To travel or not to travel

[ontdiver]

The guy you originally replied to mentioned "travel bans," not lockdowns. I think we're focused on travel here.

Yes - that was me and it was indeed "travel ban", not lockdowns. The latter has been attempted across Canada in various forms and doesn't seem to be working terribly well. Folks are confused, miserable and our numbers - infection and deaths - are still climbing.

I think @Lorenzoid summarizes it quite well: "By not traveling even to places where Covid is widespread, I am doing my little bit. It's like recycling, not wasting tap water, and other such endeavors where the contribution of any given individual makes almost zero difference, but collectively it can make a difference."

I know all of this will look different in the rear view mirror. But we've got a bunch more speed bumps to navigate in the weeks and months to come. Buckle up....

 

[Grateful head]

The guy you originally replied to mentioned "travel bans," not lockdowns. I think we're focused on travel here.

Fair enough. His last sentence was “ stay home, stay patient and stay safe” I heard “stay home” and lumped it in with lockdown. I was wrong to suggest he,she, implied lockdown. Again though, taking into consideration the awful effect of “travel bans” on the economy and society as a whole, I would argue against them. I’m not going to cut off my nose to spite my face. Initially when this whole thing got going, I believe it was prudent to curtail travel to a large degree. But, now, a year later, I feel travel should remain open. Call me selfish, I’m ok with that. To destroy people’s livelihoods possibly forever, well, that’s not ok.

 

[lowwall]

You are at greater risk going to your local grocery store than flying in an aircraft. Just sayn.

From what I've found, the risk for a shorter flight is between going to a grocery store and going to a restaurant with indoor seating.

But the overall risk of airline travel is far greater, especially international travel. You have extended time in airports, longer flights meaning more exposure from people moving around and probably eating and drinking while you are in the air, waiting for bags and immigration, taxis, etc.

There's also the self-selection risk. Those willing to take the risk of international travel at this time likely are willing to accept higher covid risk levels in their other activities. This suggests the base level of infection may be higher among the flying population than a demographically similar non-flying population.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Even the most conscientious traveler who takes all the recommended precautions could slip up once or twice in the course of a trip, or someone the traveler comes near may slip up (or may simply not be as conscientious). One such incident is hugely unlikely to result in transmission, especially when it's already unlikely the persons involved are infected. But if there are thousands of such incidents occurring because we have thousands of trips in total, I would think that could increase the probability of transmission. It has been a long time since I studied statistics, but I suppose the statisticians would speak of a low-probability event times a large number of samples.

 

[Darnold9999]

Even the most conscientious traveler who takes all the recommended precautions could slip up once or twice in the course of a trip, or someone the traveler comes near may slip up (or may simply not be as conscientious). One such incident is hugely unlikely to result in transmission, especially when it's already unlikely the persons involved are infected. But if there are thousands of such incidents occurring because we have thousands of trips in total, I would think that could increase the probability of transmission. It has been a long time since I studied statistics, but I suppose the statisticians would speak of a low-probability event times a large number of samples.

... and this is why common sense does not work in a pandemic. We are not wired to evaluate low probability/large sample risks. Combine that with an ever increasing distrust of experts and institutions and the result is behavior that exacerbates the problem.

 

[Blackcrusader]

You are at greater risk going to your local grocery store than flying in an aircraft. Just sayn.

Cruise Ships and aircraft are great places to get sick when other people refuse to wear mask or even travel when they know they have covid. They become petri dishes you cannot escape from

 

[Ana]

My relatives are all in Europe, mostly in Spain. About half of them live in small apt. In medium to big cities. Their life was always outside and the "home" was just a place to sleep and once in a while eat.
That half used to travel all over the world very often.
The other half lived in either houses (caseríos) or very spacious apartments, they tended to travel very little, not out of boredom or claustrophobia just to check things out once in while.
Obviously when the virus hit, things were and are considerably tougher to my small apt relatives. Makes me think of the post above from Chicago with 2 kids.

Now some of them (my relatives) are considering moving to a different environments. They are not thinking when to travel again but where to go so they can continue working/studying but in a place that doesn't "require" continuous travel.

For me, this virus added an element of fear to catch it, but didn't change my routine much.. typically I stay more than 6feet-2meter away from people.
Yeah grocery stores was a change but that's a couple of times a month... my shopping has been through the net way before this started. The only regular outing was to fill tanks, and that had to be modified a little but that was it. I've always chose location over salary when applying for a job. I actually ended a job that keep me traveling non-stop to have the chance to live where I enjoy my work Tuesdays as much as the days off.

Traveling is great to see other cultures and learn different ways , but feeling trap for lack of traveling is something difficult to understand for me.... just thinking out loud, totally understand and appreciate that everyone is different.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I've traveled a couple of times since Mar 2020 but only to see family. Once was a long-delayed trip back to Indiana in November to see my wife's mother and our kids and grandkids. The second was a trip this past weekend also back to Indiana for my brother-in-law's funeral. My wife and I are both super cautious and found air travel to be a manageable risk. We don't eat out at restaurants or spend much time at all in public while traveling. Heck, even at home we don't eat out in restaurants or spend any more time in public than absolutely necessary!

I do travel locally between the west and east coasts of Florida for local diving but I am also able to manage the exposure risk while on those trips.

Personally I would not yet be comfortable with long, extended travel. We are planning a longer trip for September within the US for a two week vacation. We are expecting (hoping!) the vaccinations within the US to be pretty far along by then and that the pandemic will be in decline. Fingers crossed that we are right! If we aren't able to be vaccinated by then we may rethink the trip.

 

[Hoag]

I personally don't see myself traveling as long as this* is at the very top of the Government of Canada Travel Advisories website:

Until that changes, as desperately as I want to travel, the juice simply isn't worth the squeeze yet.



* The screenshot was taken 19 Jan 2021.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I personally don't see myself traveling as long as this* is at the very top of the Government of Canada Travel Advisories website:View attachment 637243

Until that changes, as desperately as I want to travel, the juice simply isn't worth the squeeze yet.



* The screenshot was taken 19 Jan 2021.

I don't blame you. We have multiple Canadian friends who are snowbirds in our community here in SWFL. They own vacation condos down here. NONE of them have come down this season.