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2024-04-09
My Horrible experience
Whenever COVID first started I didn't think about I thought it was nothing I remember when we got two weeks off of school I was excited about it then they told us we wouldn't be going back and we had to do work online with no teacher help it was a horrible experience I passed but my grades weren't that great and I got really lazy and started to gain a lot of weight didn't go outside for a while and I couldn't play football than when 9th grade started it was a weird experience going online and then going to school for two or three days out the week and have to stay 6 feet from everyone it was a hard experience I played football but it was 4 or 5 games, not a full season and we had to wear a mask it was bad. COVID took a lot from me during my freshman year of high school and other things that were important to me. -
2023-05-19
Griffith Observatory
The Griffith Observatory is located in Los Angeles, California, where COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in February 2023 statewide. This picture was taken in May of 2023, just a few months after the Observatory stopped asking for proof of vaccination before letting you in and lifted its face mask mandate. I had been to the Observatory several times before the pandemic, but I stopped once the pandemic hit. Although the Observatory was open during the pandemic, it required visitors to wear face masks and show proof of vaccination before allowing them to enter the facility. -
2021-07-23
The Trail to Angel's Landing
There are few ways to describe the events of 2020 other than chaotic. The vast, sweeping changes that occurred left many confused and grasping, often in desperation. Meanwhile, 2021 was a mixed follow-up for a year where much remained the same, but travel restrictions began to lift. Seeing this window of opportunity, four friends and I leaped at it. We planned a weeklong trip to Zion National Park and on the first day, we headed for Angel's Landing. The situation around the pandemic resulted in a kind of claustrophobia that superimposed a hyperawareness of personal space. For many, where six feet distance apart was not just a courtesy in some establishments, but a rule that was often enforced. This condition of anxiety or even fear of contracting COVID-19 from another person in the limited size of restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores was easily felt. This kind of spatial awareness bled into one's perception so deeply that it might be retroactive. While watching a pre-pandemic movie with a shot of a crowd, the thoughts would intrude, "Where are everyone's masks?" or "Why is everyone standing so close together." Southern Utah is a great expanse of mesas, mountains, and bluffs under a rolling sky. Zion reflects this in the great size of the rock formations and the verdant greenery accompanying it. The contrast in scale highlights the simple fact that getting up to the tallest point of Angel's Landing is an exercise of walking upwards at steep inclines, often with other people in front of you, creating a line. Maybe it was the change in setting, but for a while, it was as if the pandemic was left behind. Everyone still brought masks, wore masks in crowded environments, and used hand sanitizer but the anxiety was not there. It appeared to be the common rule that the other tourists had agreed to. Replacing the fear was a determination to get to the highest point of the trails and photograph the scope of it all. It was only the first day of the trip and I had already been astounded. -
2020-12-26
Everyday life amidst a global pandemic
When the covid restriction lifted my husband and I decided to visit family in Mexico. Because of the ban we were not able to attend funerals, birthday parties or any type of celebration. Despite the pandemic and the restrictions life seemed to be about the same 8 months after the pandemic had first been announced with some small changes. In a street corner waiting to order food, everyone was wearing masks. The elderly, children and the vendors themselves which was surprising considering the push back there happened to be originally from the Latin communities. The solidarity in the mask enforcement had now came from fear. The people in the streets were scared but had to continue their jobs as vendors and others having to go out side and purchase from these same vendors despite the fear of getting sick. When I think back to the first year of the pandemic I think about small moments like these, something as simple as purchasing street food now came with a worry of possibly getting yourself or others sick. -
2024-03-14
Multiple Covid Trips
When travel restrictions were lifted, did you take a trip? If so, where did you go and why? What are your memories of this trip? Were there any continuing COVID-19 restrictions in place? I swear I have no strong political opinions, but I looked at the stats for 30-something men for COVID, and decided I'd just go for it and refused to ever hide (except for that time I got Covid in July 2020). I went on SEVERAL trips. Also, I was a teacher in a VERY conservative area (read: students and parents were aggressively anti-Covid measures) and my wife was a nurse. I figured I was bound to get Covid and ruled a personal judgment of "Who cares? Especially if it's inevitable as this stuff spreads like glitter ..." I was a teacher and then delivered Ubereats nonstop as a form of "time travel". But we took the following Covid trips: May 2020 to Houston/Galveston. June 2020 to Colorado (Between these trips, I decided to focus on working and saving to buy a house as everything was shut down worldwide, there were no more trips to make) June 2021 to Port Aransas, Texas August 2021 to Colorado again (wife is from Colorado, thus the repeats) March 2022 to Northern Finland (Lapland) and was able to spend about an hour in Sweden, since we rented a car. August 2022 - Went to Costa Rica for the wife's 30th birthday. (Covid restrictions were gone by this trip). May 2020 to Houston/Galveston was a bit strange. I got asked to pick up a painting for my parents at her friends' house and so we turned it into a birthday trip for me. Hotels and beach were curiously packed and Texans simply did not care about COVID at this point. June 2020 to Colorado - George Floyd riots/protests (your decision) shut down downtown Denver and put us in a curfew where we couldn't leave the house after 8:00PM, so that was interesting. Still enjoyed the mountains and the fresh air, but we couldn't do much in Denver. The interesting thing at this point was the "two weeks to flatten the curve" was being revealed to be wrong, so we didn't know what to think anymore after this. August 2021 to Colorado - I have little in the way of memories of this trip. Wife really wanted to go. We saw more mountains and more of her friends. We ran away from a giant black