To travel or not to travel

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Just three days ago I dropped off a car at the Airport for a friend who was traveling back from one of the Caribbean Islands from a 5 day medical meeting with local officials about Covid. Her warning to me was don't even think about going abroad!
The big risk that is being downplayed is that if your test come back positive 3 days before your going to leave your vacation spot you will not be able to board the plane back to America. Canada etc. At that point you have two options. It's either 2-3 weeks quarantined in a government facility, which is not going to be pleasant or if your destination has special hotels setup for Quarantining tourist you can pay full Hotel rates and be confined to a room and get room service and daily checks for 2-3 weeks. She also warned me that if you have a bad reaction to Covid and you need Oxygen etc your going to end up in a local hospital as they no longer do special air evacuations.
 
On balance, I think anyone who has had their first injection is probably good to go for travel - and is not being selfish.

incorrect. currently the science is not clear. this may change, but currently, there is no clear evidence that being vaccinated will prevent you from spreading. so you may be safe from getting sick, but you may also still be able to spread infection.

i do think that if you test negative before leaving canada, test negative before returning to canada, and quarantine at home for 14 days, there is little to no chance of a problem.

that said, there are other risks. what if you test positive before returning home. now you are stuck in a foreign country. what if you are with a spouse and kids ? do they leave and you stay ? or do they all stay because of what might happen to you ? what about your job ? etc etc.

some may be in a position that they could travel solo and / or stay longer of needed with no consequences to themselves. many are not able to take the risk.

there are two main considerations imho....your own personal responsibilities, and your responsibility to others. seeing as travel has not been banned, i guess that choice is up to each one of us.
 
On the subject of 'selfish,' and being mindful that unless you're on a mission trip, part fo the Peace Corp.s, etc..., pretty much all our non-work-related travel trips are for self-indulgence, a couple of things are worth noting:
1.) There is some change of spreading the virus when we go, and bring it home when we return. Granted.
2.) When we go, we pour money into airlines, taxis, hotels, dive operators, restaurants and basically support businesses and the well-being of other people.
My point is, this is not 'all or nothing.' People who travel bring some risk...that evidently many businesses consider a worthwhile trade-off because they need that income.
 
On the subject of 'selfish,' and being mindful that unless you're on a mission trip, part fo the Peace Corp.s, etc..., pretty much all our non-work-related travel trips are for self-indulgence, a couple of things are worth noting:
1.) There is some change of spreading the virus when we go, and bring it home when we return. Granted.
2.) When we go, we pour money into airlines, taxis, hotels, dive operators, restaurants and basically support businesses and the well-being of other people.
My point is, this is not 'all or nothing.' People who travel bring some risk...that evidently many businesses consider a worthwhile trade-off because they need that income.
It's a difficult equation. I have a house in SE FL and would love to get back down for some diving. I have not been down since mid-Sept. Both Pennsylvania and Florida have been doing quite badly with regard to Covid-19. My conscience warns me to be a reasonable role model. To go diving for my own pleasure simply does not win out. I got my first dose of the Moderna vaccine today, my second is on Feb 16. I may be able to travel again a couple of weeks after that. We'll see.
 
I flew 25 times for work last year after March 13, 2020 (I perform work mandated by the US government). I am scheduled to go to Mexico to dive in 2 weeks and with the new testing requirements I am on the fence about going. I was not, I am, I am reconsidering...I did receive the first shot of Moderna last week.

My current thought process is that other than the plane and other travel, of which I will be wearing an N-95 mask, that I will isolate as much as possible and except for being underwater I will not be out much.
 
incorrect. currently the science is not clear. this may change, but currently, there is no clear evidence that being vaccinated will prevent you from spreading. so you may be safe from getting sick, but you may also still be able to spread infection. QUOTE]

We are all hoping that the data being collected is going to give us some clear answers and guidance. Up until then, we're left to speculate. FWIW, my sense is that more folks are coming around to the notion that the risk is no longer as manageable as it may have seemed a couple of months ago. 400K dead is a shocking number, no matter how you present it.
 
On the subject of 'selfish,' and being mindful that unless you're on a mission trip, part fo the Peace Corp.s, etc..., pretty much all our non-work-related travel trips are for self-indulgence, a couple of things are worth noting:
1.) There is some change of spreading the virus when we go, and bring it home when we return. Granted.
2.) When we go, we pour money into airlines, taxis, hotels, dive operators, restaurants and basically support businesses and the well-being of other people.
My point is, this is not 'all or nothing.' People who travel bring some risk...that evidently many businesses consider a worthwhile trade-off because they need that income.

Everyone needs income. While I sometimes like the idea of "supporting" a business for economically irrational, feel-good reasons, more generally I believe in the principle of survival of the fittest and the most in-demand. If we begin with the premise that the public believes non-essential travel is not prudent because the public health authorities advise against it, then we can expect some businesses that were living hand to mouth in the first place--which is to say a great many small businesses--will not survive. If there are some businesses that public policy suggests should receive temporary help, there are ways to do that other than flout the advice to avoid non-essential travel. Also, we're not doing businesses or their employees any favors in the long run if we infect their employees, no matter what the business owner may say they consider "a worthwhile trade-off."

I read an opinion somewhere that a lasting effect of the pandemic may actually be to strengthen businesses against future pandemics. Maybe that means better planning, or baking the cost of insurance into prices--I have no idea exactly what the writer had in mind, but it's an interesting idea that we can come out of this stronger.
 
got my first dose of the Moderna vaccine today, my second is on Feb 16. I may be able to travel again a couple of weeks after that. We'll see.

Nothing I've seen recently indicates that being vaccinated will make travel any easier. You will still need to be tested, and if you have a positive test you will still need to quarantine. So far, the presence of antibodies or a vaccine will not satisfy the requirement of being tested 3 days prior to returning to the U.S.

While the vaccine purportedly will provide about 93-95% immunity, it has done nothing by way of changing U.S. government policy - including changing travel restrictions - from what I have seen (PLEASE prove me wrong!!!). I guess I find this especially frustrating because I had put so much hope in the vaccine being the panacea - and it simply is not - at least not yet.
 

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