Items

• 
  2020-08

  Memories are Like Waterfalls; a Post-COVID-19 Recovery Vacation

  As a survivor of COVID-19 with long-lasting damage, this memory still brings feelings of anger and fear to the surface. It takes place at a family cabin that was the epicenter of many happy memories all the way from childhood through becoming a parent myself. That first trip back forced me to see all that COVID-19 had stolen from me and would continue to steal from me for the rest of my life.
• 
  2021-04-28

  Til' Death Do Us Part

  I've included a text story and video of the first time I traveled since the the massive Covid lockdown in March 2020. This text and video are important to me because not only was it a brave thing to do after being confined for so long, but it was also a defining moment in my adult life. I am now married as a result of that trip.
• 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!
• 
  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.
• 
  2021-03-06

  Escape from COVID: San Antonio to Galveston

  I submitted this story because I wanted to explain what my first trip after COVID was like.
• 2023-07-13

  My trip to Xinjiang

  For myself and many others in China, people were faced with policies and travel restrictions that were put in place due to the Covid19 pandemic. These policies and restrictions included, but were not limited to: quarantines, frequent nucleic acid tests, scanning a code in order to enter all sorts of places, and working from home. These covid policies and travel restrictions were finally, and fully, lifted this past winter, in January of 2023. This summer would be the first chance my family and I have to travel, and we will actually be starting our trip tomorrow, on July 13, 2023. As this is the first summer after covid policies were lifted, I’m expecting many places to be crowded. My wife has already done some research and has come across some videos on social media that shows some scenic spots that are crowded. As for the trip, we will be going on a road trip to Xinjiang, which is China's westernmost territory. We chose this place because we have never been there and have always wanted to visit. It is supposed to be one of the more beautiful places in China. While we will visit some urban locations, they will not be our primary focus as we are more interested in natural scenery. We’ll be starting out trip tomorrow, on July 13, 2023 and will be driving to areas in regions around Urumqi, Xinjiang. Among the places we will visit are Turpan, Sayram Lake, and Tekesi Bagua City. After that, we will drive back to Beijing, stopping at various places along the way and spend a few days in each place. Along the way, we plan to take many pictures and buy some souvenirs. My children might also have to write about the trip as well for an assignment for school.
• 
  2013-03-14

  Pandemic Dream Vacation

  This is a photograph i took on my last major vacation to South Carolina in 2013. If I could travel anywhere I would go back there and I would go back to Disney World and my dream vacation that I have never been on would be Hawaii. Due to circumstances that happened in 2013 I have been unable to return to South Carolina since. I would go back because I have some positive memories there and it was the last trip before my mom got paralyzed two months later and it is one of her favorite spots too. I have also enjoyed trips to Disney World and have always wanted to visit Hawaii. I did have a trip planned to South Carolina and Florida in February 2020 but had to cancel because of Covid and I have not had a chance to go back since.
• 
  2021-06-18

  Tourism Story: Florida After Travel Restrictions

  I graduated from my Bachelor's program in May 2021, after vaccine rollout and as travel restrictions were being lifted. To celebrate, my family organized a short trip to Florida in June, where we would visit the Universal Studios theme park for a couple days, which had always been a dream destination for my parents. This was a huge deal for us, because my family has never been able to afford a vacation like that, and we saved during the pandemic to be able to afford it once travel restrictions were lifted and we were all vaccinated. By the time we went, almost all travel restrictions had been lifted, and I remember the strange mix of relief and uneasiness I got from how "normal" everything seemed in Florida. I hardly saw anyone even wearing masks, and I was honestly glad for that not being a requirement in the theme park - I'm from Kentucky, and I hadn't been prepared for the intense Florida heat and humidity! I'll always treasure the memory of seeing the ocean for the first time and getting to spend time with my family, and even though I was still worried about the pandemic, it felt like such a relief to have a normal vacation after such a stressful and scary year.
• 
  2021-03-06

  Aruba 2021

  This is a story that reflects positively on the implications of covid and how it effected the tourist experience. It is an honest, first hand account of travel to the island of Aruba without the mass tourism they have become so familiar with. It speaks to the erosion of personal nature and connection that coexists so easily with the superficiality of mass tourism.
• 2020-08-04

