The pandemic has been rough on everyone and every industry (less prescription drug). The travel/hospitality industry has been one the hardest hit. Travel tanked in early 2020 as Covid cases rose and governments shut down. I personally know multiple people who have cancelled or postponed their vacations due to one reason or another but all stemming from covid.
In the last year and a half (since March of 2020), I on the other hand, have taken 14 flights, landed in 10 different airports, covering 8 states and 3 countries, over 3 different continents, and lodged at 7 different establishments.
Please note, I have taken several covid (active) and covid antibody tests throughout this time. Results will be noted when applicable.
Please know that my purpose in writing this, is not to persuade you to think or feel one way or another, I simply want to provide facts/a brief summary on my experiences in different places throughout this world during all of this: honestly, it surprises me every time I go somewhere, and I feel people need to know.
Let’s start at the very beginning of Covid. To recap, this is what was in my news around this time…
New Orleans, Louisiana. March 2020.
I went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I stayed in a hostel (6 bunkbed’s/12-person capacity room), with 2 chicks from Europe, 1 from Ireland, 1 from China, and 1 stripper from Portland, Oregon. Mind you, there were others that came and left but these were the “long termers”. We made BFFs with China-chick; she was a sweetheart. Anyways… ABSOLUTELY NO masks or social distancing of any kind at this point. We were not wearing masks in the airport or on planes yet either.
Salt Lake City, Utah. March 2020.
Salt Lake be like “what’s The Rona???” … “what’s Al-KO-hall??”
They did have cool toilet seat covers that automatically rotated, replacing itself with a clean one for every new guest. Rona-related?…. eh. It was cool though.
Houston, Texas. March 2020.
Houston, we don’t have a problem.
No sign of covid yet (no masks, closures, restrictions, etc.). At all. We took an Uber to get a tattoo at 2 am and covid never was even a thought.
The day after arriving home, I got a sore throat, cough, body aches, diarrhea, fever, and just felt like ass. I called my doctor to get a test, they wouldn’t give me one. They weren’t really “a thing” yet.
However, about a month later, I drove an hour to get an antibody test to see if I’ve had it before…
It was negative. Rona free. Apparently, I was just malnourished and dehydrated to hell.
Liberty Lake, WA. July 2020.
Stayed at the Best Western Plus. The only time they asked for masks to be worn were at check-in. After that, they didn’t care. I went to the front desk several times without one and was never questioned.
The gym was closed. The pool was closed. And they no longer had a continental breakfast. Instead, you could go up to the front desk (without a mask) and they would give you a “sacked-breakfast”, with some shit to microwave in it. I have absolutely no standards when it comes to food, and I could only ingest a few bites before losing my appetite.
Athol, Idaho. July 2020.
Silverwood Theme Park.
There are few times when you can thank covid for something, but this was one of them. No masks, social distancing or whatnot, nor was anything closed; but they were at half capacity. It was freaking awesome! Half the people, half the lines. 😊
Maupin, Oregon. July 2020.
High Desert River Outfitters. Rafting.
I have done this rafting trip numerous times and this was actually the coolest. They were now only letting 1 party go at a time because of covid (i.e., when you signed up before, even with multiple people, you would likely end up with strangers/other individuals/parties on your raft; now, you didn’t). The 4 of us had an amazing time on our like-6-or-8-person-raft+guide.
Las Vegas, Nevada. October 2020.
Vdara Hotel
Everyone wore masks at the airport at this point, but Las Vegas as a whole, was the most Rona-Nazi place I have seen to date. Every time I tried to sneak out of my room maskless, this tall, gangly m*****-****** would materialize out of nowhere, like some ominous masking apparition, and provide me with one.
*Picture yourself in an elevator. You’re in your own world going back to your room. The elevator door opens and 10 cm’s from your face is some pale, sketch dude, smiling at you with a mask dangling from his fingertips… Alrighty then*
Just about everywhere I went, was the same way. I would try and walk around with a drink in hand and cigarette hanging out of my mouth (as to avoid harassment) but they weren’t having it. If I wasn’t literally actively taking a drink or drag, they would remind me that my mask was to be on. Funsies.
The day after arriving home, I again, felt like shit. I went and got a rapid covid test at my doctor’s office – it was negative. Guess no sleep and too much alcohol can do that to you, who knew…
Los Angeles. March 2021.
Los Angeles International Airport
I felt like I was in one of those zombie apocalypse movies. There was a whole terminal basically empty. The spaces where shops and restaurants were supposed to be, empty. It took about 20 minutes to find any sign of life and even then, there were only about 3 businesses open. California.
The outdoor smoking area had a “closed” sign on it but the door was open and people were using it anyways- so it wasn’t a total disaster.
Interestingly, when I arrived from Paris and went through customs, etc.… I was not once asked for my negative covid test (which was currently a requirement for most countries, including ours). I was asked several times in Paris and Egypt, but not once when coming back to the US.
Paris, France. March 2021.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
The flight was amazing. It was only about 1/3rd of the way full so we all had our own 3-4 seat rows (along with 3-4 pillows/blankets each) to sprawl out on and enjoy the Tylenol PM. Though I have concluded that airlines are not restricting capacity at all, I still believe I can thank covid for this due to the reduction in people traveling internationally.
