How to Have Fun Outdoors during a Pandemic

A year into the pandemic, many of us are experiencing the very real phenomenon of isolation fatigue. To help you cope, there are various ways to be outdoors and still practice COVID safety measures. These all mainly involve avoidance of public transportation, some nostalgic experiences, and the great outdoors. Here’s how you can have socially distanced mobility amid the coronavirus.

Boating

Perhaps one of the reasons why we as humans feel drawn to the sea and the beach is because those places are good for us. A journey to the seaside is an age-old remedy for sickness, and being in the water has several benefits. Saltwater has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. The sea also relaxes us and lifts our spirits.

Take your next swimming or saltwater fishing trip to the next level by renting a boat for the weekend. You can even rent a houseboat, which is not to be confused with a floating home. A floating home looks like any other house but happens to be sitting on a floatation device on the water. It has no engine and is often surrounded by walkways that connect it back to the land. A houseboat is just essentially just a boat – it has an engine and can therefore move around.

There are two ways to make trips like this safer. The first is to only take with you the people you’re quarantining with. The second is that, if you’re planning on taking the boat long distances, you’ll need the help of someone who knows how to man a boat. This is for your safety. You need to have someone on board who knows their way with boats in case of any emergencies.

Road trips and camping

Rent a van or RV and hit the road. You could also take your personal car with you – all you’d have to do is bring along the right equipment. If you want to save yourself the trouble of having to set up a tent, bring an inflatable car bed so you can sleep in your car.

But if you take your camping seriously and are willing to splurge on it, iKamper’s SkyCamp 2.0 is the premium camping companion. Easy to set up appears as a hardshell case that props up on the top of your vehicle. Once you open it and set it up, it becomes a sleeping tent that can sleep up to 4 people on its comfortable king-sized mattress. Its high-quality poly-cotton canvas tent fabric is breathable yet insulating. It also has a collapsible ladder for climbing up and down from the tent. The SkyCamp 2.0 instantly turns your car into an enviable camping site.

Snowsports

If you’re already looking forward to the next winter season, make sure you have a pair of Skiskates. By a company called Snowfeet, skiskates are branded as the world’s shortest skis. They’re easy to bring around and can fit into almost any size of snow boots. The product got its name from being a combination of skis and skates, so you can glide on snow the same way you would on ice and just as easily transition back into skiing.

But there are more dangers to snow sports than just the pandemic. Many people get injured from snow sports, and some injuries end up being fatal.

Drive-in and drive-thru activities and events

Due to the closure of cinemas, the pandemic prompted a surge of nostalgia when the CDC deemed drive-in movie theaters to be a safer option.

Apart from movie theaters, drive-ins have also proved an effective and socially distanced way to host other events. For its season 1 finale, the hit HBO show Lovecraft Country crafted an immersive drive-in experience for its fans. The show, set in the 1950s – a time when drive-in movie theaters were incredibly popular – dressed its venues, hosts, and ushers in 1950s decor and attire. Hosts and ushers also wore masks to follow safety guidelines.

Drive-thru events and displays helped bring Christmas cheer to several places across the country with their Christmas lights displays.

Fun on wheels

With public transportation deemed unsafe due to the possibility of crowding, many people have since taken to busting out the bikes, skateboards, and roller skates they haven’t touched in a few years. It’s a fun way to travel without the use of carbon dioxide-emitting engines. Just make sure you’re wearing the proper safety gear – helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads.

Bounce back from your isolation fatigue by going outdoors. Pack up and go camping, fishing, or boating. Hit the road and go to a drive-in movie theater. You can even do something simpler such as go biking, roller skating, or skateboarding.