creature in the woods (BEAR!) that was revealed to be a black cow and my wife makes fun of me for this to this day. More scared of that "bear" than I ever was of Covid. March 2022 to Finland - This was interesting. Finland was completely open and the primary restrictions were the US Government requiring masks on planes. We had to get a booster in order to go, which annoyed me, but I did it. The service in the airport was fascinatingly horrible and we were delayed by about 36 hours to Finland, which means we just missed the last Aurora of the winter. They also lost and then broke my wife's luggage. We drove around Northern Finland and even popped into Sweden for an hour because "Why not?". Other funny thing was everyone was very scared for us, because Russia had just invaded Ukraine and I had to reassure everyone that after the Winter War and World War II, Russians decided Finland was haunted and to never return (for historical accuracy, this is a joke, but it was a fun joke). I liked Finland/Lapland, but it was more expensive then Tokyo. I've never been anywhere more expensive in my life. Gas was somewhere in the range of $11/gallon, due to the invasion (on top of already high European prices). We met Santa, I got bit by a reindeer and sled dogs are a rambunctious bunch of creatures. We slept in the ice hotel you see sometimes in travel blogs. The stores were all open. Everything was open. Finland simply did not seem to care about Covid and my understanding was Sweden didn't either (part of the reason we shrugged and popped over). I had literally one person one time ask me to put on a mask when I went into a store, but this annoyed us and we left. August 2022 to Costa Rica - Flew in and out of Liberia, Costa Rica (not San Jose) for reasons I don't remember - I think I did that because I was desperately trying to make it an open-Jawed trip (fly in to Liberia and fly out of Panama City). I remember being annoyed because I told my wife repeatedly that "I don't think Costa Rica will be as cheap as everyone has told you" and it wasn't. It's pretty and nice. It's not really cheap at all. Interesting thing here is there were absolutely ZERO Covid restrictions. Nothing. None. Not one. Over. The story was over. So I'll end it there. -
2021-06-14
Family Trip to Florida 2021
My father is a world class powerlifter who has podium placed at world championships before. He was planning to do the qualifier for the next world championship in 2020, but that was understandably delayed. When stay at home orders were lifted, he competed in the state level qualification event, in his case North Carolina, for the national championship. He had to lift in a mask, which was uncomfortable and potentially dangerous as lifters could not always get enough oxygen during and after a lift causing some to pass out and need medical attention. He did well enough in the qualifier to proceed to the national championship in Daytona Beach, Florida. On that trip, COVID restrictions were very few, if any, with the hotel, lifting event, and restaurants/stores not having mask mandates or vaccination checkpoints. Unfortunately, my dad did not win this championship. He did, however, come back the next year and won the 2022 championship in Orlando, Florida. When we went on that trip, COVID precautions were not really present at all, and it almost seemed life it was before COVID. -
2022-05-20
The time I travelled to Punta Cana
When the restrictions were lifted, I took a trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic right after finishing my internship and getting ready to graduate. Originally, I was supposed to go in November with my family, but we couldn't because my parents and sister got COVID. Unfortunately, we had to reschedule the entire trip. During that time, I had to isolate in my room, wear a mask inside the house, and wash my hands frequently. This time, it was just us traveling. When we were getting ready to board the plane, we needed our vaccine cards. My dad got a bit worried, thinking I might have forgotten mine, and had a mild panic attack. In the area, many people weren't wearing masks since the requirements had been lifted and they were no longer mandatory. However, I still noticed quite a few people wearing masks, even boarding the flight. Our rooms were spacious; my parents had their own room, and my sisters and I had ours. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, where drinks, food, and activities were available all day long. One memorable part of the trip was going on a boat excursion where we got to snorkel with other travelers and see various fish below us. It felt like COVID was a thing of the past, but there were still reminders like stickers and signs in both English and Spanish reminding us to stay six feet apart. Overall, it was a fun trip that helped take my mind off the stress of the pandemic, although there were still reminders here and there. -
2020-12-30
Travelling in December 2020 and January 2021
I remember first hearing about COVID-19 in January of 2020. There were concerning reports that Chinese authorities were wielding apartment doors shut to contain the virus, which was certainly a bad sign, and I was fairly certain that if those measures were being taken, the disease was a big deal. I followed the developments fairly closely from my parents' home in Oklahoma. In late March, around the time of my 21st birthday, I was working as a substitute teacher at the high school I graduated from. I was able to work one singular day before the virus shut down the school district. The next few months were full of changes. Uniformed National Guard personnel staffed vaccination centers, groceries were delivered directly to houses, and entire industries went work-from-home. By the time December rolled around, the initial panic had mostly died down, and many travel restrictions were lifted. I needed a break. I decided to catch a ride with a buddy of mine from Indiana who just so happened to have family here in Tulsa. I bought a plane ticket to facilitate my return trip. We have some mutual friends in Zionsville, a little suburb of Indianapolis, and we collectively decided that we wanted to have a New Years party. Here in suburban Oklahoma, many of the mask mandates had been dropped by this point, but it was still prudent to carry a mask in the somewhat rare event that a business owner preferred patrons cover their faces. It was much the same in Zionsville, but businesses in Indianapolis proper, in my experience, were much more strict. I understood that COVID-19 was a serious health risk, and that it was smart to wear a mask, but it was somewhat confusing to go from a place that seemed so carefree - and admittedly irresponsible - to a place that was still mandating face coverings. The party with my friends went well and many margaritas were consumed. It was a much-needed break. The locations with the strongest COVID restrictions were perhaps the airports. It made sense to me, since airline travel likely contributed a great deal to the initial spread of the disease. Regardless of reasonability, masks were worn the entire duration of the flight. The entire cabin smelled of sanitation wipes, and the airport felt somewhat emptier than I was used to. This was Indianapolis' airport. I had a layover in Dallas and that Airport felt much more lively, in that sort of carefree way I was accustomed to back in Oklahoma. Masks were still required on the plane itself. I landed back home late in the evening without too much excitement. It was nice to take my mask off when I got into my mom's car. Overall, the trip made me realize that different states and regions were treating the ongoing pandemic very differently. While New Years was a welcome break from the monotony of the initial quarantine year, the trip did raise questions about my state government's commitment to public health and safety. -