  Lonely at the Lake

  My family has owned a small cabin by a lake in Northern Minnesota for over 60 years. This is my favorite place in the world and was our family vacation destination every year. As years went on my dad and I are one of the few who continue this tradition. After quarantining in April and May and businesses slowly reopening in June we decided in August 2020 that it would be safe enough to go up there. However, this trip ended up being much different than usual. While Minnesota was under a mask mandate the area we were in was much different than the suburbs of Chicago. At home more often than not people did adhere to the mask mandate and there was a mandate to self-quarantine when returning to the state after traveling. The area where are cabin is located is very densely wooded and not exactly populated. The small town has about four hundred people and the nearest large grocery store is a forty-five-minute drive away. While grocery shopping in town it was clear the mask mandate was not as strictly followed up here. Only about half of the customers in the store were wearing masks. The likelihood of adhering to the mandate dropped even further once we reached our township. Even though there were signs posted to “wear your mask” my dad and I were considered the odd ones out at the bait shop or lumber store, as I did not see a single person with a mask on in the ten days we were up there. All of our neighbors who live on the road that hugs the bay are all older. I have known most of them my entire life and some have even watched my parents grow up. Many of them live downstate near the Twin Cities, and some even live out of state, but very few of them live up there full time due to the harsh weather and isolation. It wasn’t until the last few years that the country started to plow our road in the winter. This ten-day vacation is normally packed with multiple dinners at neighbors' houses, tubing and fishing, parties and yard games, and finally ending the night around a fire with our neighbors, their kids, and often their grandkids. This trip, there was none of that. Windows and doors were boarded up because out-of-state neighbors never made the trip up to open their cabins. Jetskis and other water toys were locked up because most older neighbors did not risk leaving quarantine. As far as we could tell it was just my dad and myself. Fishing was just the two of us, the only people we had to argue with over card games were each other, and we both fell asleep more than once on the boat or dock while reading books because it was so quiet. It might have been much more lonely and quiet than normal, but it was still relaxing to be surrounded by nature and absorb its sounds uninterrupted. COVID-19 changed my vacation, but not necessarily in a bad way. I am lucky to have a lake house that was isolated enough that COVID did not seem to touch it. Although we missed our neighbors and have since seen everyone the loneliness allowed for a sense of stillness, the ability to fully emerse myself in nature and relax.
• 
  2023-01-29

  Travelling Post-Pandemic: Reflections

  Deciding whether or not to travel post-pandemic has been weighing on me emotionally. Here, I identify reasons I should vs should not travel, as well as where I would go and why.
• 2021-06-06

  My Reverse Homecoming

  The first trip my wife and I took after the COVID travel restrictions were lifted was a doozy. Our first flight in over a year was a three-hop journey from our small Montana town to Alaska for an old friend’s wedding. With a six-month-old. On our laps. The whole time. My wife and I had our first round of vaccines but worried about our daughter, who was still far too young to have a dose. After much risk assessment and consultation with our pediatrician, we decided to go for it. Mask wear was strictly enforced on the airplane and in most of the public places we found ourselves, and there was a profound and somewhat discomforting sense that we and our fellow travelers were searching for a way to exist comfortably in this new not-yet-maybe-never-post-COVID world. The thing I remember most, though, was how incredibly freeing it felt to be somewhere new again. So much time spent at home, however necessary, had inflicted an unhealthy solitude on much of society, and my first time solidly stepping away from that felt energizing. I’ve always loved to travel and doing so after the darkest days of the pandemic felt like a happy return to form. A reverse homecoming, if you will.
• 
  2020-07-17

  Going away to Paradise

  Going away to Paradise during the Pandemic was the most beautiful moment for me and my family. Connecting with nature and seeing the big blue sea of the Caribbean and its beautiful white sand beach. After all the hectic moments of surviving COVID and saying thanks to mother nature for its amazing glory. Thank you, God, and thank you to the great family that I have. #REL10
• 2022-04-20

