post covid traveling

[Luv2play]

2 hours ago, Oscar Not Wilde said:

I answered US to the poll. I am staying in US for '21. Savannah, Georgia first and then later Hawaii which is a family gathering are my travel plans for this year.

I'm in the process of renewing my passport. In '22, Dublin, Buenos Aires and Berlin are on my list in no particular order as of now.

Savannah is a lovely town. Been there twice and would love to go again sometime.

[Guest]

Current travel restrictions for US residents. Dark green means no testing or restrictions, light green means testing but no quarantine. Yellow means quarantine required. Peach means border closed, returning citizens only, with quarantine:

[+ tassojunior]

United also today has some July $400 roundtrips Washington to Lisbon and $500 RT to Barcelona. Also found a 60K mile Biz ticket to Zurich for July. 

United has their Europe nonstops on sale big for peak season.

edit: for rewards i've discovered that United has wide-open business Polaris on their nonstop DC to Brussels at 60K miles. No other city has much and flights through Brussels to other cites are mostly regular rate which starts at 160K miles. But BRU has cheap flghts all over Europe and it's that red-eye over the Pond that makes Biz class lay-flat seats worth it. 

Edited June 27, 2021 by tassojunior

[+ tassojunior]

4 hours ago, Unicorn said:

Current travel restrictions for US residents. Dark green means no testing or restrictions, light green means testing but no quarantine. Yellow means quarantine required. Peach means border closed, returning citizens only, with quarantine:

But US citizens must have a test within 72 hours before flying to re-enter the US. 

[mike carey]

16 hours ago, Axiom2001 said:

There are so many places that I'd like to visit, but more than likely I'll be visiting my postponed trip to Washington, DC to take in the National Black Museum (...can't remember its official name) and other national gems that I have yet to experience. 

As @keefersaid, thoroughly worth a visit. Fun fact, there's a statue of a white Australian in there. (It's of Peter Norman who was the silver medallist in the 200m at the Mexico City Olympics. He is depicted along with Tommie Smith and John Carlos.)

[Guest]

On 6/25/2021 at 8:36 PM, JoeMendoza said:

Tahiti

I have some friends that were there a couple of weeks ago.  It sounds like there’s no reason to wait except the inconvenience of the testing protocols...

[+ José Soplanucas]

What a weird coincidence. I posted this same poll in gayguides. I just checked it and over there 19 members voted, exactly the same number than here at the moment.

[Epigonos]

Just returned from a week in  New Orleans.  Beastly climate but excellent food and the World War II Museum is outstanding.  Being from California I was surprised how few people were wearing masks.  I will be in Puerto Vallarta in early November.  Am planning a driving trip in the hill country of Texas, between San Antonio and Austin, in either January or February.  I am also scheduled for "A Tour Around the Treasure Houses of England" in September of 2022. 

I MUST start making up for lost time.

[+ DERRIK]

Flew to Jacksonville

resigned to the fact of masks on plane

Stay at Aloft

Signs everywhere about wearing masks - no one wearing them inside

Time for corporate to man up.   Either enforce your rules or change them.

i suspect that masks should be voluntary but not enforcing your own rules only adds to confusion.

 

 

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, Epigonos said:

Just returned from a week in  New Orleans.  Beastly climate but excellent food and the World War II Museum is outstanding.  Being from California I was surprised how few people were wearing masks.  I will be in Puerto Vallarta in early November.  Am planning a driving trip in the hill country of Texas, between San Antonio and Austin, in either January or February.  I am also scheduled for "A Tour Around the Treasure Houses of England" in September of 2022. 

I MUST start making up for lost time.

New Orleans…only for the spring and fall.  Summer is ghastly indeed.  

My ex-wife winters in Puerto Vallarta.  Don’t be surprised to see no masks there either.  

[Epigonos]

I was in Puerto Vallarta last November and was totally surprised how many people were wearing masks.  All the restaurants I( visited would NOT allow customers to enter without having their temperature taken first.  All bars, clubs and restaurants had to be closed by 9 p.m.  All restaurants on the beach had to be cleared by 5 p.m.  Additionally all beach goers had to be off the beaches by 5 p.m. as well.  It will be interesting to see how things have changed when I go this November. 

[+ WilliamM]

3 hours ago, Epigonos said:

Just returned from a week in  New Orleans.  Beastly climate but excellent food and the World War II Museum is outstanding.  Being from California I was surprised how few people were wearing masks.  I will be in Puerto Vallarta in early November.  Am planning a driving trip in the hill country of Texas, between San Antonio and Austin, in either January or February.  I am also scheduled for "A Tour Around the Treasure Houses of England" in September of 2022. 

I MUST start making up for lost time.

. And read Robert Caro on Johnson and the hill country.

I was born in Austin in July 1943

I

Edited June 27, 2021 by WilliamM

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, Epigonos said:

I was in Puerto Vallarta last November and was totally surprised how many people were wearing masks.  All the restaurants I( visited would NOT allow customers to enter without having their temperature taken first.  All bars, clubs and restaurants had to be closed by 9 p.m.  All restaurants on the beach had to be cleared by 5 p.m.  Additionally all beach goers had to be off the beaches by 5 p.m. as well.  It will be interesting to see how things have changed when I go this November. 

I spent a week there in November and in March. The rules in November were even stricter than that. The restaurants had to be completely clear by 9 PM, which meant the last service was at 7 PM. The beaches had to be clear by 3 PM. This was obviously counter-productive since that forced everyone to have dinner at the same time (7 PM), and everyone had to crowd into the swimming pools after 2:30 PM. It just shows how stupid officials can be. They just want to show they're "doing something" even if that something actually increases the risk. Forcing people to crowd together, instead of spacing things out, was obviously quite silly. Those rules were gone in March. Not being vaccinated in November, I never went to any club or other indoor venue (outdoor restaurants only). 