2021-06-07
A Pandemic Wedding
My friend had been planning her wedding for nearly two years when the pandemic hit, and suddenly, she had to put all of her plans on hold. It was a devastating moment for her and everyone who was looking forward to the special day. When travel restrictions were lifted, her bridal party (including me) rushed to get plane tickets to ensure our presence by her side in small town, Texas. We wanted everything to go perfectly for her considering the delay she endured and the preparations that were now unclear. It was an outside wedding filled with beautiful twinkling lights, neatly placed wooden benches, and masks, sporadically, spread throughout the crowd. A year after the lockdowns and restrictions, Covid 19 still affected people enough to don masks outside during a wedding. Despite the residual fear, my memories of spending time with friends, eating good food, and cheering on the beautiful bride are happy ones. -
2021-03-18
A Burial Post Pandemic
I did not travel during the entirety of the strict lockdown period of the COVID-19 Pandemic. My wife and I worked in retail and were deemed essential so we worked through it from April 2020 until the restrictions were broadly lifted. In March 2021 my mother died of an unrelated illness, the first trip I took after the travel restrictions were lifted was to bury her in Carlsbad, New Mexico. We did not hold a funeral service and we did not hold a memorial, she was cremated and buried quietly. I remember this very vividly because even at that time it felt wrong to travel and to be interacting with people in a way that wasn't required by work. We wore masks the entire time. Due to our proximity to El Paso, TX I remember vividly when they were storing bodies in buses in the streets there and this made us fearful and cautious. Even had we not been still in the throes of the pandemic, I don't think I would have done anything differently but I do believe that the added stress of travel would not have been present thus making the trip more manageable. Due to our need to isolate, and resist getting sick, what I remember most of all is the loneliness of the matter, and the quiet car rides, and wondering 'How might things have been different?' -
2021-10-11
Disney Wedding 2021
My wife and I were supposed to go to her best friend's wedding in the fall of 2020. Well, with millions of other weddings and events that year, it had to be postponed. The wedding ended up taking place at Disney world in the fall of 2021. We flew from New York to Orlando, and I remember that everyone was still wearing masks in the airports and on the planes. And if I remember correctly masks were required on the plane for the whole ride. While staying on Disney property and in the parks, masks were required inside buildings. But outside you could have them off. During the wedding, which was on Disney property, we did have to wear masks for the ceremony, and while dancing, but at the tables, we could take them off. Still, it was a magical time, and the VIP access to the Epcot fireworks is still my favorite memory. Even now, in 2024, I will still wear a mask if I go on a plane again, or public transportation. That is something from the pandemic I think will definitely stick with me for the rest of my life. -
2021-03-16
March 16th.
Being in high school going about my normal day and later finding out that we will not be attending school until further notice. -
2020-11-14
The Plague Wedding
My husband’s cousin got married outside Cincinnati, Ohio in the fall of 2020. The invitation said the event was outdoors, and we expected it would be small. My husband and I drove his mother across multiple states so she could be there for the ceremony and celebration. We had some hope that people were being mindful of pandemic precautions, as most establishments required employees and patrons to wear masks in shared spaces, and there were plenty of signs, paid advertising and graffiti, that suggested locals were disappointed by the botched handling of the pandemic to that point. Spray paint scrawled over a Trump campaign poster reading “Trump lied and my mother died” was especially memorable. When it came time for the actual wedding however, all hopes that the wedding guests would be responsible were quickly dashed. Ignoring signs and pleas from the woman at the hotel’s front desk, guests waited for the “party bus” in the hotel lobby, maskless and chugging White Claws, then leaving the empty cans for the same woman to clean after the bus arrived. We had hoped that these guests were going to a different wedding, but when it became apparent we were all going to the same place, we opted to drive ourselves to the venue, not wanting to be in close quarters on the bus to and fro with these fools. The small, intimate wedding we were expecting to attend had over 150 guests. The ceremony was outdoors as the invitation mentioned, but the reception was zipped up in a large party tent, and the only ones wearing masks were the three of us. I took a picture of the guest list, not so I could remember at which table I was supposed to sit, but so I would know who to sic the Health Department on when I inevitably tested positive for COVID in the following days. -
2022-06-30
The Road Trip 2022
