by Following the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic in 2020, air travel was virtually halted, with bans and quarantine requirements slowing down the spread of the virus. Two years later, however, these restrictions have finally eased as we have gained some control of the virus. As a result, globetrotting is fortunately back on the agenda for many. But learning how to with safety Traveling again is not necessarily as simple as going back to the ways before COVID. Before you start the jet-set, the most important thing to do, in fact, is to understand what COVID requirements still apply to your trip to your destination.
Learning how to do just that and safely return to your travel game is the subject of the most recent episode The Well + Good Podcast, during which the travel guide Andrea Gambino based in Italy. Costa Rica-based tourism expert Guillermo Aguilar. and travel expert Alexis Bowen, co-founder of Elsewhere (a company that connects travelers with local destinations), share ways in which they have personally seen the nature of travel change in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Listen to the full episode here:
According to Bowen, the most important thing you can do now when traveling, especially internationally, is to stay up to date with your country’s COVID-related regulations. and of the location where you are hiking. “Things are still changing, and this is without a doubt, so what I would recommend is to constantly check with both the US State Department and the local government about where you are traveling. [to see what their rules are]Says Bowen, adding that people should do this from the moment they book their flights until the day before the flight.
“As long as you control and you are really above everything, it is simple [about] adaptation to these new rules, “says Bowen. But what are these new rules, you ask? At the top of the list is the vaccination status. You can check the CDC website to determine if your travel destination requires you to be vaccinated (as some do, but not all countries).
Another important travel factor, says Bowen, is whether you will be asked to test negative for the COVID test to enter the country you are visiting — but, fortunately, this is a relatively easy hurdle to overcome now that “the test has “reach much faster and more efficiently,” he adds, as many destinations now require only antigen testing rather than PCR. (Box: A PCR test looks for the virus’s genetic material, while the fastest antigen test – which you may know as a rapid test – looks for its proteins.) “It takes many days to get a PCR, and I never knew if you could “Get the result on time for your flight,” says Bowen. The antigen test, however, is usually done within 15 minutes.
Related stories
“The last thing is to just certify that you have not been in contact with anyone who has COVID and that you have no symptoms,” says Bowen. This first part is part of contact detection, which is a process that allows epidemiologists to help slow the spread of COVID by identifying people who may have had contact with someone who tested positive (and then encouraging them to isolate themselves). In essence, this measure helps to ensure that you do not board an airplane after you have recently shared airspace with someone who is positive for COVID-19.
“I can say with confidence that we have overcome the stage of improvised cancellations by either hotels or airlines or the closure of borders.” – Alexis Bowen, travel expert
Although we do not live in a completely post-COVID world — there are still emerging variations — safe travel is more navigable now than it has been in the last two years. “I can say with confidence that we have overcome the stage of improvised cancellations by either hotels or airlines or the closure of borders,” Bowen said. Thus, learning how to travel again results in following the correct precautions (* ahem * Bowen’s ideas).
And, rest assured, if you do this it will be worth it. “Travel remains an incredibly powerful thing,” says Bowen. “It’s one of the best things you can do for your mental health and your physical well-being. You can never underestimate the power of a landscape change to recharge, recharge and reset. “
For more information on how to travel again, as well as information from experts on how the pandemic changed travel for the better, listen to full episode podcast here.
Are you ready to join the podcast? At Well + Good, we spend our days talking and learning from the most interesting people. Sign up to make sure you don’t miss an episode!
