How I Do Air Travel This topic was requested by a paying subscriber. Everyone gets all the content of this newsletter, but paying subscribers can ask for topics to be covered. In April, I attended TED in Vancouver. Traveling to Vancouver was my third major international trip during the COVID pandemic. Both my work and the structure of my family life mean international travel is essential. Summer 2021, I went back to the US with my family. And in January 2022, I went to Egypt to speak at the World Youth Forum. I think Vancouver was the longest trip, although the trip back to the east coast was also lengthy. Sri Lanka is remote enough that there aren’t a lot of short trip options.
Thanks for this! This is almost exactly the set of steps I have taken for each of the international trips I've taken since October 2021 (to Kenya (x2), Zambia, Morocco, Senegal, and India). So far (knock on wood) no COVID despite a *lot* of likely exposure on crowded buses and other places where I was the only one masked.
The only thing I've given up on is asking others to mask up. I've had enough unpleasant and/or unsuccessful responses to make me think that cost >> benefit. (The unpleasant ones have all been in the US, of course.)
It is essential to test out a range of different types of masks in advance of travel so that you have reasonably comfortable ones for the whole trip. Take more than you think you'll need.
On the testing front, I also have had good experiences with the EMed/Binax proctored home testing for getting an antigen test result for the return trip to the US. Very efficient and saves on a ton of logistics (finding a test site, etc.).
Thanks for this! This is almost exactly the set of steps I have taken for each of the international trips I've taken since October 2021 (to Kenya (x2), Zambia, Morocco, Senegal, and India). So far (knock on wood) no COVID despite a *lot* of likely exposure on crowded buses and other places where I was the only one masked.
The only thing I've given up on is asking others to mask up. I've had enough unpleasant and/or unsuccessful responses to make me think that cost >> benefit. (The unpleasant ones have all been in the US, of course.)
It is essential to test out a range of different types of masks in advance of travel so that you have reasonably comfortable ones for the whole trip. Take more than you think you'll need.
On the testing front, I also have had good experiences with the EMed/Binax proctored home testing for getting an antigen test result for the return trip to the US. Very efficient and saves on a ton of logistics (finding a test site, etc.).