Road Trip During the heat of covid, the spring of 2020 through the fall of 2022 I worked for our local school district in Arizona. My family and I did not do a lot of traveling beyond the necessary during the mandated restrictions. After the bulk of the restrictions were lifted and vaccines were widely available I participated in a work trip to San Diego to attend a convention. My partner and I decided to springboard off this and turned the summer into a west coast road trip to visit with friends and family. We started in San Diego and the highlights of this trip were Portland, Oregan, Seattle, Washington, and San Jose, California. On our jaunt along the coast there were still precautions being taken. Many people still wore masks out and were positioned with more space in public. Of the people we visited and stayed with on our journey, some were still social distancing, and taking precautions when going out. Our adventure was a good way to reconnect with the people we hadn’t been able to see during the lockdown. My partner and I were able to visit some important places from my childhood and have some epic picnics. There is a lake and small national park near my Grandparents’ home that is open to the public. The tree cover and water line is cut with an easy hiking path. We got to traverse about a mile of it. Taking in the beauty that could easily have been featured in a fairy tail description of an ancient forest. It was a great way to break the isolation and share some of the past with my partner. -
2021-11-19
Our Adventures In Iceland
I've written a story sharing our Covid trip to Iceland that we were able to take after the restrictions were lifted. I don't think we would have gone if the circumstances were different, it was a life-altering trip for us, something joyful in the midst of a world crisis. -
2022-03-07
Regaining Adventure in Disneyland
My family and I were very cautious during the pandemic and waited a long time before we chose to travel both as individual families and as an extended family unit. We finally decided to travel with a family trip to Disneyland. We have a wide range of ages in our family from over sixty-five to under ten years of age and we wanted to find a place that would have something for everyone. We appreciated the fact that at Disneyland the vast majority of the vacation would be spent outside and we all live relatively close to the location helping with travel anxieties. The fact that the place is excellently maintained helped lessen many of my family members' fears of going out for the first time. The time was very enjoyable and everyone had a wonderful time. There was still the lingering fear of not wearing a mask at all times and walking around the park without a mask did take some getting used to however it was a wonderful way to reenter the world of traveling. In reference to the photograph that I placed in the archive - The photograph does not show the park or us on the trip due to keeping our privacy. However, it helps to represent what this trip meant to my family and myself. The Disneyland Starbucks mug and pins represents the fact that we often bring back souvenirs from our trip in order to remember our time together. The Peter Pan funko is to illustrate the adventurous spirit, joy, and freedom that we had been unable to experience during the time of Covid restrictions. Finally, Disneyland holds fond memories of family, joy, and adventure as a child so it was wonderful to re-enter that world on my first experience back traveling after the exile imposed by Covid. -
2020-08-22
Yellowstone Park in 2020
It was in the late summer of 2020, and we thought that we would have the whole park to ourselves by going during the pandemic. We were wrong! It was as busy as it usually was, however people were keeping their distance from each other, and everyone was even more courteous than usual. The park required masks inside the buildings, but didn't enforce it outside. Many of the usual amenities inside the buildings were closed, and they were working with a skeleton crew. When we were waiting for Old Faithful to do its thing, many people were keeping to their own groups rather than packing in to see the geyser as they typically did before social distancing was a thing. -
2020-09
Tourism story for the COVID-19 Archive
I am submitting a short antidote regarding an individual being upset by being asked to wear a mask on a ferry. This could be important to show how some people resisted COVID-19 restrictions, but this event's importance to me is nonexistent. -
2021-06-20
Norrish First Visit to old Home Post Covid
In the timeframe of the slow lifting of restrictions from the Covid 19 pandemic and shutdown, my family and I were less inclined to engage in travel, at least originally, than we had been before the pandemic. The luxury of just having the freedom to meet with local friends and re-engage in the simple pleasure of taking in a movie at the theater or going shopping at the mall were enough. Eventually, desire to see family that had been cut off from us because of the pandemic encouraged me to take the plunge and fly to visit my sister in my boyhood home state of Wisconsin, a place I had not visited in over twenty years. The plane trip itself was a strange mix of familiar experiences such as checking in my luggage and going through airport security combined with new experiences of wearing a mask in the airplane at all times while regularly using hand sanitizer whenever interacting with people or objects potentially infected with Covid 19. Despite being personally vaccinated, the act of traveling in this way felt both isolating and risky. To be masked up while still being in such a confined area as an airplane after the isolation of staying mostly at home for most of a year felt like a flimsy defense against the potential threat from Covid 19. Isolation from one another still seemed to be the new norm for people, with minimal conversations between strangers. Otherwise, the flight itself was uneventful. Once in Wisconsin, my sister and I spent most of the time visiting locations of my childhood. Places such as our former family farm now owned by a distant cousin, or the creek I learned to swim in or the elementary school I had attended before moving away to Arizona, which had been turned into a recycle center that looked more like a dump than a school. Much of our time was spent talking and reminiscing about the past. Essentially reconnecting in person rather than through text messages or the occasional Zoom call. When we traveled to more public locations such as restaurants, a local baseball game, or Fourth of July fireworks, it was apparent that despite health protocols being strictly followed in locations like airports, local mask regulations had been greatly relaxed. While essentially all staff members were wearing masks, the majority of patrons tended to be without masks. While hand sanitizer was available in the restroom, it seemed fewer and fewer people were using it. It was once again a strange combination of familiar experiences such as ordering a meal with the overtone of pandemic restrictions such as staff masks hovering over your shoulder like a ghost, present but less and less substantial. Overall the trip itself was enjoyable, but was mostly an opportunity to reconnect with family while at the same time reassuring myself of the relative safety to be able to travel once again. Eventually, as more restrictions were removed and the increased access to vaccines made Covid 19 less of a fear and more of a nuisance, other family trips to tourist destinations such as San Francisco or Disneyworld became once again a normal part of travel for myself and my family. But my first trip after restrictions began to relax, there was definitely a reminder that the reality of Covid still hovered over our heads, even as we began to move closer and closer to new normal in our post-Covid world. -