  Oklahoma Outbreak: an okie boys experience with COVID-19

  Looking back at the beginning of the pandemic seems surreal. I remember hearing in December 2019 or January 2020 about some sickness in China. However, I had lived through the Ebola scare and multiple different flu outbreaks and my life had not changed day to day. People would get scared and then it would pass after a couple months with little effect. This would turn out to be different and unlike anything seen in the developed 21st century world. I left my school for Spring Break and though I would return to my final days at Mustang HS and the fun events that came with graduating. My family and some friends traveled a few hours from our house to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and stayed nearby in Medicine Park, Oklahoma. It was a sleepy turn of the century resort town that had seen better days when the rich and powerful of Oklahoma had made it a vacation spot. Although not as popular as it once was, it is being rediscovered by local people for its natural beauty and relatively cheap costs. It seemed like a normal vacation, and we did not see very many people as it wasn’t yet summer and there are not that many locals. We hiked trails at the wildlife refuge and went into town for food and trinkets. It was a nice quiet start to the week. Then all of the sudden everything began to change. We watched the news and saw on social media that the virus that was a world away had now made its way to America. We still were not very worried because we were pretty isolated, and either were hiking outside on trails with little activity or tucked away in our cabin playing games and hanging out. Then cases started to explode, the economy started collapsing, people were getting sick everywhere and no one knew what to do. We went into a restaurant in town and did not know how to act; we were all rubbing germ-x all over ourselves and keeping our distance as best we could. At this point we still figured it would all blow over after a few weeks. As our spring break drew to a close, our school let out a statement that we were not going back the next week. This was exciting news and I figured it was all just a precaution and I would be back in class the week after with all of this just a big laugh and some extra time off. Boy was I wrong. On the drive home my dad, who is a semi-prepper, was coming up with all sorts of scenarios and making plans for if the world collapsed but it honestly still felt like we were only entertaining ourselves. As we rolled back into my town, it looked like a beehive had exploded. People were driving crazy, every gas pump was full, and the Walmart was almost wiped out. That is when it started to sink in that things might be worse than I first thought. Then the first deaths started getting reported and it really seemed serious. I never went back to a high school classroom. My whole life changed from that point on. My first 2 years of college seemed almost fake and as of right now I have had COVID 3 times; the original, delta, and omicron. My family has also had it multiple times. We were some of the lucky ones to make it through with no lingering problems and for my older family members, with their lives. It is now April 2022 and things have finally started to go back to somewhat normal, but another wave could happen at any time. Corona Virus has changed our world and is going to be with us forever.
• 
  2022-04-18

  Canceled

  How many experiences were altered/lost due to the pandemic and why they mattered.
• 
  2021-08-30

  2021 Traveling

  I uploaded a photograph of a stadium taken Athens, Greece while performers & staff were setting up the equipment during our visit.
• 
  2020-05-10

  LAST DANCE

  the link is a video of dennis rodman interview talking about going on vacation in the middel of the NBA season
• 
  2021-10-09

  Trip to Hawaii 2021

  Back in April of 2021, I had the opportunity to fly out to Hawaii for a quick vacation to see my fiance. In order to do so, my fiance’s parents and I were required to sign up with Hawaii’s Safe Travels Program and have a negative test about 72 hours prior to the trip. While flying, we were required to wear a mask during the whole length of the flight. Even out there, there were some parts of the island where we were even required to wear masks outdoors and in a spacious area.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Rules for you, suggestions for me

  A meme referencing either how members of the UCP of Alberta going on vacation during the worst months of the pandemic, or our Premier's vacation during the onslaught of the 4th wave. I guess it's even funnier based on the fact that this can represent multiple instances.
• 
  2021-10-07

  Vacation in the Pandemic

  This audio recording describes a vacation my family and I took during the pandemic. A lot of the attractions were closed due to the virus, so we had to find other things to do while maintaining safety protocol (social distancing, masks). It was frustrating but we managed to still have fun.
• 
  2021-06-15

  Covid Travels

  How have you and your family handled vacations and outings since the pandemic began? With popular vacation destinations becoming a hotbed of Covid exposure and infections, travel has become challenging. Many have chosen to forego or pause vacations in the age of Covid. National parks are a good alternative to crowded beach locations, as these parks give us opportunity for socially-distanced camping and hiking without the dangers that indoor entertainment venues pose.
• 
  2021-09-19

  Berlin Travel

  In September my family and I were able to travel to Berlin via the Deutchbahn (German Train). Our weekend in Berlin was fun, but from the picture, you can see we had to mask up. Many places in Europe still require face masks in public places. It is interesting to experience this as most places in America do not require masks.
• 
  2020