After boarding, we were all given a couple documents to complete prior to landing. One was a passenger covid tracking form. We had to include our names, contact info, reasons for travel, and seat number. This was handed back to the flight attendants before deboarding. The other, was basically a statement saying you don’t have symptoms, blah blah blah.
We were required to wear masks, even while sleeping, though I couldn’t tell you if that was enforced or not.
Customs was interesting here and I did get asked for my negative Covid test several times. Apparently, they weren’t allowing “layovers” to exit the airport, which is funny, because I did exactly that.
Paris, France
I had booked my flight to Egypt with an 8-hour layover in Paris intentionally for this reason. I had been in contact with a woman named Genevieve but apparently missed a booking step and never finalized my tour. No worries: she got on the phone with a cab driver who was parked and waiting at the airport and worked me out a deal so I could see the sites.
https://www.toursbylocals.com/Privatewalkingtourofhistoricalparis
I didn’t wear a mask in the cab, nor did I in the bakery and wine shop I visited. Neither were most others.
Side note: The day after my first visit here, The Government of France would begin another lockdown (or “blackout”, as they refer to it). In April, they extended that blackout. Also in April, I got a tourist notification from the US Embassy, strongly encouraging Americans to stay out of Paris due to demonstrations (aka protests).
On my return trip, I left my covid test at the airport in Cairo. I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t this…I just had to sign a form saying, “I don’t have symptoms, blah blah blah…” and that would be sufficient. There’s actually an official form readily available at a self-serve counter in customs that acts as a negative covid test.
Alrighty then.
Cairo, Egypt. March 2021
Cairo International Airport
The first thing they said to me in Cairo while making my way through customs was, “can you put on a clean mask?”. Well, didn’t I feel classy.
Then they confiscated my Champaign. Related to covid? Probably not, but still irritating. I removed my mask in the baggage pick-up area. By this time, no one was wearing them.
Cairo, Egypt
I visited for about 5 days. I think I saw 3 people wearing masks the entire time. It was as if covid never happened there. I literally forgot about the pandemic for an entire 4 days; until I had to find somewhere to get a rapid test for my return flight. That was an interesting experience. It was about $150 USD and as soon as she began unpackaging the swab, I had a slight moment of panic. I muttered something along the lines of, “wouldn’t that suck if it was positive…Ha. Ha…. Ha”. Then she said, “it won’t”.
Hmmm.
Didn’t really matter because I left it in Cairo anyways.
There was absolutely no social distancing, no restrictions on anything, no people keeling over dead in the streets or hospitals over-flowing, it was literally – normal.
New York, November 2021.
JFK International AirportWe had to wear masks on the flight, though they weren’t that picky. I can confirm a minimum 5 min window of not re-masking your muzzle after eating/drinking, where they wouldn’t say anything. Didn’t push it much further than that due to the fact I was crammed between 1 large and 1-not-small person, one in which had a cough (totally not socially acceptable anymore).
No covid testing or vaccine documentation requested.
I just assumed all airports would be Nazis, regarding masks, because it’s a national mandate. So I just naturally wear them in airports automatically. However, upon my return to the airport, I was running late and frazzled and totally forgot. I didn’t realize I wasn’t wearing one until I got to my gate. Then put it on. No one said a word.
New York City
I wouldn’t say I was hesitant, but most my peers were when I told them about my New York trip. NYC had recently opened back up but were now requiring covid vaccine documentation to enter just about any establishment. I’m not vaccinated. NYC is hardcore, right? Probably shouldn’t go, I won’t be able to do anything, right?
Wrong.
I didn’t wear a mask anywhere my entire trip. There were surprisingly a lot of people not wearing them. I got asked for a vaccination card once and I think it was because I looked like an undercover person – little white female…late…. rolling solo in NYC… sits up at the bar… idk, but I ended up showing them a scan of a blank, partial vaccination card and she responds, “what would you like?”.
I was never asked to mask up, show proof of vaccination, or a negative covid test.
And as previously mentioned, all businesses were open as well (with vaccination “requirements”).
Side note: NYC has little trailers set-up all over town that offer FREE RAPID TESTING AND ANTIBODY TESTING. You just walk up, fill in about a 4-line questionnaire (name, home city, etc.…), then go get your test. I got both tests and received results that evening (about 3 or so hours later). Nifty.
Both the covid and antigen tests were once again negative.
Seattle, Washington. August, 2021.
Lumen Field.
Went to a Seattle Seahawks game. No mask requirements. No reduced capacity, social distancing, or other restrictions of any kind. Same with the hotel we stayed at.
Belize. March, 2022.
San Ignacio, Belize City, San Pedro.
Covid literally did not exist here… until I was getting ready to board my return flight. They wanted me to spend like $200 at the airport to get a covid test. I didn’t have $200. lol go figure.
Long story short – after throwing a fit and telling them they better hook me up with a job “because I’m stuck here”, and calling the US Embasy (yes, I fucking did that) – they still didn’t budge. Robin sent me the money so I could return home lol.
[I think it might have been only like $50… $200 was slightly less embarrasing]
Moral of the Story
Its relative. You will interpret this the way you want.
Me personally? My experiences have led me to be offended. Everytime I watch the news, I take offense. Taking the extreme 1% of the world and televising it with the implication of normalcy, is misleading,immoral, and just downright rude, and I take offense to that. But that’s just me.
A Single White Female 
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