2021-06-08
First "Post Covid" Trip
After travel restrictions were lifted, my family and I took a trip to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for an early summer vacation! While we spent most of our time outdoors in the Great Smoky Mountains, we did go to a few “indoor spaces,” such as Dollywood Amusement Park, The Island in Pigeon Forge, Anakeesta, and various restaurants. We visited in June of 2021; the most evident restrictions still present were in Dollywood. While there is always a restricted number of tickets available for Dollywood due to fire and safety protocols, when they opened up after Covid, they had a very limited number of tickets to give more space and distance for the customers in the park, which was nice! There was not much waiting in lines for rides, stores, or concession stands, and we were able to keep our distance from other people. While a few smaller stores asked for masks, masks were not mandated in the two cities or any of the places listed above, and no other types of restrictions were evident in the area. My family and I did our best to stay safe and comfortable during this time and to keep the people around us safe. We chose to spend most of our time outside, surrounded by nature and wildlife! -
2020-06-18
Florida to California
In June 2020, I had to drive from Florida to Northern California for a new job. I didn't fly for fear of Covid and I had a car to move. The journey took me 5 days. The first day was from Tampa Florida to Mobile Alabama, the second day was from Mobile Alabama to Dallas Texas. The third day was from Dallas Texas to Albuquerque New Mexico. The forth day from Albuquerque to Cedar City Utah where my sister lives. Finally from Cedar City Utah to Truckee California. Before the trip I had isolated myself for fear of getting sick while travelling which I feared greatly. My general approach was to eat breakfast at the hotel, get lunch in a drive through, and have uber eats deliver food to my hotel for dinner. Along the journey it was interesting to see how strict the rules were depended greatly on where you were. In Texas I stopped at a donut shop for coffee and found a large group of elderly men sitting around drinking coffee and eating donuts without a single mask to be found. This group was clearly not concerned about Covid. However, when i drove through Navajo country in Arizona, the rules were very strict and only drive through food options was available and I had difficulty finding an open bathroom in the entire area as no gas station or restaurant was allowing people inside. I also remember listening to E Street Radio on satellite radio and Bruce Springsteen was reading the obituaries of people who had died. I remember that being a striking moment throughout all of this. -
2021-01
Our COVID Trip to Disney World
In January 2022, my family of three escaped the cold of the Midwest for a much-needed vacation in Disney World. We had actually planned to go in May 2021 for our daughter's fourth birthday, but had to reschedule due to unforeseen circumstances. So we went on a seven day, seven night trip during the slowest season for theme parks to avoid large crowds. We had a really good time but soon learned that Disney World is anything but relaxing! There were still COVID restrictions in place, but mainly just optional masks and social distancing guidelines. My husband and I were much stricter about our safety than others may have been, and took great care to ensure that were were all wearing properly fitted KN95 masks. We scheduled rides on the My Disney Experience app to avoid lines. We also used hand sanitizer constantly and brought an enormous bottle with us to refill our travel-sized containers. We all stayed perfectly healthy, likely due in part to the extremely limited crowds. On some days, we were able to walk right onto rides. -
2020-10-03
With Love
When travel restrictions were lifted, did you take a trip? -
2021-12-22
Charleston, South Carolina 2021 Christmas Trip
After COVID travel restrictions were lifted, my family and I seized the opportunity to visit Charleston, South Carolina to spend Christmas with my cousins. Despite the chill of December, we were able to explore the historic town at our leisure. While some shops remained open, their hours were adjusted due to the holiday season and COVID precautions. Similarly, many restaurants offered a limited menu, which disappointed my sister and me as we are both picky eaters. During our visit, we made sure to visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, a renowned historic house with beautiful gardens and one of the oldest plantations in the South. However, due to COVID, several attractions within the plantation were closed. It was also mandatory that we follow the necessary safety measures by wearing masks around other groups of people and inside the gift shop. Despite the limitations imposed by COVID, my time in Charleston was truly wonderful. I had the opportunity to immerse myself in the city's rich history, even if I couldn't fully explore all the places and shops as I had hoped. But most importantly, I cherished the moments spent with my family during this special holiday trip. -
2021-03-16
Nice to be in the sun
Being an avid traveler the Covid lockdowns provided an obstacle I couldn't overcome. I had to sit it out. Local trips in New England filed my free time but many restrictions limited the scope of availability. In March of 2021 my girlfriend and I took our first trip since the start. We went to Aruba. Her first time my 4th. Being a favorite destination I was aware of much of what the island had to offer. Yet still unsure what lockdowns meant. We had to abide by a curfew and masks had to be worn. However the trip was a warm delightful experience which was followed by more adventures. -
2020-05-06
Drive Through Birthday
On May 6, 2020, my childhood best friend officially turned 15. It may be just another birthday for most. However, in Hispanic culture, it means a girl's shift from childhood to womanhood. Usually celebrated by parties filled with hundreds of people, princess dresses, cultural food, music, and gifts. Due to the pandemic, it was diminished to a drive-through celebration filled with masks and distance between loved ones. It was a memorable birthday; nevertheless, a significant part of the typical Hispanic cultural experience was stripped away from her. -
2023-08-30
COVID paranoia alive and well in 2023