  Humorous memes about coronavirus

  During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.
• 
  2021-02-22

  My day

  My first half of spring break was pretty great. On Saturday, I went to Big Sky, Montana to ski. I brought my friends Brett, James, and Patrick with me. My good friend Brandon was also up there so he stayed with me. My family has a house up there, so we go once during the winter and once during the summer every year. Sadly there is not a direct flight to the airport in Bozeman Montana. That place is about an hour drive to Big Sky. We flew Delta Airlines and had a connection flight in Minneapolis. In the New Orleans airport, we had chick fil a. The airport was very crowded. Then in Minneapolis, we had about an hour layover. We then arrived in Bozeman Montana at around 8:15 at night. We then went to Dairy Queen and got ready for the hour drive ahead. During that drive, I basically just listened to music. We then finally arrived in Big Sky. We were all pretty tired so we went to bed. The next morning we woke up and then ate a big breakfast. After that, we drove to the Ski Rental shop. We then got our skis and began skiing. We started off with a blue to see how everyone would do. James was not the best and kept falling. After about 2 runs we left my dad and met up with Brandon’s older sister. We then went to the other side of the mountain and skied there. There was a new chairlift that had like a bubble you would pull over you. It also had heated seats.
• 
  2021-03-04

  What pandemic? One urbanite's weekend venture into rural Arizona

  In addition to all the other aspects that currently define my life, I can almost see the end of my first year of graduate studies in Arizona State University's Global History program. I returned to academia in the fall of 2019, wrapped up 34 undergrad credit in 9 months with a 4.1 GPA, and started my master's studies in the fall of 2020. I still have to work a dayjob to keep the lights on, and I have a side hustle ghost writing fiction novels and hosting a podcast on creative writing. Time is my most valued and least possessed commodity. My school schedule is generally comprised of 7.5-week courses, and the university recommends taking no more than one at a time. I couldn't avoid doubling up during the first two months of this spring semester, and, to be candid, I arrogantly denied the validity of the university's guidance. By the end of the first term, I desperately needed to remember what a weekend felt like. Because God blessed me with the Greatest Wife in The History of the World, she scheduled a four-day weekend for us in the White Mountains in eastern Arizona. For those unfamiliar with the area, eastern Arizona has the largest stand of Ponderosa pine trees in the world. Hunters consistently harvest trophy elk and deer from the White Mountains and Gila National Forest, which spans the Arizona-New Mexico border. Unlike Colorado's coniferous forest, eastern Arizona seems devoid of pine beetle kill. Nothing but healthy, evergreen forest and the scent of sun-warmed pine greets you. We stayed in a vacation home on the outskirts of Pinetop, brought our groceries from home, and largely intended on hiking, cooking, drinking, and doing a lot of nothing. When we arrived in Pinetop in early March 2021, I had already fully recovered from COVID-19 and had time for both of my Moderna vaccines to have taken full effect. My wife had neither protective barrier, but we had generally become comfortable with purpose-driven shopping (as opposed to "window shopping") and takeout dining. As such, we stopped into a bakery to get breakfast on the way out to the hiking trails as a vacation treat. To our surprise, many of the patrons weren't wearing masks while walking through the restaurant or waiting in line. That made us a little uncomfortable. Then, one of the employees walked out from the kitchen with no mask on and began working on filling orders at the front, cold-food storage counters. Both of us panicked a bit and considered cancelling our orders and leaving. My wife pulled up the Arizona Department of Health Services site and quickly found that entire county had endured only a little more than 560 cases. A quick bit of division translated that into an average of two infections per day for the entire pandemic year-to-date. The statistical odds of the unmasked clerk or patrons presenting a health risk to either of us fell to just north of zero. NOT zero, but we both felt we could see it from there. The ham, egg, and cheese croissants were delicious, by the way. In trying to be good guests, we continued to wear our masks whenever we ventured into public spaces and businesses. Less than half of those around did the same, and I didn't see or hear anyone confront each other about mask wearing. Our last venture out that weekend was to a beer garden with a prominent outdoor patio and seating area. We again wore our masks inside the establishment, but we immediately felt like outcasts for having done so. When we stepped inside, it looked as though the town villain had just stepped through the saloon doors: all activity inside the business stopped, and everyone seated inside turned around to look us up-and-down for few silent moments. If anyone had been playing piano, they would have switched to a minor key. NO ONE else inside wore a mask, and the interior tables didn't appear to have been spaced to comply with prevailing social distancing guidelines. Everyone stayed kind of quiet until we ordered beers and asked to sit outside. In hindsight, I wonder if they expected we were there from some government bureaucracy to issue citations, or just out-of-towners about to have a value-based hissy fit? I have been generally opposed to broad behavior mandates that typically justify compliance on urban problems, but that weekend compelled me to really consider the divergent pandemic realities Arizonans have endured for the past year. Further analysis of county-specific data seems to suggest at least four divergent pandemic experiences within Arizona: urban centers, border counties, rural counties, and Native American reservations. I hope to better understand the personal experiences of those who lived in these diverse regions and how the pandemic affected their perspective and reality.
• 
  2021-03-02

