohol wipes to get all the surfaces we plan to touch. We also never go barefoot in a hotel except in the shower. May be overkill but with a compromised immune system one can't be too careful.

Safe travels.

If you choose to drive and possibly nap in your car, there are parking lots along I-95 North that are well lit and you can snooze safely at night.

Definetly by air. Driving and having to be harrassed at every state line not woth it

A couple posters mentioned that the middle seat in their plane will be unoccupied.

There was an article (with photo) on the Internet this morning discussing a packed cross country flight. All seats filled. This was United which has been advertising that they are not filling center seats. If this would be upsetting for you, you may want to check with your airline.

Will the larger chains, ie, Hampton, Residence, Fairfield, etc, take people going north with Connecticut plates?

We plan to drive down from NY in July. I am not a fan of driving long distances anymore. We dont want to stay at a hotel so we plan on going straight through. I even was shopping around on line for Portable YOU KNOW WHAT... Because I dont think I want to even stop at rest rooms anywhere! LOL But my main concern is falling asleep at the wheel. That's scary! I was thinking about the AMTRACT train you pick up in Virginia but I dont think that you can stay in your car, or could you? Otherwise might as well fly. Same thing.