Traveling in a Pandemic

Traveling has changed significantly during the last two years of the pandemic. Have those changes affected my travel and how I think personally about traveling? The answer is yes and no.

Mostly I travel for business reasons. Even though many on-site visits are not necessary anymore due to more remote work options, in-person meetings are still needed. During the early pandemic and the real lockdown in March and April 2020, all airlines canceled their flights.

I took a train connection once to travel to Berlin. But that connection turned out not to be as reliable as taking a plane. So I stayed with traveling by plane to TXL and BER since the airport opened in fall 2020. When the airlines returned to business, I started commuting by plane between DUS and TXL again.

Over the last eighteen months, the number of flight connections and the plane capacity rates varied. In the summer of 2020, passengers found it difficult to trust airlines and flight safety. The trust returned in late 2020 and early 2021 when low-cost carriers started offering connections to tourist destinations.

Each country has its preconditions and routines, even when returning to Germany. International travels led me in 2020 to Portugal and in 2021 to Vienna and Zurich. Each of those trips was different regarding prerequisites and local actions during immigration. With vaccination campaigns starting in 2021, the requirements for international travel changed dramatically.

Traveling during a pandemic challenges everyone differently. You get used to the organizational challenges and adjust your habits before traveling very quickly. But the mental challenges are a different topic. I feel very safe traveling by plane or train. Keeping distance and wearing a mask is the new standard these days.

Traveling to foreign countries helps learn about other cultures, communicate with people, and make friends. Not travel is not an option. We must not let fear dictate our thoughts and actions.

Keep traveling. But travel safely.