  Delta launches international vacation program with onsite COVID-19 tests

  The CDC now requires all people returning to the United States from abroad to provide a negative COIVD-19 test. To assist travelers with this, Delta Airlines' package program is only offering international hotels that provide on-site COVID-19 testing for convenience.
• 
  2020-12-09

  celebrities during the holiday season

  This is a instagram post made by Hailey Bieber, who is Justin Bieber's wife. This post shows them somewhere tropical on a vacation and you can see the date is December 9th. While they may not have been traveling exactly on Christmas, this post shows that they were traveling during the holiday season during a pandemic. Nowhere does it address them being tested for covid or being covid safe, you can only hope and assume they are taking cautions. This post makes me wonder how many other celebrities are traveling and having fun but not posting about it because of the backlash they would get, and deserve. I found this post important because you always here about these huge celebrities preaching to us on how important it is to stay home and wear a mask, but then you see them traveling to these beautiful islands and all these nice places because “we have a private jet” or “ we rented out our own private resort” so they justify traveling because they have the money to do so and ‘be safe’ while doing it. In my opinion it is very hypocritical on their part. Meanwhile the majority of the world is still stuck in their homes during the holidays not able to see their families or really give gifts to one another. This post is important to show the other side of the pandemic, the rich people side. I suppose the rich and famous are immune to covid? Who knows.
• 2021-01-25

  Covid-19 story

  From March 2020 to January 2021 I have known 28 people who got the virus. Them getting the virus did not affect me very much other than the fact that it did make me get a little more frightened when people I know got sick. Me and me family have not gotten Covid-19 yet, but I have had to quarantine a few times. Living through this pandemic has been the worst year in my life. I could not see anyone I know and love, I could not go to school, I could not go on vacations of any kind, I had to wear an extremely uncomfortable mask, and there was nothing to do when I was stuck at home. Living through all of this for so long has made me really sad. I am basically just trying to get through one day at a time just waiting for this nightmare to end.
• 2021-01-15

  Virtual Learning

  Virtual Learning was CRAZY. SO many pros and cons. Some pros are that we get to stay home and have our choice of lunch and we also get to be anywhere like on vacation and stuff as long as we had wifi we could do it. Some cons is that its SUPER distracting and soooo many temptations such as going downstairs to eat during class, going on your phone and do other stuff, and also, (the biggest of all) people cheating on quizzes and tests. All you have to do is have the quiz or test on one tab, and the answers on the other. I like in school learning wayyyy better because I get to see friends, get more exercise instead of being cooped up in my room, and be more focused during class. AND THE AMOUNT OF STUDENTS THAT FORGET THAT THEY AREN'T MUTED IS HILARIOUS!!! THEY'D BE WATCHING VIDEOS OR PLAYING MUSIC OR TALKING TO SOMEONE OFF OF MUTE AND THE WHOLE CLASS WOULD HEAR!!!! In some cases, some did get in trouble for what the situation was and what they were playing. Some zoom classes were also getting leaked (I was in one of the leaked zooms) and some random person would take the name of a student and then do something inappropriate and leave right after so we would know who it was. It was obvious a student leaked the zoom call because how would a complete stranger have the same exact name as a student in the same period? Anyways I personally prefer in person learning far more than online.
• 2021-01-07

  Christmas with Covid

  During Christmas, my family usually travels to any state in the USA. We don't usually have any state in particular, we just chose. Instead this year, we purchased a toy hauler and went out to the desert. The exact location was Armistead, California. It wasn't crowded where we stayed. My family was nervous, it was out first time staying in a toy hauler. We had perviously been to Armistead because we have dirt bikes and a dune buggy we ride, but this was different. In the end I really enjoyed it, it was a different, but yet very informative trip. We learned the value of everything we take for granted as well as learned new things, such as making a campfire. Overall, I really loved this new expirence, I would highly reccomend it.
• 2021-01-07

  How was Christmas Affected.

