After more than a year since the start of the pandemic, and now fully vaccinated, we took our first vacation trip to Moab, Utah. Overall, we had a wonderful vacation and once at the destination it was easy to avoid crowds and social distance. Here’s how it felt and what to expect if you are going to venture out.
We packed all kinds of things including two big 8 oz bottles of hand sanitizer (TSA lets you bring one bottle up to 12 oz per passenger in your carry-on bag), extra masks, gloves and wipes. Believe it or not we used almost all of this during our one-week vacation!
The Uber
Our first time in someone else’s car in over a year. The car was dirty, and we noticed that he had the A/C on recirculate and had him change it. Perhaps nerves but can’t be too careful.
The airport
The airport in Miami was surprisingly well organized. There were social distancing markers in place, and we felt we could manage to stay safe with the high ceilings and limited foot traffic.
Flights
Despite the federal mask mandate many passengers could not keep their masks above both their nose and mouth, and repeated requests from flight attendants did little to the incorrigibles.
One guy kept ordering drinks (since you don’t need to wear a mask if you are actively eating or drinking) and once drunk belligerently started telling his neighbor that masks gave you CO2 poisoning and that Covid was just a flu (eye roll)! He had a technique of folding his mask on his cheek to keep it away from his face. Geez! Just the type of guy you hope not to have as your seat mate!
Others, for some inexplicable reason, had to lower their mask to talk, as if it’s impossible to do so with a mask on. We kept our double masks on the whole way barely taking them off between bites and sips of the sandwich and bottled water we got.
The rental car
Each car has a freshly sanitized sign in it, but we opted to use our wipes anyway. Ultimately, it is just people doing these jobs. Despite the marketing and the policy or the job description, someone has to actually do it. Wiping these down took a couple of extra minutes and gave us peace of mind. After all we would be in this car for a week, so might as well make sure that it was thoroughly disinfected.
Hotels
Here too, gone were the welcome TV ads for excursions, instead the TV was showing cleaning protocols designed to keep us safe. We wiped down the light switches, doorknobs and handles, and surfaces we would touch anyway. A box of disinfecting wipes was brought along just for this.
None of the hotels we stayed at were doing room service unless requested. If we needed more towels or coffee, we just asked housekeeping and they would bring some to the door. It was better this way as we preferred to have the room to ourselves.
Eating out was an experience
In Utah no mask mandate existed but fortunately Moab had something in place. Still, restaurants were at full capacity and we were not comfortable eating out in crowded spaces. Even as their case counts for Covid are low, most were tourists from who knows where. We did take-out and ate in our hotel room but eating a steak with plastic utensils on a styrofoam plate was not ideal. We found some outside dining options, and these worked quite well, although one night it was cold enough for the food to cool down fast.
The return
The car rental return in Las Vegas was something with little to no social distancing on the shuttle (they do load it half full) but there are no markers in line as you wait. The airport was the same: A zoo with people everywhere! Masks half worn around chins and on arms. On the plane, kids running without masks. People pulling them down below their chins. Really a minimal amount of compliance despite a federal mask mandate and clear rules. Quite frustrating and disappointing. We kept our masks on throughout.
Conclusion
It unfortunately just seems that it is almost impossible to have people follow a simple mask wearing mandate! Whether they don’t want to, don’t believe Covid exists or who knows what, it is a sad reflection on society in a way. Something as simple as wearing a mask for a few hours to protect others, is beyond what many are willing to do.
Even though our vaccinations give us a good degree of protection to minimize the risks of catching Covid-19 the travel experience was still a harrowing one bordering on unpleasant. It was a great trip and we loved the change of scenery, but the flight was still uncomfortable.
We even splurged with an upgrade to first thinking we’d have more room but from where we sat, we seemed to see more compliance in economy that the folks around us in first. Perhaps the agents don’t want to offend the first-class guests? Perhaps a sense of entitlement gives them the idea they are above the rules… who knows?
Perhaps it is just our uneasiness with our gradual reintroduction to being amongst others after a lengthy period. All the same, we could not help but wish that people would be more considerate and respectful. Showing more compassion to those that may have underling conditions making them more vulnerable to Covid-19 is really not that difficult to do.
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