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What travel have you taken *because* of Covid?

What travel have you taken *because* of Covid?

 
Old Feb 8, 2021, 2:15 pm
  #16  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 286
About ten trips to Florida. Had never been to Naples before, loved it, and ended up going to the Ritz there thrice in three months. Florida started feeling so much like home (and better than my actual home state) that I bought a house and am moving there six months a year. Went to AZ twice (going back in a few weeks), Vegas twice (back for March Madness), Savannah twice, Charleston once. Had trips to Napa, SoCal, France, and Japan cancelled. Enjoyed what I was able to do and will never take international travel for granted.
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Old Feb 8, 2021, 2:22 pm
  #17  
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Man.. reading some of these makes me more than a bit jealous. I've had a great time with the travel I've done over the last year, but reading these makes me want to pack a bag, load up the dog, and head out.
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Old Feb 8, 2021, 2:48 pm
  #18  
 
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Lots of local hikes I probably would otherwise not have gone on here in NJ. 4 night midweek car trip to Woodstock Vermont back in Early September when Vermont was very low Covid risk as well as a 4 night midweek car trip to Saratoga Springs NY in Early November when covid still fairly low risk. Both were actually very enjoyable and makes one think perhaps the desire to travel to the other side of the planet to sit in an overwater bungalow is... well... a bit ridiculous .
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Old Feb 8, 2021, 7:17 pm
  #19  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
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Not sure if this counts but I drove with a family member from Franklin, TN to the Birmingham,AL area to participate in a Covid vaccine trial for Novavax.

The Novavax vaccine looks quite promising for the traditional strain, the UK strain and a decent result from the bad SA strain.
Astra Zeneca seems to be struggling right now with their data and Pfizer just received bad news from India about approval.

Sister had her first shot 3 weeks ago and had what appears to be a robust immune response but NOT a dangerous one. My first one was today so only time will tell.
Glad to be a part of what I hope will be a safe and effective solution?!

The good thing is that even if either or both of us got the placebo, when/if they are granted EUA, we are in the top priority to get the vaccine. A win win I believe as 2/3 of volunteers get the vaccine, 1/3 get the placebo.
So as they say in the Hunger Games, "may the odds be ever in my favor?!"
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Old Feb 8, 2021, 7:33 pm
  #20  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
I've been going a lot farther from home this year for hiking because I've been in search of empty trails.
In Nevada? Whole desert got bought by Bay Area refugees and you cant find an empty space apart from Area 51?

Sarcasm aside, what has changed?
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Old Feb 8, 2021, 7:49 pm
  #21  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
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We had planned an out of state vacation in August, but New York imposed a 14 day quarantine on residents returning from trips to most parts of the country. So we canceled our plans and looked for a place to go within New York. We ended up at a summer camp in the Adirondacks. Normally it would be teeming with kids in August, but it was closed due to covid, and the people who run it decided to rent out a small fraction of the cabins via AirBnB. The spot is truly magical, and we never would have experienced it (let alone in near-solitude) if it hadn't been for covid. While recognizing how sad and frustrating it must have been for the kids whose camp was canceled (and their parents), this was one of the few bright spots for us during an otherwise miserable year.


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Old Feb 8, 2021, 7:58 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by invisible
In Nevada? Whole desert got bought by Bay Area refugees and you cant find an empty space apart from Area 51?

Sarcasm aside, what has changed?
Paging Lake Tahoe to the main conference room.. Lake Tahoe, come in please.
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Old Feb 8, 2021, 8:19 pm
  #23  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
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Used to vacation abroad 4-5x a year, mostly Asia.
Otherwise up to BC every other month, couple trips to East Coast each year.
All of these have been off the table the last year.

So instead we've done some trips along the west coast... well, primarily just CA.
Got to revisit Mammoth and eastern Sierra for the first time in maybe almost 20 years.
Used to love heading up there, then forgot all about it, moved away, got busy with life, then my vacation pattern became almost exclusively international.
But last year was able to get a reminder of just how amazing CA is. Especially the eastern Sierra. Once you've experienced the hikes and alpine lakes at 10-11,000ft, it's hard to go back to these low-altitude day hikes here in WA state.
Also made me realize how much I miss the desert.
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Old Feb 9, 2021, 5:23 am
  #24  
 
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Last year's trip to New Zealand was postponed. I have a lot of money in Air New Zealand's travel bank...

When the pandemic was about a month old, to fight cabin fever, my wife and I simply drove up to the mountains. Made one stop in a convenience store, fully masked and taking precautions, and that was it. A nice day trip.

Once when my wife drove a couple of hours to visit her daughter, I took a drive up north just to get out of the house. Again, keeping to myself - but I found a river that actually had a media in it - was originally made so that logging companies had "lanes" in the river for their logging drives (this was up in Berlin NH). Again, nothing more than a day trip for some mental health.