  I write this story on my Birthday, Jan 7, but I will talk about my Christmas December 25 and how it was. My Christmas was very much the same, I woke up, and opened my presents, I got a new Series 2 Elite Controller from Xbox and a rgb lamp. I then had a yummy breakfast of Pancakes where I then gave some other presents to my family. I then packed and we were off to Joshua Tree for a few days, as that was a vacation we went on, the vacation was very different with covid but that is not my prompt. Christmas Eve was the same as yesteryears, we relaxed in the house and went to bed early for the next day. During this time of year we usually never had any body over and never went anywhere, so it didn't change very much. That was my very basic and boring Christmas.
• 
  2020-12-22

  Santa Fe Tourism During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  Santa Fe, New Mexico is a popular tourist destination because of its art scene, culture, cuisine, historical sites and landscape. It brings in an average of two million visitors each year. However, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic those numbers have drastically dropped in 2020. TOURISM Santa Fe has created a webpage that provides visitors with current information on New Mexico's COVID-19 restrictions, rules, and policies.
• 2020-12-17

  Summer During a Pandemic

  This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. Covid-19 had a pretty major impact on my Summer. My family was planning to go on vacation somewhere, but we obviously weren’t able to do that due to Covid. I was also looking forward to spending a lot of time with my friends and I was also unable to do that. So instead I ended up spending a lot of time at home playing video games. But there were some positives that came out of it. I start playing the guitar again after I haven’t played for a number of years (even though I kinda stopped after school started). I also started working out and taking care of my body more which I typically do during Summer anyway, but this time I could focus more on it because I didn’t have much else to do (again, I kinda stopped after school started). So that is pretty much how my summer went, it wasn’t really eventful, but it wasn’t a complete waste and I tried to make the best of it.
• 2020-12-12

  Before Covid-19

  In January of 2020, life was normal. No masks, no constant hand sanitizer and no social distancing. Everyone had regular schedules. Mine consisted of school, soccer and seeing friends on the weekends. It was not until I was on a family vacation that I found out about the virus. It didn't really sink in until the day our school announced a two week quarantine. I expected it to be a short two week break and then life would go back to our normal routines. As quarantine kept getting extended, I knew that Covid was not going anywhere for a while.
• 2020-10-16

  Macao, 2020

  I traveled to Macao in October 2020 for a family issue. Macao has lifted all the restrictions in late September and enabled travelers from China, mainland to enter the city with a covid-19 test report that was done within 7 days. Before the pandemic, Macao was one of the most popular places to travel for travelers all around the world, but now you could count how many people are on the street. The picture was taken in The Venetian, a luxury hotel with the largest shopping center in Macao, and a casino. Usually, the place is crowded with shoppers, people gambling in the casino, enjoying their vacations. I believe no one has ever seen this place is so empty as now, and no one knows when it will recover from the pandemic and the shopping center will be crowded again.
• 
  2020-11-06

  Vacation Visits

  I had the most gracious and welcoming hosts on my trip to Alaska. I barely knew them aside from our communications over a horse I’d sold them and they invited me to visit, stay, and spend some time exploring the great outdoors of Alaska on horseback with them. After we finished one of our rides, we came across a group of people from the inlands of Alaska. None of this group had ever been on a horse, let alone seen one up close. The horse I sold proudly stood there while each kid took a turn sitting in the saddle and getting a taste of what being horseback was all about. It was one of my most proud moments of this great big mustang gelding that I tamed, broke, started, trained, and put out into the world to make it a better place.
• 
  2020-10

  Vacation and Covid

  Here is a picture of my husband on a short trip to North Carolina. It was the first time that we had gone anywhere outside of our town in 7 months due to quarantine. We wore our masks at all times except when we were by ourselves. Here he is enjoying the small river we stayed near.
• 
  2020-09-21

  Visiting Derry, NH

  This photo is from the three days that my friends and I spent in Derry, New Hampshire at the end of September. Because all of us were home for either the year or for the semester, we all realized that being at home was getting a bit restless, so, the four of us decided to pay a visit to my friend Michaela's house up in Derry and visit. There was a weird sense of deja vu for me since I was born there and there were places that I could still remember going to with my family. This photo was taken in the sunroom, a place where two of us often did homework, while the sun was rising on our second day. Right after this, we went back to sleep until our classes stop and Abbie, despite having the idea, did not make it out of bed for this.
• 2020-06-14

  Road Trip to Mexican Wine Country During a Pandemic

  The news article references Mexico's crumbling tourist economy due tot he COVID pandemic. As a close neighbor of Baja California, Mexico living in San Diego I was able to see the changes first hand by visiting Mexico throughout the summer. As travel was limited all around the world, having family members living in Mexico allowed me to first hand experience how the pandemic had affected a region who's economy is dependent on tourism dollars. I witness wineries, restaurants, and hotels desperate for business but who had installed very modern safeguards similar to what the United States was doing to combat the pandemic. Masks and social distancing were enforced at all locations around the Valle de Guadalupe, near Ensenada. In some cases, added steps such as mandatory shoe and hand washing was installed prior to be allowed onto the premises. Overall it was a nice weekend and my family was able to forget the pandemic that surrounded us if for a brief while.
• 
  2020-04

