So I did it, I travelled during a global pandemic. I had a yoga retreat scheduled and I wasn’t going to miss it since I had willing participants and the borders to the DR (Dominican republic) had recently opened back up. PLUS, we were told that we were going to be the FIRST group of guests on the property since covid, so that was very reassuring.

How did I do it? What happened?

Well, I first started by getting a covid test myself about 2 weeks before leaving on my trip. I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to be the a*$hole that was unknowingly spreading covid around the world because “I didn’t even feel sick”. As we all know, MOST cases are asymptomatic and I’ll be darned if I am going to be the reason that someones loved one dies! I got my results, NEGATIVE. Sweet!

Step 2. I obtained allll the protective gear. N95 mask, lots of disposable gloves (I found some eco friendly gloves that made me feel waaaayyyy better about using gloves), a couple of surgical hair covers, and two full body clothing covers. I wanted to make sure I had two full sets, one for each way. I also ordered face shield but they didn’t arrive in time. It’s ok.

I left my house, with my hair all tucked away into the protective cover and as soon as we got to eh airport I got all geared up! I had lysol spray (travel size) and disinfectant wipes in bulk in my personal item and utilized my Global entry pass to avoid the large gathering of people. I sprayed and/or wiped anything my bags had to touch and replaced gloves as needed. I also made sure to arrive with a full belly and hydrated, to avoid having to remove my mask during the flight. I mean, it doesn’t really make sense to go through ALL of this, just to ultimately expose myself while on the flight.

Step 3. Once I arrived to my accommodations, I immediately removed my clothing and put them inside a waterproof bag that I would not open again until I arrived home and immediately threw them straight into the washing machine. I disinfected the exterior of my bags and then hopped into the shower. PHEW! I did my best! PS – They took all of our temperatures upon arrival and gave us each a sanitizing kit. We were ALL good.

While we were in the DR, we were required to wear masks anytime we were in public, with the exception of when we were at our secluded treehouse village which is spread out massively or at the beach/swimming, which had ZERO other people on it as far as the eye could see. Not kidding. In populated areas though, always a mask.

On the return flight I did the same thing, I geared up when I left the Treehouse village. Then when I arrived home, I sprayed the heck out of my bags with lysol and left them in the garage, I removed my clothes and put them in a trash bag, which I would deal with the next morning and headed straight for the shower.

I immediately went into quarantine upon arriving home. Now this is where the tricky and obnoxious part came into play. Since I wasn’t sure I hadn’t picked up covid while traveling and abroad, I had to make sure I was protecting my family. I LITERALLY wore my mask all day every day, EXCEPT when I ate or taught yoga via Zoom. However, when I did the 2 before mentioned things, I would go outside as to not expose my family to covid, should I have picked it up during my time away and not be presenting symptoms. It was hard and painful, my face under the mask was raw but I did what I felt was the right thing to do. I even wore it when I showered and only removed it to wash my face. This is where all of my free diving breath holding techniques and Wim Hof Method breath work came in healthy 😂 I am able to hold my breath for 2+ minutes so it was easy to hold my breath while I washed my face, then put my mask back on. Winning! Ha ha ha

Step 4. I waited the suggested 72 hours post exposure to “build a detectable viral load” then went to the doctor and got retested. I waited 3 more days and I finally got my results. NEGATIVE! I can’t even explain to you how quickly I ripped that mask off my face when I got off the phone with that nurse. Hallelujah!

So yeah, That’s what I did and that’s why I did it.

Was it worth all the trouble? YES! Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY! In fact, I am doing it again in November to my “Mystery Group Trip”. I would also like to note that I would do it exactly the same way I did it this time, except I’d also bring my face shield or protective eye gear that didn’t arrive in time for this trip. Is it excessive? Maybe, but I am not willing to risk spreading a disease that could kill people OR stop traveling now that borders are starting to open back up.

I would like to highlight that I am NOT promoting travel during a pandemic, ESPECIALLY if you are going to be careless and contribute to the spread of this nasty disease. Ultimately, you make your own choices and if you do choose to travel, I hope you are as careful as I was (or close to it) so we can finally rid ourselves of this awful plague.

Have you traveled since the pandemic hit? Feel free to share your thoughts and/or input in the comments below!

Oh and thank you for taking the time to read my post! 😌 🙏🏼