At a stop light this morning, my attention was grabbed by a car with lots of writing on it. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but the light turned green before I could. The car message was about Marxism and how fear controls its movement. The message expressed that recent events have all been staged in order to control society and went on to predict that mask mandates would be back on September 15. The message ended by encouraging people to resist the future mandate in order to retain control of our society. I was very intrigued to see that there are some people who are still very vocal about topics such as this and very loudly are telling people not to live in fear when they are the only ones who seem to be living in fear these days. I read a hashtag on their car and looked it up when I got home. This page belongs to a person (or movement) that is very anti-mask, anti-covid vaccine, and anti-mandates. They are part of the extreme right politically and very religious. I’m curious to see if anything were to happen on the 15th and if not, how this page will respond to the “normality” of September 15. I guess we’ll see in two weeks. -
2021-07
Trip to San Francisco July 2021
During the summer of 2021, my girlfriend and I traveled to San Francisco for a week-long vacation. Travel and business restrictions were greatly lessened but still in place. As seen in the photo masks were still very common, especially in a big city like San Francisco where there was less anti-mask sentiment (my mask was off just for the photo). We wore masks for the majority of the trip, including while on planes and trains or in any public space. One of the bigger impacts of the pandemic that we experienced during our trip was how many restaurants and other businesses closed at earlier times than before. Additionally, while our trip was happening the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were finally occurring after all of the delays to its start. We were able to watch many events from our hotel room that would have otherwise occurred a year prior. -
2021-12-25
Immunocompromised at Christmas
The impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism over the past three years has been significant, and in my experiences, travel for me in post-COVID era has been wildly different - as my mind swirls around a large concern that I could possibly do harm to my immunocompromised husband. He’d experienced major spinal and heart surgeries in the summer of 2020, and the following year a round of COVID left his nervous and immune systems permanently weakened. My parents had planned a large family trip in May 2021, and my thoughts continued to swirl around the potential for another round of COVID afflicting my husband. I had us cancel. Months later, my family finally convinced us to get on a plane for Christmas to Austin, Texas to see my sister’s new home. It would be our son’s first flight, too, which only added to my anxiety. It was December 2021, and most restrictions were still in place at airports at this time. I was grateful for the number of passengers on the flights, in the airports, and in public transportation hubs utilizing masks and maintaining distance from one another. I recalled seeing one family, completely maskless, at the airport. They seemed so out of place - and to be honest they looked very uncomfortable - too. Luckily, like us, my extended family was hesitant to explore the hustle of downtown Austin, so much of the trip was spent with everyone at my sister’s new home, cooking, reading, completing puzzles, and most importantly: getting her lawn familiarized with several dozen rounds of Bocce ball. It was the first time we were all able to come together after the start of the pandemic, and I felt grateful for the opportunity to be with my family in the same safe space. We got way too competitive, but the laughter during Bocce proved the most memorable part of the trip. I loved how happy my family looked in this moment, especially my sister (front in orange) and my husband (over her right shoulder). I am not sure what the future looks like for COVID and travel, but for me, I know that it already looks different - I will continue to mask, I will distance, and I will choose options that will do the least amount of harm to those I love and the people I may meet along the way. -
2021-08-15
Pandemics, Wildfires, and Climate Change
The Covid 19 Pandemic is and was a transformative event representing history in the making. The state of Oregon and particularly Portland witnessed a trifecta of converging crises beginning with the lockdown on St. Patrick’s Day in 2020. That summer was one of the hottest in recorded history and saw the city and state divided in smoke-filled chaos. The literal last words of “I can’t breathe” uttered by George Floyd were being chanted in the streets downtown as wildfires raged in all corners of the state, set against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Everything felt surreal and the tension in the city was like a powder keg. By the following summer some advancements had been made, the first round of vaccinations administered, but the same underlying issues were present in Portland. Houselessness, fractured political ideologies, and Far-Right and Far-Left members clashing in an invisible maelstrom on the Willamette River. My husband and I had adhered to the very stringent guidelines and protocol set by both the city and state to the letter. For a bit of context, my husband worked on the front line as a department manager at a grocery store and wore a mask for eleven hours at a time often six days a week for a year and a half, while I volunteered at the Red Cross and held down the home front. In August of 2021, we finally decided that we needed to get out of town, so we grabbed the dog and set a course for the Crooked River in Central Oregon. It was a two-week period of sheer peace and glory bookended by fear and anger at the negligence of fellow humans. We camped on the river and practiced mindfulness and being present every day, breathing deeply the fresh air ushered in by a strong breeze from the East. The “going there” and “going home” portions were marred by anti-mask protestors with weapons arguing about state’s rights, as death toll numbers were rising. The fires had already burned over a million acres with no signs of slowing down, and the reality of Portland’s social justice issues did not disappear just because we did. The experience left us feeling gratitude for the opportunity to explore, our good health, and open minds, it was our 18th wedding anniversary, in which porcelain is traditionally given as a gift. Ironic, given the fact that not only is porcelain extraordinarily beautiful but also incredibly delicate, a perfect representation of the state of things during the summer of 2021. -
2022-06-03
First Student Trip After COVID-19 Pandemic Began
