Our One Line team is firmly rooted in our mission and core values – WE ARE travelers and experience makers, committed to the ideals that WE ARE the creative capital to our project successes. The Co-Founders, Karrie and Susan, launched the firm with the commitment that they would use their experience and knowledge to lead young talent to be the future of the firm and impactful contributors to our industry.
#maskselfie - Karrie Drinkhahn, Co-Founder navigates the new normal while traveling for business.
Couple this with the idea that we are firm believers in ‘The Golden Rule’ – treat others as you wish to be treated, today’s ‘new normal’ creates opportunities for us to think about the best way to provide unparalleled deliverables and service to our clients.
The dilemma: when project schedules challenge you with travel in the time of COVID? Are you ready to take that first flight, stay overnight in a hotel and work with other professionals and consultants to deliver the final
installation? How does self-preservation of your health and the health of others weigh against successfully completing our scope of work and meeting client expectations?
The answer: Carefully.
The decision to begin limited travel was not one we took likely and did consider the local government of our office locations, the project location, and our individual comfort level. It is not just our own immunocompromised systems we had to consider, but the health and safety of all those that we were to be in contact with.
This past week, our Co-Founder, Karrie, resumed travel to a project on the west coast. Here are a few of her take-aways and “golden rules” for keeping herself and others as safe as possible. These of course are not recommendations from doctors, but ways to be as responsible, mitigating exposure risk as much as
possible. We also looked to industry peers who assisted in publishing the US Travel Industry Guidance for promoting the health and safety for all travelers. See the link below for more details:
https://www.ustravel.org/toolkit/industry-guidance-promoting-health-and-safety-all-travelers
Our One Liner Golden Rules of Travel:
Wear your mask, always. Although it does not eliminate the spread of COVID, there is something about it that mentally keeps you thinking about your responsibility to yourself and others. It is hard to forget we are still in a pandemic when you have a mask on!
If you have the opportunity, choose direct flights and upgrade as you can. Delta Airlines was proactive keeping passengers separated (all middle seats were blocked) and taking measures to be smart. They provided masks and hand sanitizer to anyone that needed it as you boarded the plane. If you can find a mask with a small ventilator, that helps too. We found some online with replaceable, washable filters as well.
Antibacterial wipes & hand sanitizer are your friend – thank you, #Purell. Travel with plenty of wipes to be able to wipe down any areas you might be touching or exposed to in your guestroom and throughout the day. Your seat on the plane, door handles, remotes, your mobile phones … you get the idea.
Wash your hands often and thoroughly, then invest in a good hand lotion to combat all the extra washing! We definitely recommend Aveda Hand Relief
Limit your movements. It is natural to want to be out and about, taking advantage of your trips, seeing other industry peers or properties - we are an extraverted industry of professionals. During these initial COVID trips, limit any meetings and interactions. You might even find like we did, eating in your room is the only option
Limit your accessories and belongings. This is a hard one for Karrie, as statement earrings are usually a wardrobe staple – keep it simple to ease the removal of your mask. Plus, extra belonging to carry around while you travel means more opportunities for them to be set down on public surfaces or more items to disinfect later.
We are all in this together and have a shared responsibility to each other.
No one has the magic answer to when it is safe to start traveling & weighing the risks and limitations of it all. As a team and as projects require, we decided the best way was to follow our self-appointed Golden Rules, be smart and do our small part in getting the hospitality industry back on its feet.Lastly, we wanted to share the industry forecast from our friends at Price Water House Coopers. These numbers are our collective new normal, and we are in this together. See the forecast report here:
We choose to look forward with realistic optimism and future dialogue from “social distancing and flattening the curve” to “rebounding and raising the bar”.
Hope to see you all out there soon!!