In March, I avoided the clubs for the first few days, because I was afraid I might get exposed, and test positive for the test which had to be taken a couple of days before the flight (typically takes 3 to 5 days after exposure to test positive). I knew there was no contagion risk to others even if I did get exposed (since I was vaccinated), but the rules were (and maybe still are) that one couldn't return for 14 days if one tested positive.

[+ tassojunior]

I took my European guests to Clearwater 3 times during the pandemic (Miami and FTL were closed). Since they left in November and since lockdown has eased in March I've been to FTL twice to go to Johnsons. South Florida is just sort of a commute from DC it's such a short cheap flight---cheaper than going to Rehoboth. 

I wanted to take the new United nonstop from Newark to Dubrovnik and see both Spit and Montenegro. Then I saw vaccination there is below 5%. 

 

[Islesguy]

I really don't know how I will survive emotionally if I cannot go to London in August. I know I will but I will be distraught for a good while especially since I will have no idea for when to rebook for a second time. With all the studies showing vaccinated individuals, especially ones who received Pfizer or Monderna, being nearly immune from severe disease and death from all variants so far, countries should be allowing fully vaccinated people to travel freely. I don't mind a testing requirement, but forced quarantining seems excessive.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Islesguy said:

I really don't know how I will survive emotionally if I cannot go to London in August. I know I will but I will be distraught for a good while especially since I will have no idea for when to rebook for a second time. With all the studies showing vaccinated individuals, especially ones who received Pfizer or Monderna, being nearly immune from severe disease and death from all variants so far, countries should be allowing fully vaccinated people to travel freely. I don't mind a testing requirement, but forced quarantining seems excessive.

That's true. Multiple studies have shown that once one has antibodies (from either prior infection or from immunization), one will not be contagious even if one gets sick, so the testing which should be required is antibody testing, not testing for the virus (much more accurate, also). I do have to admit that this data was not gathered when the Delta variant was around, but has worked with other variants. The UK seems committed to enforcing a strict 2-week quarantine on arrival, so leisure travel to the UK is out for the foreseeable future (even from countries with much lower rates of positivity than the UK--but that's another issue). 

[LookingAround]

On 6/26/2021 at 3:40 PM, latbear4blk said:

And...? So they are starting to fly.

And I do not believe you know. Your first post shows the same disregard for the rest of the world that you are showing now for the minority of posters who are not from USA/Europe.

I’m in Europe now. You don’t know what you’re talking about. 

[thedanNYC]

On 6/26/2021 at 7:43 PM, tassojunior said:

there's a new United nonstop from DC to Athens that's only 30K each way coach and easy to get. i think there's like $600 rt fares also. 

Got any miles to spare for that cheap ticket?

[+ José Soplanucas]

6 hours ago, LookingAround said:

I’m in Europe now. You don’t know what you’re talking about. 

LOL. I think you do not know what I am talking about.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

September 2020 - Atlanta, Georgia, because they were open.

October 2020 - Caught Covid from my housemate.   Recovered.

November 2020 - Had a trip planned to Puerto Vallarta, but I postponed it until April because PV shut down early during November.

January 2021 - Florida.  Walt Disney World, Orlando, Ft Lauderdale, Florida.

February 2021 - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

April 2021 - Palm Springs, California.  Got the Covid vaccine in April.  Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

May 2021 - New Orleans, Louisiana

September 2021 - Chicago, Illinois

January, 2022 - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

February 2022 - Phoenix, Arizona

April 2022 - Palm Springs, California

May 2022 - New York City, Cruise to Rhode Island, Bermuda, South Carolina.

October 2022 - Venice, Italy.  Cruise to Greece.  Then Rome, then Barcelona.  Then Cruise from Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale.

 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Vegas_nw1982

[+ José Soplanucas]

We have a traveler to Argentina and zero to Brazil. We keep winning!

A joke, just in case any Brazilian friend is reading.

[+ Bryan Dube]

Feel like it's destined to be just a stateside traveling type of year. I really wish i could travel to South Korea, Or Taiwan, Or Thailand, but could get dicey if the situation changes drastically with the delta variant or a new variant. Pretty much have zero interest in Europe at this point (just the fact that i've been already). 

[Guest]

Latest travel map for vaccinated travelers from the US. Dark green, no testing needed. Light green, testing prior to arrival. Yellow: quarantine required. Orange: travel ban. Gray: Why the Hell do you want to visit Yemen, Somalia, or South Sudan?

[+ pdxleo]

Must admit, international travel is off the menu for me, at least until the world is in a healthier condition. Next month, my stepdaughter is getting married in Bensalem, PA- after being stuck in travel-visa hell in Poland for the better part of the last year, they finally got back home in June. We take so much for granted, and I'm gonna gird my loins and do this- hope it works out ok, but it's time to get back to some semblance of normalcy

[+ José Soplanucas]

8 minutes ago, pdxleo said:

Must admit, international travel is off the menu for me, at least until the world is in a healthier condition. Next month, my stepdaughter is getting married in Bensalem, PA- after being stuck in travel-visa hell in Poland for the better part of the last year, they finally got back home in June. We take so much for granted, and I'm gonna gird my loins and do this- hope it works out ok, but it's time to get back to some semblance of normalcy

If more variants keep coming up, and vaccination levels keep being this low and this uneven not only across the world but also within countries, traveling internationally will imply taking risks for a long time. I cannot (do not want to?) wait.