Wendy Perrin

Healthy Third World Travel
Healthy Third World Travel 1000 667 Greg Ellifritz

 

A longer article about precautions to take when traveling in India.  The recommendations are actually very good for any third world travel destination.  The one suggestion I take issue with is the author’s advice to avoid street foods.  If chosen correctly, I think third world street foods are actually a healthier option than eating in most restaurants.  The street food is usually fresh and cooked right in front of you.  Cooking carts are less likely to be infested with rats or insects than restaurant kitchens.

 

Look for food that is being cooked fresh and isn’t sitting around.  Look for a line of local residents buying the food.  You’ll be fine.

 

How to Stay Healthy While Traveling in India

Passport Photos
Passport Photos 1000 667 Greg Ellifritz

A very cheap option for getting some extra passport photos.

 

I keep a few extra photos taped to the inside back cover of my passport. You never know when you might want to go on an unplanned adventure and will need a photo or two to get your visa at a land border crossing.

 

Passport Photos Are Expensive, But They Don’t Have to Be

How Covid-19 is Affecting Air Travel
How Covid-19 is Affecting Air Travel 1340 500 Greg Ellifritz

This post is just a quick note to highlight some of the travel changes in the wake of Covid-19.  I flew domestically last month.  There were not many changes other than the fact that the airlines required masks and that there was no meal/drink service on board.

I’m flying internationally this week.  I’ll update you with more information after my trip.  Until then, here are some references to help you navigate travel in the pandemic age.

U.S. Airlines Are Now Banning This Kind of Face Mask

Don’t plan on flying if you are wearing a mask with an exterior vent valve.  Open chin bandanna face coverings are also prohibited.

 

The Odds of Catching Covid on a Flight Are Slim

“What Barnett came up with was that we have about a 1/4300 chance of getting Covid-19 on a full 2-hour flight — that is, about 1 in 4300 passengers will pick up the virus, on average. The odds of getting the virus are about half that, 1/7700, if airlines leave the middle seat empty. He’s posted his results as a not-yet-peer-reviewed preprint.

The odds of dying of a case contracted in flight, he found, are even lower — between 1 in 400,000 and 1 in 600,000 — depending on your age and other risk factors. To put that in perspective, those odds are comparable to the average risk of getting a fatal case in a typical two hours on the ground.”

 

Flying in 2020 and 2021: How Airlines Are Adapting and How Passengers Can Stay Safe

Some interesting predictions about upcoming changes in the airline industry.

 

This CEO has flown 33 times and spent 160 nights away this year. Here’s his safety routine

These practices seem a bit extreme to me, but if you are truly paranoid about catching the Coronavirus while traveling, here are some ideas that may help.

 

 

 

Pandemic Flight Precautions
Pandemic Flight Precautions 283 178 Greg Ellifritz

I just flew out to Phoenix, Arizona to take a training class.  It was my first flight since early February.  Flying in a mask was strange.  Both legs of my flight were completely full.  The planes and airports seemed exceptionally clean.  I guess it remains to be seen if all of these precautions worked, but I am not ill yet.

 

The rules are constantly changing.  We really don’t know what works best.  Most of us are guessing and trying to establish best practices for keeping healthy.

 

I’ve found the articles below to be helpful.  Read them and get some ideas as to what tactics other travelers are employing.  Take Bruce Lee’s advice.  “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.”

 

Flying Isn’t Just a Big Coronavirus Risk

 

If You Have To Fly in a Pandemic, Here’s Where to Sit on the Plane

 

How Rules Have Changed at TSA Checkpoints

 

CORONAVIRUS AND TRAVEL: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW (PLUS RESOURCES)

 

I flew on the 4 biggest US airlines during the pandemic to see which is handling it best