I Traveled During Covid 19

When our new way of life started, it was going to last for two weeks. Then it got extended to four weeks. Then April 30th. Then May 26th.

Hold the phone! I could see this going in for months and possibly years… and I personally wasn’t having it.

I had a trip booked for March 19th to the 23rd and Delta suggested, during a phone call, that I cancel because they were most likely going to cancel the flight.

I waited for the four week deadline to end so I could book a flight to Miami to visit my son and his family.

And then I waited some more. I am not a patient person, especially in this case with so much conflicting information from every expert and news source.

So I talked it over with my son to find out how he felt about a visit. He was totally onboard as was his wife. They had been taking the necessary precautions as have I.

I wasn’t concerned about catching the virus. If I traveled, would I be breaking the law? Nobody could answer that for me. Then I checked to see how many airlines were flying, if flights were full, etc.

I usually pay $600 +/- for a flight to Miami and found a flight for $89 round trip from Chicago. Done… I’m going.

Got to O’Hare. Ghost town. Terminal stores were closed except for places like Hudson News. Full flight. No food or beverage service. Face masks a must.

The dumbest thing I heard was an announcement from a flight attendant that if anyone wanted to practice social distancing by changing seats, they could move you to another seat. Really? Where exactly is that other seat on a full flight?

Arrived in Miami to another ghost town terminal. Since I had a carry-on bag, I only needed to go thru baggage claim to get outside for my son to pick me up.

Here is baggage claim pickup at Miami International on a Saturday during Covid 19 in the middle of the day:

As a precaution, I changed my clothes and washed up as soon as I got to my sons house before I approached my 15 month-old grandson.

One week later: I’m on my way home now… just waiting for the plane to take off. When I got on the plane I was handed a paper bag with pretzels and cookies, as well as a sweating bottle of water that immediately worked its way thru the bag. Nice idea, poor planning.

I fly about five or six times a year and what I noticed this time was kindness, patience, and courtesy amongst travelers… and I haven’t see that alot on previous flights.

I will be visiting again at least two more times this year…