  No Disneyland this Summer

  I started following a lady on Youtube and Instagram as I began preparations to go to Disney for the first time. This Youtuber gives advice on how to have a great Disney trip for introverts. Needless to say, my trip didn’t happen and neither did hers.
• 
  2020-07

  Stay Safe and Explore

  A friend shared her story about exploring close to home. “It’s been a challenge... we want to be out and doing stuff but we also don’t want to be around people, so there has been several times we’ve gone to do something but it was too crowded so we just stayed in the car and drove around. We tried to find areas not as many people knew about.”
• 
  2020-06-01

  Take this time to explore your own town

  Staying home all summer when you’re used to travel and exploring can leave you weary and unable to think of things you can do. I turned to google for some ideas and happened upon a website that gave great ideas for exploring locally. I live in Monterey, California and spent last summer exploring antique shops, boutiques, and interesting restaurants. I’ve never considered myself someone who enjoys the outdoors, but I had to try some of the ideas on this webpage because I was simply tired of being cooped up. There are so many places to explore. I took the time to explore 17 Mile Drive and Pebble Beach early in the day when few people were there. I must’ve stayed for hours just walking along the beach or the little trails.
• 
  2020-09-04

  Busiest Summer Ever

  This shows that a large number of people traveled to summer tourist destinations that were open. There were more visitors to the Lake of the Ozarks during the pandemic than there was in 2019.
• 
  2020-10-27

  Bahamas May Delay Planned November 1 Reopening

  Will The Bahamas open up for those much needeed tourist dollars?
• 
  2020-10-23

  Travel During Covid

  Travel during Covid what mostly like any other travel, just with a mask, and people didn't actually want to sit right next to you waiting to board the flights. The actual flights were different, though. The seats were not filled unless you were a member of a party travelling together. That being said, my first class ticket as a single travelling passenger with no other members of my party allowed me to have a full row to myself unlike most flights where everyone is seated in close proximity whether you know the passengers seated next to you or not. It was actually nice in terms of people respecting personal space.
• 2020-10-22

  Traveling During the Pandemic

  I have always enjoyed traveling like so many other people like to do. Having worked for the airline for many years, I have traveled to many airports throughout the world. During this Covid-19 pandemic I was apprehensive about traveling and obviously very nervous to get on an airplane and to be in a airport where there are people from all walks of life, not knowing if any one of those individuals had been exposed to the virus. However, I hadn't seen my family that lives in Michigan in over a year and my mother was turning 85 years old and I decided that if I was careful, I should be okay. So I started planning for my trip. My next dilema was transportation. How would I get there? I coud drive, but, realistically that really wasn't an option. It would take 3 days to get from my house to my parents house and that would mean stopping at restaurants and hotels along the way. How many people would I be exposed to? On a daily basis, the television news media reports Covid-19 numbers and deaths and on this one particular day as I was watching the news, this doctor who was traveling back to his hometown of New Orleans had come down with the virus. They interviewed him in his hospital bed and this is what he said, "I had a mask on, I had gloves on, I did my normal wipes routine ... but obviously, you can still get it through your eyes. And, of course, I wasn't wearing goggles on the flight." At that point, fear and sadness definitely took over. I remember thinking, "will I ever see my family again?" The days that followed I saw on the news that airlines were taking every precaution possible and were very strict regarding mask wearing. I made the decision to book my flight. Unfortunately, there were no nonstop flights from Phoenix to my destination. I had to make a stopover in Chicago for several hours before arriving to my final destination. I have to admit, I was not looking forward to this flight nor was I looking forward to being at the Chicago airport for several hours before boarding my next flight. A couple of days later, my son and I were off to the airport to catch our flight with masks and goggles on and our supply of lysol wipes. I had not been to the airport in almost a year. I did not know what to expect. We were both impressed with the protocal that had been put in place at the airport. No one was without a mask and social distancing was in place. So far so good. When we boarded the aircraft we were given a baggie with bottled water, a cookie and a alcohol wipe. The boarding announcements always included to keep your mask on for the entire flight, making sure the mask covers your mouth and nose. There was no onboard meal or drink service. This was definitely a big change but I certainly agreed with their protocal. As I looked around the flight, I could see that everyone was adhering to the rules. I have to admit that wearing a mask for 3 1/2 hours and wearing googles was not very pleasant but I knew it was not an option for me. The last thing I wanted to do was to expose my family to this terrible virus. There were times when I looked over at my son, his goggles would be all fogged up. The seating arrangement on the flight was actually very nice. All of the middle seats were empty and my son and I had the entire row to ourselves. When we arrived at Chicago O'Hare airport we didn't know what to expect. I know how busy Chicago O'Hare airport is and I was nervous. There are always people that hate rules and like to buck the system and I was sure that I would see people strolling throughout the airport with no masks on. I felt though that as long as we had our masks and goggles on we should be safe. We had a long walk from our gate to the next gate. We noticed that most stores and most restaurants were closed and you could see that people were trying to keep their distance as they were walking through the halls of the airport. We boarded our next flight and the same protocals were in place. We arrived in Michigan and my family was waiting for us outside in their vehicle at the pickup area of the airport. We hugged them dearly and got in the car and took off our masks and goggles and enjoyed our vacation with them. After our vacation ended, my son and I self-quarantined at our house for 2 weeks and we were just fine. My son and I were exposed to a lot of people when we were traveling and I feel that if we would have let our guard down by being careless and not wearing our masks, I feel one of us, or both would have come down with Covid-19. It was uncomfortable wearing the masks and goggles the entire day, but in the end, it was well worth it. In my opinion, if people would just use common sense and wear their mask when they are in public and wear it properly I think we would definitely see the covid numbers go down and perhaps go away. Closing down the economy is not the right answer but following the proper protocal is.
• 
  2020-10-19

