COVID-19: Balancing risk versus reward when travelling with unvaccinated kids

We recently pulled off our first trip south of the border since “the before,” and with some cautious optimism, it looks like we got lucky. Not everyone in our extended family has been so fortunate recently. The pandemic has redefined what summer vacation means to both Canadians and Americans, as families in both countries eagerly await more information about vaccine availability for small children.

For the past several months, we’ve been researching and planning to potentially see some of our American family and friends again, if briefly, before the new school year begins. It was an emotional process, as we tried to assess risks while watching the next wave of the pandemic begin to unfold across national, provincial, and state borders in starkly different ways. Both our household and many of the households of our close family include children under the age of twelve, which means they couldn’t be vaccinated yet.

Last summer, when vaccination wasn’t available to the general public yet, we skipped all family events down in the states. With legal residency status in both countries, the border was effectively “open” to us with proper quarantine and testing, but we thought it best for everyone not to abuse that privilege. The totality of our vacationing, beyond our city’s own parks and beaches, consisted of a few days spent at a small, old school lake resort where each guest room had isolated ventilation and all the food was being prepared fresh and served outside. Back then we all knew a lot less about the virus (this was when people were still disinfecting their groceries) and the future seemed very uncertain, so we decided to be extremely conservative. No friends came with us, no family came to visit, and we didn’t even stay a full week…but kayaking around and not shopping or cooking was a lovely break and an incredible morale boost.

a little resort with separate cabins, outdoor dining, and no extended family helped us feel safe during last year’s summer vacation

This year, we know much more about how COVID-19 works, and mass vaccination availability has been miraculous in both Canada and the USA…for everyone above the age of twelve that is. Canada is on the verge of rolling out “vaccine passports” for provincial health restrictions and international travel, and has adjusted quarantine requirements for the fully vaccinated. For the first time, we were facing the possibility that we could travel to see loved ones without extended impact to work schedules. We also had enough time before school began to properly isolate the kids upon return. With seasonality and variant evolution uncertain, that all felt like a unique window of opportunity.

We ultimately decided to travel this year, but to do so as briefly and safely as we possibly could, both for the benefit of our own little ones as well as their young cousins…not to mention every community we would need to pass through on our journey. Of course we couldn’t completely guarantee perfect safety, but our parameters for reducing risks were based on all available scientific evidence. There was no telling how the next wave would go with the vaccination gap between our countries widening, and political storms brewing both north and south of the border. While it’s certainly possible that children as young as five might be vaccinated by the winter holidays, it’s also possible that we might need to stay isolated from Thanksgiving through New Year’s again.

While air travel is impressively well ventilated within passenger planes, we did not want to expose our munchkins to the stressful and crowded realities of any airport terminals. We decided to road trip as we typically do, but without most of the stops we would otherwise make along the way. There was no sightseeing, there were no roadside attractions, and we made no extra visits with additional family whose towns we passed near. We limited our planned contacts to a tight grouping of close relatives, 100% of whom had been fully vaccinated (if eligible). We drove over 2400 kilometres in total, making only two sleepover stops to keep the durations manageable, one at a small contactless motel and one at a friend’s basement. We used rest areas with ventilated facilities, and ate snacks inside the car and drive-thru fast food meals at outdoor picnic areas.

not trying to start a holy war here, but…still the best barbecue in North America

We visited one grandparent’s home along the way, having an outdoor backyard party with nearby family, and then continued on to a rented beach house that my in-laws had graciously arranged for everyone else to gather at. Rather than choosing a location near all the usual “beach week” perks, instead we stayed just south of an undeveloped thousand-acre nature preserve with access to empty beach as far as the eye could see. We spent a week there together, during which only a couple of the fully vaccinated adults stepped off the property a few times to gather groceries and takeout. We were so happy to see each other, nobody missed the mini-golf, bumper boats, go-karts or other attractions. It was just wonderful to have three generations together again, in person, if only for a short while.

nothing for kilometres (or miles) but sand, surf, pelicans, and dolphins

I could share lots of anecdotes from that week spent with those who are nearest and dearest to us, but instead I want to share a completely different story…about our trip home. Having already been able to stop to see one side of our family along our inland route south, we decided to return along a more isolated route up the coast. Due to traffic conditions, we spent quite a while parked on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, and by the time we made from the outer banks all the way up to the the Eastern Shore, the kids were really spent. We needed to find some chow and a decent playground, to eat and stretch. In a little town just off the highway, we found both, and pulled up to a lovely and recently renovated public park eager to devour our bag of chicken nuggets, fries, and milkshakes.

we’ve had this car four years and had never seen it say 40° C before

It was seriously hot out, and there wasn’t much breeze to provide relief. The park had a large, shaded picnic pavilion and some extra tables with umbrellas out on a sun-baked concrete patio, next to a pretty great little playground. There was an outbuilding with washrooms that were open, but the potable water to the drinking fountains had been turned off. Under the pavilion, there was already a large group of people there having some kind of celebration, but there was nobody else around so we made our way to the most isolated picnic table and I set about cranking open the umbrella. Unfortunately it was late in the day, so all that did was shade the nearby ground.

