All Tea No Shade Podcast – Pandemic Travel Episode
Spilling the Tea
Rarely do I get a chance to just air my personal thoughts on current events. As a guest on All Tea No Shade Podcasters, Elle & Jay had me spilling the tea on the Pandemic Travel Episode as a Travel Influencer Guest.
- On how I came up with my Aloha Melani Brand and why I decided that going back to my roots with the Spirit Of Aloha was important to me after making Travel my life.
- How these times has challenged my Aloha Spirit
- Thoughts on Covid-19 Pandemic Travel
- Race Relations and the importance of Voting
Be sure to check out The All Tea No Shade Podcast and have a listen to this episode below!
Pandemic Traveling
Traveling in 2020 is risky and globally it appears that people aren’t traveling but are they? Are we? Are you? We sit down and have a conversation about our concerns with traveling during a pandemic and whether or not we’ll be traveling again soon.
To be honest I will probably need to invest in a hazmat suit, seat covers for the airplane and more disinfectant wipes. Listen to the podcast to hear why.
Also to learn a little more about me and how I ended up in Tampa, Florida listen to my guest spot on the foodie podcast Forking Around Town.
What a nice refreshing article – and no, I have not travelled yet during the pandemic, at least not by plane. We drove to a cousins house, but that was about it. I just saw this morning that they are changing things again – filling up the middle seat, saying that the filters on planes catch 99.9% of germs (or something similar). Eventually things will get back to normal. It just takes time.
Hi Marsha,
Thank you so much for commenting on Pandemic Travel. Yes, I have only traveled in my state to see my parents 6-8 hours away (depending on traffic…pandemic days it’s only 6 hours). Each time I have taken a covid-19 test to ensure that I am not asymptomatic as I would never forgive myself for accidentally spreading a virus to anyone else who can suffer or pass away from this thing.
So, I don’t get sick. I haven’t had a cold since 2011. The last time I was sick was when I was on a plane to California from Florida. We stopped in Nevada and a man who was deathly ill sat next to me and coughed and sneezed the entire 40-minute flight. I took a shower as soon as I got to my hotel room. I completed my conference and flew back home 2 days later. On the third day, I was deathly ill.
I’ve been wearing masks and wiping down my seat on planes ever since. I never cared about how I looked and I never get sick again.
That being said, I have not traveled, but as a person who lives for travel and food, if I finally travel in 2021 I will probably invest in a hazmat suit. I will not catch a cold, nor will I catch covid-19. I don’t trust the recycled air, nor do I trust that other passengers will not keep their masks on. Covid can enter via the eyes.
Who cares if you can recover. Who wants to go through not being able to breathe or spreading it to others? Anyone who doesn’t at least care for others is deplorable. Yes I said it. Deplorable. The aftermath of being sick from Covid is also horrible for many. Lung function issues or not being able to smell or taste food? You may as well kill me without those things.
I choose to be on the safe side, not just for myself but for everyone else. I spread Aloha, not germs.
~Aloha
Hi,
Thanks very much for the article and attached media.
I wish to add my voice to the issue of travel amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. I have indeed written a few paragraphs about the issue in some of my website articles, very early in the pandemic.
I feel that travel, especially non-essential travel, has been a very ill advised occurrence. There has been sizeable travel across the world in the first 3-4 months of this year. It has shown how humankind never learns from history. The epidemic (yes, epidemic not pandemic) would not have gotten to where it is now, if the world had responsible leadership.
Regards
Teboho,
I absolutely agree with you. I came back from my last trip abroad on March 1, 2020 and haven’t even left my state of Florida which continues to be a Covid hot spot even if our governer is suppressing the numbers so in the news it doesn’t appear to be today. I canceled 4 paid trips that I had planned for this year. It is now October 2020 and as a traveler, I am getting extremely anxious especially because the leadership in my country has caused more anxiety and has contracted Covid-19 himself. He acts as if this is a simple cold that anyone can get over when he has had the best care in the world. Unfortunately, too many people of color and a lot of his uneducated poor supporters will never get that level of care if they were to contract the virus.
Mahalo for your thoughts on pandemic travel.
~Aloha
Hi. Travel is a subject dear to my heart and it is still difficult living with the restrictions of the COIVD situation. Some of these restrictions we impose on ourselves by the choices we make. Since March we have driven a few times to my in-laws. That is just a 3-hour drive up the I-95. We also drove 5 hours one-way and 5 hours back in a day to pick up a puppy in Maryland. But we are reluctant to take any greater risks than regular grocery shopping, so using highway restrooms is a big issue for us. Thinking back over the years I would usually go on at least one long trip abroad every year and very often more than one. I have many work colleagues who have flown internationally usually to be with family and from what I hear that has usually been a very stressful and exhausting experience. With all the security restrictions now in place flying was already stressful especially with a young child. I could not imagine how much worse that will be now with the added stress of trying to minimize risks of coronavirus. I have close family in Europe and at some point, I am going to have to bite the bullet and travel to see them. On the one hand, I feel there is a risk that we lose the interconnectedness with other cultures and peoples if we travel less and that is not a good thing in today’s world. On the plus side, those of us still working in large international companies are now much more easily hooking up for virtual meetings with our colleagues whether they live on the other side of town or halfway around the world only affects the timezones we need to deal with. So in that sense living and working with COVID has broken down some barriers. Our world will not be the same after this. It is already not the same now. Best regards, Andy
Andy,
I understand your sentiment as a fellow traveler! I stopped traveling by plane when I got back to the states on March 1st. I canceled all of my 2020 trips, but I’m thinking of investing in a hazmat suit for 2021 if this is our new normal. I need immersive cultural experiences!
Like you, I have taken short trips, just to see my parents and I’ve taken covid tests to ensure I wasn’t infected beforehand.
Like you I have family in Europe, so my trip to the UK in June that was canceled I may take next June in 2021.
Mahalo so much for your comments!
~Aloha
Hi there! Thanks a lot for sharing this very detailed article on pandemic travel episode. This was a very interesting and educative read as it contains a lot of information. For me, I think it’s best to stay away from traveling at this point. I mean, I do love traveling, anything travel makes me happy even this article but to be on a safer side, we all should avoid it for now. Eventually, everything would return to normal so let’s all be okay with this for now. I really enjoy your blog, thanks for sharing
Fay,
I’m with you! I am not willing to put my family at risk to travel. However my husband and I are now thinking of moving abroad which will mean we will need to travel to scout a new home! I guess it’s time for me to invest in that hazmat suit!
~Aloha
I’ve never been a fan of the term ‘race’ when discussing different ethnic groups, it implies we’re from a different species when we’re not. It’s literally insignificant regional differences that got blown out of all proportion, and we’re stuck dealing with that until people realise just how stupid it all is
You make a fantastic point, Unwanted.
The divide is real all over the world. In the US, unfortunately, the divide of the ‘human race’ based on color and background is amplified.
Mahalo for your insight.
~Aloha
Travel is definitely a tricky subject in these strange times! I live in Hawaii now but my family is all back on the mainland. I miss them a ton but don’t feel especially comfortable traveling back and forth on a plane right now. Not to mention there are much more hoops to jump through when flying to and from the islands, especially the outer islands as the rules for travel pre and post-testing and quarantining are always changing.
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I just listened to the episode and truly appreciated Aloha Melani’s perspective on pandemic travel. It’s enlightening to hear from a travel influencer during these unprecedented times. Aloha, given your vast experience in the travel industry, how do you foresee the future of travel evolving, especially considering the ongoing changes brought about by the pandemic? How do you think it will shape global tourism in the next few years?