  As we approach the holiday travel season, is it safe to travel yet?

  Many people travel during the holidays but COVID-19 has affected how people view traveling. Many people are being cautious about traveling and looking for alternatives to air travel such as road trips and "staycations". Others wonder when air travel will return to its previous state before COVID-19.
• 
  2020-08-05

  Immediate-Family-Only Pandemic Wedding

  This is a picture from my sister’s wedding from August 2020. When she first got engaged no one could have predicted that there would be a global pandemic some months later. Instead of waiting for next year they decided to hold a small ceremony that only the immediate family would be invited to. They decided to make a fun time out of it and had both families rent houses on location to quarantine together for a week before the ceremony. We brought enough food for the week and stayed isolated from the town and any other visitors. It was like a mini pandemic-vacation with both immediate families able to bond while quarantining before the ceremony. I enjoyed the time we got to spend with family more than the stress that would have come from planning and executing a larger wedding that simply wasn’t possible anytime soon because of the pandemic. The ceremony itself was very intimate and special and our dad even got a marriage license online so that he could officiate. We chose a random spot and everyone helped by packing the chairs out there and taking them back with us. It was neither formal nor completely casual. All of the sisters got to help make a small little cake the night before and we had it with our lunch back at the rental houses. I almost wish my husband and I had done something similar for our wedding three years earlier. I hope more couples will consider a smaller intimate on-location ceremony in the future. It’s less stress, less money, but still very special. My sister and her husband are planning to hold two receptions next year at each of the parents’ houses for extended family and friends.
• 
  2020-10-06

  Snowbirds are going to Vancouver Island due to US-Canada Border being closed

  Because Vancouver Island has the most moderate and mild weather in Canada during winter, Canadian snowbirds flocking there to avoid the harsh winters. This is due to the United States-Canada border being closed to tourism due to Covid-19 concerns. Many of these snowbirds are from Northern BC or the Prairies.
• 
  2020-08-23

  A Unlucky, Lucky Case

  This screenshot is a routine "how are you?" text I got from one of my coworkers. She is a mother figure at work, and always made sure to check on me and keep me updated on work drama, updates, and just positive thoughts. She knew I was bored and made it a point to have a conversation with me almost every day. I was so bored because I was a lucky case and barely had any symptoms. I'm a healthy, twenty-two year old who caught it after taking a trip to Iowa to visit some friends. The whole group had it and it varied on the severity, but no one was affected too badly; although, one girl did lose her sense of taste for three weeks. My boyfriend and I were holed up for nearly two and a half weeks, due to waiting for negative test results for job-return purposes. While my boyfriend had symptoms that kept him in bed for a week, I simply lost my taste, had a stuffy nose, and minor body aches. I was very lucky because I could barley tell I was sick, and after 3-4 days everything cleared up except my sense of taste, which lasted a week. I will always be thankful that I didn't experience a bad case and that all my friend were okay after.