That’s when some of the folks under the pavilion called over to us.

It turns out their gathering had been a baby shower for an expecting mother, and her nearby loved ones had chosen to assemble at that outdoor park rather than inside a family home…bear in mind, there are very little COVID-19 public health restrictions down south (certainly not like there have been in Ontario). They were just wrapping up, packing their picnic materials and leftovers into various vehicles, when one family cleared off a much cooler table inside, distanced from their immediate area, and invited us into the shade. We happily accepted! Then as we unpacked and distributed our greasy goodies, another even offered us some of their extra cupcakes. They did all of this while giving us space, and weren’t pushy about any of it.

There was no commentary about us all wearing face masks when not eating, or having foreign license plates. We congratulated everyone about the new baby, and they wished us well on our voyage. We ate, the kids “got their wiggles out” on the swings and climbing gear, and after a washroom break we started to put ourselves together to get back on the road when a dad and his little girl approached us from the final truck preparing to leave from the baby shower. The father was leading his daughter over to us, and they were holding chilled water bottles dripping from their cooler. He’d seen me walk over to the washrooms and fail to refill ours at the drinking fountains, and wanted to make sure we had some hydration for the road.

I happily accepted them, and wished they could see my smile. I crouched down to thank the little girl, and told her that what she and her dad had just done was very nice and brightened another family’s day. We exchanged some pleasantries about the heat and how “everyone needs to help each other out these days” and then they were off, and we hit the road. We never even learned any of each other’s first names, but I think I’ll personally remember that interaction as clearly as any we’ve had during the entire trip. More than that, I was overjoyed that of all the possible experiences our own kids could have had (with anyone outside our family) during an American road trip in 2021, this was the kind they’ll have to remember.

fifteen minutes to crossing back over the border, and eager to do so…

I don’t recall if I’ve ever talked about this before on another post, but every time we’ve crossed back over the border on our American road trips (which used to be several times every year) we always just kind of exhale and glance at one another and acknowledge a certain kind of relaxation. It’s hard to explain, but it feels a little like driving out of dangerous weather, or narrowly avoiding a collision. I never used to feel that way when I was visiting Canada while living in the states, but since moving here I feel it consistently, and this time was the most pronounced it had ever been. Of course we miss our friends and family terribly, but man, I’m also not in a big hurry to revisit the USA anytime soon and have growing reservations about the winter.

the familiar flags marking the border in the middle of the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, NY and Fort Erie, ON were a welcome sight

I really hope things somehow go well down south, but I’m worried enough about how things are shaping up in Ontario without digging too deeply into looking at the southern states comparatively. In the meantime, as Canada slowly continues to open up to fully vaccinated travellers, perhaps we can have some grandparent visits up here instead. The process of entering the country right now is a little more complicated than it used to be, but is fairly easy and straightforward if you just read up ahead of time. If you have a smartphone or tablet, you can just use the ArriveCAN app which helps you gather all your personal information and test/vaccine documentation in one place (even for multiple members of a travelling family). With our phone and NEXUS cards at the ready, it took only a few minutes to be cleared through the checkpoint and pull into a parking spot to receive the kids’ test kits and a handout reminding us of quarantine rules.

CBSA hands you kits at the border crossing, and a friendly nurse patiently walks you through the whole process over video chat once you’re at home

By contrast, it bears mention that there were no public health controls whatsoever in place when we crossed the bridge in the other direction at the beginning of our trip! The American customs agent had his mask down under his chin, and only wanted to know if we were declaring anything (we weren’t, since all we had were some children’s gifts and a small bottle of ice wine under the declaration limit). The semaphore went up surprisingly fast, the whole interaction having lasted under 30 seconds. There were no screening questions about our health or vaccination status, no inquiring where we’d been or where we were going, and no PCR tests required. In order to come back home, we’d all had to get exit tests in the Carolinas before driving up (results must be less than 72 hours old) plus the arrival kits for the little ones. Fortunately, everything came back negative, and the past couple weeks have been blissfully uneventful.

Now that summer break is coming to an end it’s time to start organizing our backpacks, lunch boxes, and face masks for back to school! Wish us luck, and let’s all hope that next summer, whatever happens in the interim, vacationing is a lot less…complicated.