I have led a student global travel trip for the last 10 years at my school. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, our trip to Australia and New Zealand was delayed/cancelled until 2021 in hopes of COVID being over by then. I had 27 students have to postpone traveling on this trip. In 2021, we came across the same restrictions, and our trip was cancelled again. As we we were planning our 2022 trip, New Zealand still had quarantine rules that would have kept us in the hotel for a week before we would get to go anywhere or do anything. Due to this, we changed our trip to one to France, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. My students wanted to travel again, but did not know what to expect. There were still masking rules in place in a lot of the places we visited, and everyone had to take a mandatory COVID-19 test to be able to leave Europe at the end of the trip and get back into the United States. This was the scariest part because if your test revealed you were positive for COVID, you were required to stay in the country until you were negative. Everyone on the trip dreaded the day of the test because we had heard so many stories about other schools on different trips that had students who had failed the test. The trip was extremely important to me because it represented these students being able to fully restart their lives and finally be able to be kids again. This is a picture of me from the Louvre waiting my turn to see the Mona Lisa. It was taken immediately after I took a picture of all my students in front of the painting. I can see the happiness in my eyes again, getting to see students do something they love to do. -
2021-06-01
Post-pandemic Beach Trip
Unlike most people that we knew, we did not travel anywhere during the pandemic. We did not have any visitors outside of our family and continued to use social distancing until the restrictions were lifted. When the world opened up again, we still chose to stay fairly close to home. At the time, we were living in Harrisburg, PA and decided to visit Virginia Beach. We stayed at the Hilton and were shocked to see how to the pandemic had effected the tourism industry. The hotel was wildly understaffed as they had let many employees go over the past year and it was chaotic. The rooms were not cleaned on time for check-in so there were people packed into the lobby, bags everywhere, just waiting to get to their rooms. The employees were overworked and mostly rude; wholly unlike how it had been pre-pandemic. When we were finally able to check into our room, we got onto the elevator and found that there was some kind of liquid all over the floor. We tried to show an employee but there were none around to help. After getting into our room, we pulled out the sofa bed to find that it was full of sand and that the room had not been properly cleaned. Eventually, someone did come up to clean it but it took hours. Our trip could be summed up as unrelaxing; nearly every employee seemed as though they were at their limits. There were still mask guidelines in place and all of the people there seemed angry about it, whether it was because they were wearing one and others weren’t or because they did not want to wear one and were angry that the guidelines told them to. It seems as though no one could be satisfied and everyone was inconvenienced no matter which side they were on. -
2021-10-14
Alone
When travel restrictions were lifted, did you take a trip? If so, where did you go and why? What are your memories of this trip? Were there any continuing COVID-19 restrictions in place? Once the Pandemic restrictions were eased, not necessarily lifted, my family and I traveled to northern Arizona, southern Nevada, southern California, and Korea. During the Pandemic, life continued on as normal for me, not so much for my spouse. I was a social worker who continued to do home visits. My spouse was an elementary educator who was able to work from home. Life during the early-, and mid-stages of the Pandemic was busy, and it felt like we were going full-speed ahead - faster than before the Pandemic. Traveling has always been my family's go-to experience; however, the Pandemic halted travel as the areas we usually go to, road trips to California, or flying to Korea, were off-limits. Once restrictions were eased, we immediately traveled to those areas to get away. Restrictions were still present, mask mandates required us to wear masks in California, and Korea. One of the memorable moments was wearing a mask for a lift, a 14-hour flight, to Korea with a one-year-old who constantly wanted to pull the mask off. Lastly, the most memorable moment throughout the whole trip to California and then off to Korea was the feeling that we were always alone, during the day or night, everything felt like a ghost town. -
2022-03
Teaching in Korea
During the height of the pandemic I began to think deeply about what i wanted to do if things ever got "Back to normal." I'd spent my entire life in San Jose California, and decided I wanted to get out and do something different. In early 2021 I went through the process of becoming certified to teach English abroad. I was eventually hired by an English academy in South Korea for a one year contract in the fall of 2021. I enjoyed it so much I ended up re-upping for another year. When I arrived I had to quarantine for one week, and my school director (essentially a principal) picked me up from my quarantine facility and brought me to my apartment, paid for by the school as part of my contract. It was an exciting adventure for me slowly adapting to a new culture and learning to navigate the country of South Korea. The attitude towards COVID was much more serious than in the U.S. The outdoor mask mandate was in force until Spring of 2022, and the indoor mandate was not lifted until January of 2023. Even coming from California, one of the U.S. states with stricter restrictions, it was an adjustment. It certainly wasn't a political issue here in South Korea. I can only speak very rudimentary Korean, but from what I could tell, nobody seemed to have a problem following government health advice. It was illuminating to see how different countries citizens can have radically different views to a crisis based on culture, beliefs, values and attitudes towards Science. Many people still choose to wear masks in public places now in the Summer of 2023. Given the tensions with the North, there is a heavy U.S. military presence in South Korea, which made it easier to connect with other English speakers and get a taste of home near the military bases. I even met my lovely partner here, a space force member stationed in the same city I teach and live in. Being shut in is what drove me to get out of my comfort zone and I'm truly glad for my experience over the past two years in Korea. I've met friends from different countries, experienced aspects of Korean culture that I love, and also have had my privilege checked by aspects of living in Korea that I'm not as fond of. I am excited to go back home this fall, but I hope to carry all I've learned about culture and life in Korea with me. In a strange way, I'm glad that at least the pandemic made me think about what I wanted to do and see once I had the freedom to explore, and I can't say enough how grateful I am for the travel I've been able to do. -
