Is it possible to travel responsibly (during a pandemic)?

[Ghost95]

With respect to keeping Covid-19 under control, elective/recreational travel is irresponsible. Period. No matter what precautions are taken.

But we (individuals, governments, corporations) are flawed and we do irresponsible and selfish stuff. With proper COVID protocols or otherwise.

If we as individuals choose elective travel right now, we should be honest with ourselves and accept the fact that we are being irresponsible. No masks, wipes, distancing, quarantining, economic support of local economy, etc. can justify it.

Yes, I've been irresponsible once. I took all those precautions and followed all recommendations and guidance... but in the end, I didn't really HAVE to do it. I chose to do it.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I am not a Super Trumper, No Masker, or Govt Control conspiracy theorist, but there are entire economies that depend on exactly the type of travel that we're talking about. There are entire communities that depend on nothing but dive travel.

Does Pensacola Fl., or Venice La. depend on us traveling to feed their families? Probably not, but, I do have a friend in Utila, Honduras that said his island is struggling from the lack of tourist travel.

We need to " Spread the wealth" around to keep people fed. The biggest issue is that we have is to be as safe as reasonably practicable. Otherwise we will all just rot in our homes and become shallow characters is some dystopian novel.

Travel but follow all the G..D... Precautions!!!

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

Under the right conditions to the individual, it’s certainly safe to travel to certain locals. Hundreds have done it safely. You don’t have to though....who does your grocery shopping? Fills your car up? Goest to the ATM. Touches money, mail......ok, I’ll stop now

You're totally correct. Our mere existance has an impact on others... directly or indirectly.

I just can't put my trip to Cozumel (which was awesome and I had no issues) in the same category as my Whole Foods home delivery. I did the trip as responsible as I could (masks, testing, 14 day strict self isolation before and after trip) but in the end, it was elective and unnecessary travel.

 

[Ghost95]

So what you are saying is that every single human contact in the 80's was a sexual incident?

Yeah, I'd say its a little more.

Every single human contact now does not mean exposure either. But It could.

We just need to remember that precautions, when properly and consistantly applied, can retard the spread of this, or any, communicable, social virus.

 

[Grateful head]

To the people that say travel is reckless and selfish, irresponsible ect.... do you go out to dinner, do you go to the grocery store, the bank, your family members home? Serious question

 

[drrich2]

Responsibility is a matter of degree. Every time we take a car on the road, there's a chance we'll get in a wreck and someone else will get killed. But drive for recreational pursuits when not strictly necessary. I imagine the risks with the pandemic are substantially higher, but my point is it's a matter of degree. Yes, there's a risk of moving the virus around.

And there probably always will be. This virus is expected to be a permanent fixture of human life on Earth going forward, from what I've read. Yes, vaccination rates will climb greatly. Yes, the speed of spread will diminish, and the death rate and hospitalization/I.C.U. usage rate all fall.

But not to zero. The flu kills many each year, yet we ignore it when travel planning (except maybe an annual flu vaccination). The flu virus mutates, a new strain can be deadly, etc...

So however people answer this question now, it will linger...at what point between the danger level of COVID-19 now, and the flu we customarily ignore, does it become 'safe' enough for dive travel? When the fatality rate is 5 times the flu? 3 Times?

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

To the people that say travel is reckless and selfish, irresponsible ect.... do you go out to dinner, do you go to the grocery store, the bank, your family members home? Serious question

Nice account name you have there.

No.

I've left my house around five times since March. Once was to go to Cozumel.

Everything is delivered and luckilly I can work from home. All holidays were skipped.

 

[Joneill]

Please don't take this the wrong way. I am not a Super Trumper, No Masker, or Govt Control conspiracy theorist, but there are entire economies that depend on exactly the type of travel that we're talking about. There are entire communities that depend on nothing but dive travel.

Does Pensacola Fl., or Venice La. depend on us traveling to feed their families? Probably not, but, I do have a friend in Utila, Honduras that said his island is struggling from the lack of tourist travel.

We need to " Spread the wealth" around to keep people fed. The biggest issue is that we have is to be as safe as reasonably practicable. Otherwise we will all just rot in our homes and become shallow characters is some dystopian novel.

Travel but follow all the G..D... Precautions!!!

You could donate directly as well. I’ve donated to funding campaigns to help staff for several dive shops in places I’d normally be diving.

 

[tursiops]

To the people that say travel is reckless and selfish, irresponsible ect.... do you go out to dinner, do you go to the grocery store, the bank, your family members home? Serious question

No Yes No No

 

[Ghost95]

To the people that say travel is reckless and selfish, irresponsible ect.... do you go out to dinner, do you go to the grocery store, the bank, your family members home? Serious question

Grateful...not arguing against you. Sorry if it seems that way. I'm actually an advocate of your argument.

Yes, my wife and I go to dinner. When I'm home, we go about once a month.

When we go to dinner, we go at about 1600 and are gone before most others get there to eat.
We wear Masks in the presence of waiters and other customers.
We sit at a back room bar to be distant from other patrons.
We carry wipes and "sanitize" our area like crazy people.
If we can't meet these "personal restrictions" we don't go out.

At grocery stores, banks, hardware stores, we wear masks. We also wipe ourselves, the cart, and our credit cards down with wipes.


Yes we look CRAZY. But we have family, friends, and neighbors with health conditions. Hell, I have a heart stent. We try really hard not to expose anyone to any undo risk during the course of our daily lives but we do still have to live our lives. So does everyone else.

We take our personal safety and our community responsibility seriously.

All this being said, I'll probably still get this and die.

 

[Esprise Me]

do you go out to dinner

No. Take-out and delivery, yes, with mostly contactless pickup, but I have not eaten inside at a restaurant since March.

do you go to the grocery store

Yes, because I can't grow all the food I need to eat on my apartment balcony, and having groceries delivered just shifts the risk to someone else when I am as low-risk as anyone can be.

the bank

No. Outdoor ATM, yes, and I take out enough to last months.

your family members home?

Mostly no. I visit my parents in their backyard, sitting ~15 feet apart. We do not hang out inside their home, and they do not visit me at my apartment.

I am not especially worried about what this virus would do to me. I'm young, healthy, female, nonsmoker, Type O blood-- name a risk factor, I don't have it. If I were only considering the risk to myself, I'd be in a tropical paradise right now. (Literally--I had a vacation scheduled starting last week, through next week.) Instead, I'm trying to behave in a way that will result in fewer deaths and less suffering for others. Believe it or not, I actually care about people, even people I don't know, and I'm not just smirking in judgment of people who get to go on vacation for the thrill of spite.