beachmouse

I married an academic who found a job 1000 miles away from my family of origin and have gone from seeing my parents 4-5 times a year to being 0 for 2020 and hoping things look reasonably stable enough that we can drive up to see them at Christmas. So I'm getting rather cranky over the 'just spend time with your family instead of traveling suggestions because for so many people these days, those two things had been very intertwined.

The_Bouncer

Nah, I'll take the lurgy thanks.

GUWonder

Even for those who want to do such travel now or during the winter, and even as inconvenient, financially disruptive and/or otherwise uncomfortable as it may be, it's not so hard to do now: a spread out course of 2-3 highly reliable Covid-19 tests within about 7-10 days of the drive/visit to the family and an isolation period during that period and the journey likely means its "reasonably stable" to do such a trip already this year.

AlanInDC

Yes this has been a silver lining of sorts. In the last 4 months, I've taken 4 road trips: Lancaster, PA area; Maryland Eastern Shore; Connecticut from Greenwich to New Haven; and Shenandoah Mountains/Valley. These are new places for me, or places that I haven't been to for at least 10 years. I have enjoyed getting to know the region better.

I've been to 49 states and of course in live in D.C.--only Alaska has eluded me thus far. But even so, many states are vast and diverse. California and Texas are obvious in this regard, but consider Virginia or Maryland - the reach, diversity, and geographic size are actually considerable.

I have close friends in Germany and so wasn't able to visit them this summer. That I do regret.

Global Adventurer

I've been to every state in the US that I have wanted to visit. The other thirteen, I have no desire. But, I never made it to New York City when I was in New York, and now that I want to go they have quarantine restrictions. I wish they had testing at the airports to fix this problem. I'm back to thinking about Brazil, Egypt and Turkey. Very frustrating 😞

exbayern

Exactly. This is Flyertalk after all. Many of us were some of the most frequent travellers on the globe. Many of us have our family, our partner, our job, and our medical care spread out across the globe. Many of us don't have a 'home' in the traditional sense.

Many here have lost their job, their way of life, or are in the 'wrong' place physically. That is probably just one reason why traffic has dropped so much on a site dedicated to something which few can do much of right now.

I've been talking to a few members offline, giving advice where I can, but I struggle with my own situation, and the pat answer to stay put or stay with family just doesn't work in my life without making even more serious sacrifices.

exbayern

And this is why the 'we're all in this together' story is wrong. Millions have lost their jobs, their access to healthcare, their homes, their access to regular food, etc. The job loss is seemingly very random, with many white collar jobs included. Those in the most impacted industries won't see a rebound for years, and even then companies will most likely not staff at the same levels.

Look around you at what is going on in our country for just an example. Even with a 'good' economy, entire sectors are decimated with little hope of recovery for years.

But all this is off topic of where to spend the winter and should probably just move to OMNI.

Boraxo

this is true for most topics on FT. Billions of earthlings live at poverty level and will never have $$ to travel beyond the nearest town. but that has nothing to do with where to spend the winter, which is a fair topic for well traveled FT types. The only difference now is that even wealthy people face onerous travel restrictions that cannot be bypassed using $$$$.

ExplorerWannabe

I don't want to push into Omni territory but this article is from the New York Times who have shown a vested interest in deflecting blame from Cuomo. Consumers broadly started avoiding restaurants before the official lockdown but after advice to distance from government officials. The virus itself was the initial trigger for distancing measures and then the lockdown measures. OTOH, a lot of people feel NYC and other municipalities went way overboard in their shutdown measures, to the point that businesses couldn't operate and still pay their expenses, much less make a profit.
In my own state of Colorado, Denver and the tourist spots (i.e., ski resorts) were the main hot spots and vectors for infection. I feel sorry for the rural counties that have been subjected to lockdown measures because of infection rates in Denver and Summit County even though they have sparse populations and few visitors that would pose an infection risk. On the other hand, my own county has enough of a continuing infection rate that I will continue to practice protective measures while doing what I can to support local businesses.
Colorado winters are beautiful and we have great health infrastructure but I would advise anyone considering a vacation here to stay the heck away from Denver or the main ski resorts. Enjoy the other facets of winter in Colorado. Obviously, this advice is of limited utility for people outside the US but Americans need to enjoy some time off during winter too ...

GUWonder

My take is that a lot of the international travel restrictions actually can be bypassed using $$$$, and that there has been spending going on this year to expand the international travel possibilities for this coming winter. For example, the market to buy foreign residency and/or citizenship rights has been activated due to Covid-19; and specialized investment opportunities to be used as workarounds for travel restrictions has been done too. And there are also other rather niche legal ways to get around some travel restrictions. And that's just speaking of the the legal commercial transactions done to expand travel opportunities during this year of travel restrictions.

fransknorge

You remember Bergamo, the place that had a very violent first wave ? Well accordingly to the "herd immunity" proponents this was going to be a very safe place for winter because so many people had COVID 19 already. Well despite seroprevalence sampling showing 57% of the population had antibodies, they now are having a second wave.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ons-rise-again

the810

Did you actually read the article? This is what is says (bolding mine):
If anything, this goes to prove that tough meassures are not the way to go. Italy had very strict restrictions in place throughout the summer and according to witnesses, people followed them.

invisible

Those who think that WFH/tech is doing great despite lockdowns and we need to endure them first. Well, one very big technology company has moment of truth yesterday, with stock dropping 23%. And lockdowns were exactly the reason cited why customers stopped buying software licenses.

We need to find a solution. It can’t be a zero sum game.

fransknorge

No this is completely irrelevant of the point made, I am not even sure what you are bringing this up ?
Do you deny several people in this very thread said Bergamo would be a good spot for winter because it would be immune ?

the810

Do you deny the article you linked states Bergamo is doing better than parts of Lombardy which had fewer cases in the spring, most likely because of the herd immunity?