By the time Thanksgiving came around (at the time, we should have been just returning from NZ), we spent some of the 'other' travel funds we'd banked on visiting relatives. My wife visited her son in MN and I went to FL to visit my sister and stepmother. We thought long and hard about this. One of the deciding factors was that it might have been the last time I was able to see my stepmother. Again, we took every precaution. While in Florida, even walking about towns, if I saw a situation that looked unsafe I avoided it - even crossing a street to avoid being near what looked like overfull cafe seating. I have quite the collection of masks accumulated over this past year.

My wife and I have been fortunate to not come down with anything. We're supposed to start being eligible for a vaccine appointment sometime in March and we're hoping that, by the fall, we can have SOME return to "normal" as far as going places is concerned..
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Old Feb 9, 2021, 6:20 am
  #25  
 
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We switched our May holiday (birthday present for wife) to London to October, then cancelled and went to Cancun in October instead. Got caught in a hurricane, what fun. Was lucky in July, our holiday to Cancun was the first day the resort opened back up. Nobody there. In 2021, to take advantage of double PQP, went from DFW to LAX and back, all one day. Will be doing DFW to MIA and back twice. That is the 3 trips for double PQP on UA. Will be f2/3 of the way to 1K again after the 3 trips. I do miss flying. Used to fly every week.
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Old Feb 9, 2021, 8:01 am
  #26  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
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A LOT of State Park visits. Definitely like those - hiking, being out in nature, plus it's a nice 1-2 hour road trip. Any change of scenery is good at this point.

Like mshukayr, I do miss flying. I don't know when things will get back to the Before Times, but I won't take international flying for granted again.
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Old Feb 9, 2021, 9:50 am
  #27  
 
Join Date: May 2015
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Variety and new destinations

Let me see..like everyone else I've had a few big trips canceled, but I keep rescheduling and finding new places to go. I went to:
1) Las Vegas twice.
2) Cozumel (which had never been on my radar, but was fun) 3) Ecuador to go to the Galapagos Islands
4) Portland, Oregon [removed by moderator]

In a few weeks I'm heading back to Cozumel. Then off to Egypt and then Botswana. I'll still need to go to Vegas and Portland for appointments regularly.
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Last edited by l etoile; Feb 11, 2021 at 7:44 am Reason: Off topic political commentary
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Old Feb 9, 2021, 9:50 am
  #28  
nsx
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Hyatt's Bonus Journeys promotion, which never would have happened without Covid, enticed me to book multiple stays at Ventana Big Sur and a December stay at Hyatt Regency Maui. with a $17 rental car. Hawaii with 75% fewer tourists was a dream. You could say I had a masked ball.

Speaking of fewer tourists, New Zealand in February 2020 with the Chinese tourists locked out was much more relaxing. I was able to change my itinerary at will due to all their room cancellations. I didn't take that trip due to Covid but it was a lot better due to Covid.

Also due to Covid I finally decided to visit Yellowstone. I had intended to drive until I saw that United operates nonstops from SFO to both JAC and BZN. Saver award availability at the last minute persuaded me to fly.

Although I lost two dream vacations due to Covid, I got exceptional value on trips I had not initially planned.

Post-vaccine, I may react to mobbed tourist destinations by scaling back my travel or at least avoiding popular destinations like Hawaii. The trick is to visit those popular spots before the travel tsunami arrives or after it subsides.
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Old Feb 9, 2021, 10:12 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by PDog
Let me see..like everyone else I've had a few big trips canceled, but I keep rescheduling and finding new places to go. I went to:
1) Las Vegas twice.
2) Cozumel (which had never been on my radar, but was fun) 3) Ecuador to go to the Galapagos Islands
4) Portland, Oregon (which has turned into a post apocalyptic nightmare - I don't recommend it)

In a few weeks I'm heading back to Cozumel. Then off to Egypt and then Botswana. I'll still need to go to Vegas and Portland for appointments regularly.
Report back on Egypt and how your trip went. I may put egypt back on my list this winter.
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Old Feb 9, 2021, 6:11 pm
  #30  
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
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Originally Posted by PDog
Let me see..like everyone else I've had a few big trips canceled, but I keep rescheduling and finding new places to go. I went to:
1) Las Vegas twice.
2) Cozumel (which had never been on my radar, but was fun) 3) Ecuador to go to the Galapagos Islands
4) Portland, Oregon (which has turned into a post apocalyptic nightmare - I don't recommend it)

In a few weeks I'm heading back to Cozumel. Then off to Egypt and then Botswana. I'll still need to go to Vegas and Portland for appointments regularly.
After reading your post, I just booked a hotel in Cozumel! I've never been there before, but been to Cancun, and figured what the heck, it's like down the road and across the water so why not.
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