2022-06-20
Mask in Germany
I found this mask on the ground outside of a subway in Germany. At the time, masks were still mandatory on transportation, which was surprising since most of the world didn’t make masks mandatory. They even had someone walking around to either give people masks or to remind them of the mask mandate. -
2023-06-20
Finally got COVID
I finally got sick with COVID after 3 years. I went on a cruise to celebrate my fiancé’s graduation and had to remove my mask when the heat was so bad in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. I’m mostly worried about getting my fiancé sick who is disabled, but hopefully we don’t live together just yet. I’m currently being isolated in my parents house watching people stream on Twitch.TV and playing Animal Crossing. I had a fever of 101 yesterday, and hopefully am able to return to work on Friday which means I’ll be able to represent my work at Hampton Roads Pride on Saturday. Since it’s pride month, me getting COVID feels very homophobic -
2021-09-30
Masking through the pandemic
I have submitted this picture to show what it was like just to be at school during the pandemic. This is a picture of my friend and I in band class. We had to wear masks, and even had special musician masks we had to wear while playing our instruments. This was a very hard time, especially with it being my senior year of high school. I just wanted things to be normal again. -
2021-06-11
Customer Service
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2021-06-07
Graduation Season
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2021-06-03
Maskless Brings Challenges
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2021-03-22
Pandemic Bracket
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
12/01/2021
Rosa Gomez Oral History, 2021/12/01
Rosa Gomez is a third-year student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She/they are double majoring in journalism and political science with a minor in. Rosa shared her experiences on the pandemic, school, news, and media, as well as her thoughts and feelings on Covid-19. Her hometown is Minneapolis which allowed them to have two different perspectives on how these states dealt with the outbreak. Closing with why she got the vaccine and what she has learned during this period of their life. -
12/29/2021
Scott Koran Oral History, 2021/12/29
Scott Koran was born and raised in Marshfield, Wisconsin, and works at Rogers Cinema as its CEO. Over the course of this interview, Scott Koran details the difficulties of running his family business during the pandemic including its effect on his life, his family, and on the overall local community. He discusses the difficulties of closing down his theaters and moving perishable food items from all his locals to a central location. Scott explains his attempt to pay the bills by running the popular curbside popcorn sales at his Marshfield theater location. He shares what the situation in his local community is like and allows people are reacting to Covid-19 safety measures created by local businesses. At the end of this interview, he discusses the uncertainty of the future and how the media and health organizations have been sending out conflicting and confusing messages regarding the disease. -
12/01/2021
Cathy Mitchell Oral History, 2021/12/01
Cathy Mitchell was born and raised in Champaign, IL, and currently works as a paid caregiver for a 91-year-old lady. In this interview, Cathy Mitchell discusses how COVID-19 has affected her life, including her work, family life, and mental health. She shares what it has been like to adjust to life as a newly widowed woman and caregiver during the pandemic, and how the pandemic has affected her in terms of her mental health. She discusses her thoughts and experiences, as developed from the initial crisis until recently in this interview, consisting of 3 parts. -
11/29/2021
Dan Olson Oral History, 2021/11/29
Dan Olson was born and raised in Eau Claire, WI, and has been in the family theatre business since the early 2000s. Micon Cinemas, started by his parents, has multiple locations in the Chippewa Valley of Northwestern Wisconsin and has endured numerous closings since the beginning of 2020. During this interview, Dan discusses those closures and the effects they had, financially and otherwise, on the business. In addition to the company aspect, Dan also speaks to the challenges he has in raising two kids in a pandemic era, where he gets (or doesn’t get) his news from, and the struggles of staying neutral in such polarizing, partisan times. -
12/04/2021
Karen Porter Oral History, 2021/12/04
Karen Porter was born and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and still resides there, where she works as a custodian in the Bridgeman dorm at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. In this interview, Karen gives critical information on what it’s like working as a custodian during the pandemic, being the person the community relies on to keep things clean and safe. Karen also reflects on how COVID-19 has affected her life, including her job, family and friends, personal life, hobbies, and mental health. Karen shares additional insight on hot topics of the pandemic, like vaccines, government response, the healthcare system, and collective memory. -
12/08/2021
Lissa Ziehr Oral History, 2021/12/08
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12/13/2021
Angela Nelson Oral History, 2021/12/13
Angela Nelson, a wife and mother of two, lives in Illinois on the Wisconsin border where she works from home as a Configuration management engineer. We discuss how COVID had affected her life, both work and personal, and her community, both local and statewide. She discusses what problems have occurred over the pandemic and what could have been solutions to help ease the problem. -
12/07/2021
Wyatt Goetz and Sloana Goetz Oral History, 2021/12/07
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11/27/2021
Terry Ehle Oral History, 2021/11/27
Terry Ehle lives in Two Rivers, Wisconsin with her husband, three daughters, and two foster boys. She works as a librarian at the local public library. In this interview, Terry discusses the struggles she faces during the COVID pandemic trying to juggle such a large family and their many extra-curricular activities. Her daughters are involved in musical theater, sports, and international travel- all of which have been impacted by COVID. She struggles to manage all of these different activities together, all while trying to be a good mother and a good employee. Because of her situation, she has had to take a lot of time off of work and has found herself working many nights and weekends to make up for the lost time.