Traveling in Times of COVID-19

We are addicted to traveling. So when COVID-19 put so many travel restrictions on us, we certainly agreed with the measures, but we also knew that we would miss traveling a lot. 

When the numbers of new infections started to drop and travel restrictions were slackened, we carefully went on a three-day hike not too far from Cologne. A month later, we joined Else’s family on a family vacation in central Germany. And when Ilse’s birthday approached and travel in Europe seemed okayish again, Else planned a birthday present that would bring us to Paris. Yet, during summer time when everyone goes on vacations (and apparently many don’t care to wear their face masks), infections were bound to rise again. 

Not surprisingly, a couple of days before our journey to Paris, Else had to reveal the destination of our surprise vacation so that we could discuss together whether we should go or stay at home: infections in France, particularly in Paris, reached critical numbers. We finally decided to go, but we also decided to stay as safe as possible. We wore our face masks almost all of the time (okay, this one was for everyone else), we walked everywhere instead of using public transportation, we didn’t visit museums or any other inside sights, we always sat outside the few times we went to a restaurant, café, or bar. 

All of these trips were consciously planned to minimize risks as far as possible. But still: we can’t protect ourselves unless everyone else does the same. While we barely met anyone on our hike two months ago, we had to stay and eat somewhere at the end of the day. The restaurants and their staff often didn’t abide to all rules and suggestions. While we ate at our vacation home on our family vacation, we had to get home by train at the end of our stay. The couple sitting across from us, wearing shirts and hats from Mallorca, removed their masks and coughed. While we planned everything to be as safe as possible in Paris, the café culture we love so much about France—small tables set next to each other—didn’t allow for the required distance between people.

We often are annoyed with careless people around us. The past six months have (or should have) taught us that COVID-19 is dangerous and potentially fatal. Still, so many people disregard the dangers and choose their own comfort. And traveling, of course, is an unnecessary luxury at times like these. But if all of us stand together, the virus will be gone sooner than later. And until then, traveling is possible—but we need to be careful and can’t do everything we would love to.