Responsible Travel Guide // A Trip to Mt Pleasant, South Carolina
Last weekend my family and I took a trip to visit an old friend of mine in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This trip looked a lot different than the road trips we were taking this same time last year, because this year, we are navigating COVID-19. I’m aware this is controversial, but here’s the thing. We have to figure out how to continue to live our lives in a safer way. There are safe ways to continue fun things in life, but no matter what those activities are… they have to be done safely and THERE ARE WAYS to do that.
Though there likely won’t be any trips to Disney World or action packed trips in 2020 for the Dorough fam, when Toyota asked if they could send us on a road trip, I knew it was a great chance to travel safely while also supporting local economies in this tough time, and make some new memories together. Even though we are in a pandemic, there are still ways to enjoy the world around us, it just might look a little different. Below, I have compiled my tips for traveling safely and responsibly this summer.
Biggest takeaway from this trip: You don’t need fancy bells and whistles. You don’t need a thousand pre-planned activities. Less is more.
*note: While Toyota sponsored my family’s trip, this is not a sponsored post. I GENUINELY love the car they gave us to travel in.
This blog post contains affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase anything through the links I've provided, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read more here.
Tips for Traveling Safely:
Plan to go somewhere that doesn’t require air travel. Perhaps an area not too far from home that you’ve never explored.
I HIGHLY recommend driving/renting a hybrid. We never had to stop for gas on the 450 mile drive, which cut out on human contact and kept us and others safe.
Pumping gas - Bring some disposable gloves and wear your mask. Dispose of the gloves immediately after exiting the building and before touching your car. Bring Hand sanitizer if you can. The one we use is HERE.
Consider bringing a portable toddler potty for your kids. If you have a toddler who needs to potty, it makes it so much easier to stop safely somewhere, pop out the potty, and let them go there. All you need is a trash bag, baby wipes, and disinfectant spray to clean up after and boom there you go. Between you and I, we’ve also been known to forget the potty and do a nature bathroom situation, so don’t be afraid to do that! Just do it safely where there are not any other cars.
Stock up on masks so you can change them out and avoid wearing the same ones over and over again. Also, masks aren’t going anywhere so you may as well get some you like! I LOVE these from ASOS, and they arrived within 2 days. They’re made with breathable fabric and, #bonus, they go with my outfits. Lol. Serious. ;) Also if you haven’t already, go ahead and get your kids a few masks. Like I said before, mask wearing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon until we are able to get this virus under control. I love these from Etsy.
Highlights from the Trip!
Here are some places we visited in Mt Pleasant that we LOVED and that had fantastic safety precautions:
Vintage Coffee - has a large outdoor seating area and slide for kids. We felt safe because there weren’t many people there, and everyone was in masks.
Visit: www.vintagecoffeecafe.com
Emmie on the kid’s slide at Vintage Coffee
Geechi’s Seafood - we drove up to safely order fresh seafood!
Visit: Geechi’s Seafood
Baguette Magic - delivers amaazing yummy food like croissants and home made pop tarts.
Visit: baguettemagic.com
This handmade strawberry poptart was TO DIE FOR.
Hustle Smoothie Bar - on Sundays the owner sets up a smoothie truck near the pharmacy in old village and her blender bombs are amazing.
Visit: hustlesmoothiebar.com
Beads and Brushstrokes - Emaline loves to do crafts so we found a local store to buy beads at to make our own bracelets. We had so much fun doing this!! This shop was so great and very helpful. They also have a very strict mask policy as well as a sanitizing station at the front door.
Visit: countrybumpkinarts.com
Mccormick Park - We loved this park because it was huge, empty, and the families that were there were being very respectful of social distancing. Personally, if I’m going to bring my kids to a park, I bring wet ones wipes and hand sanitizer, as well as masks. Even if you don’t run into anyone, it’s always important to have one on you!
Metto - a local drive thru coffee and breakfast/lunch spot.
Visit: mettocoffee.com
Senor Tequila - we picked up a to go order for dinner and it was SO GOOD. I got a beef quesadilla and an order of guac…highly recommend.
Visit: srtequilacharleston.com
Brown Fox Coffee Shop - a walk up window to order, and you sit outside distanced. Everyone was in masks, and we felt super safe.
Visit: instagram.com/brownfoxcoffee
Hermosa - a jewelry shop right next to Brown Fox that requires masks upon entering and hand sanitizer at the door.
Visit: www.hermosajewelry.com
Other Notes for Travel
Using a grocery delivery service like Shipt or Instacart can help cut down on the amount of people you come into contact with!
Be a local, not a tourist! We only left the house on a golf cart to go places that were right inside the neighborhood we were staying in. I highly recommend staying in an Airbnb in a local neighborhood and “living local” rather than trying to go to a bigger town and see all the sights. This was by far one of the best getaways we had in a long time. There was no pressure to go out and sight see, so we got to have more “local” experiences that we might not have had otherwise!
When traveling with kids, going somewhere doesn’t have to be super planned with activities and events. It was so fun to just sit down where we were staying and do crafts and games there. I spent about $100 on new crafts and activities for the kids specifically for this trip - an amount we would have definitely surpassed while going out and attempting to entertain the kids.
These washable paint sticks are SO great, and entertained PJ for long periods of time! Click here to shop.
Here’s some of the activities we brought with us that Emmie and PJ both LOVED:
