Coronavirus - Travel impact

Status
Not open for further replies.
braumeister said:
We've decided to cancel our May trip to Italy and Germany.

We assume that essentially everyone will be exposed to the virus at some point, and it would probably happen sooner if we're in Italy since it would have more time to spread widely there.

So the next consideration is how hard would it hit us? Being older, it's more likely at least one of us would have severe symptoms, and we really don't want that to happen far from home.

Possible quarantine doesn't even enter into the decision, because as it spreads more widely, quarantine will quickly become pointless as a containment measure.

Besides, Europe will still be there after this is all over.
Click to expand...
Well I don’t blame you!

I’m quite glad that I didn’t have any international travel planned, and I’m just hoping my domestic travel doesn’t get disrupted.
 
NW-Bound said:
Come to think of it, some stuff may see longer-lasting demand due to this. For example, MREs or dehydrated food.

I have read some people like dehydrated food so much they eat it routinely instead of fresh food, but have never tried it. Just does not sound good or appealing to me.
Click to expand...

I currently have 6 buckets of mountain house food such as: https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-House-Classic-Backpacking-Servings/dp/B0843HYLK9?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1 that I picked up around $50 each. I also use these as meals for hiking (freeze dried so very light). Taste is pretty decent. My idea in buying so much at that time is that is dual purposed - good for hiking but also good to have as an emergency backup. Over time I've replaced the older stock that I used up on multi-day hikes.

I don't eat these on a regular basis because of the relative expense and sodium content, but in terms of taste after a day of hiking....not bad.
 
^^^ Sold out so I don't know the price.

Would it be cheaper just to buy canned veggie and fruit in gallon size? I have room to store it. I have 1000 sq.ft. of unused bedroom space that can be stacked ceiling high.

Gotta be careful, else will be eating this stuff for years after this blows over.
 
Last edited:
Just checked Amazon for the Chef’s Banquet cited above and it is not available. Sign of the times?
 
Next week, I’m leaving for a 3 week+ trip to New Zealand and Sydney, Australia. I’m most concerned about the flights - one to LAX from Seattle, then from LAX to Auckland via Honolulu. As of now, I’m still going but I would hate to get stuck so far from home.
 
More cruise ship trouble!

The MSC Meraviglia was denied docking yesterday by Jamaica. Then, Grand Cayman also turned it away from Georgetown. The ship is now headed towards Cozumel. No mention of sickness on board.

The cruise ship fiasco is moving closer to the US.


PS. Carnival stock down -7.5% today. Royal Caribbean -8.1%. Norwegian Cruise Line -7.6%. MSC is privately owned.


PPS. There was one crew member onboard with a flu. Ship notified port authorities saying it was not coronavirus. Docking denied.
 
Last edited:
NW-Bound said:
More cruise ship trouble!

The MSC Meraviglia was denied docking yesterday by Jamaica. Then, Grand Cayman also turned it away from Georgetown. The ship is now headed towards Cozumel. No mention of sickness on board.

The cruise ship fiasco is moving closer to the US.


PS. Carnival stock down -7.5% today. Royal Caribbean -8.1%. Norwegian Cruise Line -7.6%. MSC is privately owned.


PPS. There was one crew member onboard with a flu. Ship notified port authorities saying it was not coronavirus. Docking still denied.
Click to expand...

I think that this ship will have to go back to Miami to find a country dumb enough to let them dock. There is a sick crewman from the Phillipines on board who has tested positive for the flu. I imagine all of the impoverished countries in the Carribean simply cannot afford to taste the risk.
 
Jamaica and Cozumel (Mexico) are indeed poor. George Town (Grand Cayman) is not bad at all on the economic scale, but no one can blame them for not taking the risk. What's in it for them?
 
Last edited:
Chuckanut, DH & I are booked on a Rick Steves trip to Sicily in a little over a month. A couple of days ago his office sent us an email containing the info in your link. We're holding tight for now. Not ready to change to one of his other tours, as offered. It's impossible to know how this will play out, so though I'd like to think we could switch to a fall trip and be good to go, I'm not so sure. The cases in Italy are adding up quickly. We don't have travel insurance, and honestly we don't even care much about losing money. The idea of going there, having to be quarantined, tourist site closures, etc., well... to us, it's just not worth it. Worst of all, we have an elderly cat I already worry about leaving, and to think about adding to our time away and not having control over our return date makes me too anxious. A couple of our previous Rick Steves tour guides told us about Italian hospital experiences, and let's just say I may not want to end up there.
 
Since we're not expecting TEOTWAWKI, I'm thinking we can assume that the power will stay on. That is, we don't necessarily have to purchase food that doesn't need refrigeration.

How many rib-eye steaks can I fit in the freezer?

>Would it be cheaper just to buy canned veggie and fruit in gallon size?
If you can eat a gallon's worth before it goes bad.
 
brewer12345 said:
I think that this ship will have to go back to Miami to find a country dumb enough to let them dock. There is a sick crewman from the Phillipines on board who has tested positive for the flu. I imagine all of the impoverished countries in the Carribean simply cannot afford to taste the risk.
Click to expand...

These small Caribbean countries also have limited hospital/ICU capacity and probably have no capability of testing. In the US, test kits are only available in a few states.
 
A Korean Airline flight attendant tested positive for the virus today. The individual flew between LAX and South Korea between Feb 19/20.

Lucky Dude
 
TromboneAl said:
Since we're not expecting TEOTWAWKI, I'm thinking we can assume that the power will stay on. That is, we don't necessarily have to purchase food that doesn't need refrigeration.

How many rib-eye steaks can I fit in the freezer?
Click to expand...

Weren't you out of power for several days a while back, or was it someone else?
 
My DIY solar system can provide off-grid power to run the two fridges.

I don't know if canned veggie needs to be frozen after the can is opened, or refrigeration is sufficient. I have seen mold grows on stuff in the fridge.

PS. I also have enough solar power right now to do cooking with an induction cooktop, air fryer, microwave, toaster oven, rice cooker, Insta Pot. Only 2 at a time.

And until the summer comes and I have to run the AC, I have been running the 50-gal water heater on solar.
 
Last edited:
Gulfbeach said:
Just checked Amazon for the Chef’s Banquet cited above and it is not available. Sign of the times?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't buy any brand but Mountain House.

Not too many years ago they tested their (cans, not pouches) against a competitor & found the O2 levels were high enough in the latter that the food would have become rancid well before its rated shelf life.
 
NW-Bound said:
My DIY solar system can provide off-grid power to run the two fridges.

I don't know if canned veggie needs to be frozen after the can is opened, or refrigeration is sufficient. I have seen mold grows on stuff in the fridge.

PS. I also have enough solar power right now to do cooking with an induction cooktop, air fryer, microwave, toaster oven, rice cooker, Insta Pot. Only 2 at a time.

And until the summer comes and I have to run the AC, I have been running the 50-gal water heater on solar.
Click to expand...

Buy a "window shaker" & cool a room or two instead of running the central A/C.
 
^^^ It's better than that. Last summer, I installed and ran a large mini-slit of 1.5 ton capacity to cool the downstairs living space, and did not have to run the 5-ton AC. The 5 rooms upstairs were hot, but they were uninhabited.

I have another 3/4-ton mini-split I will install soon, before the summer gets here. The master bedroom was still a bit warm, and the smaller mini-split is for that.

My solar system will not produce enough power to run both mini-splits through the night though.
 
Last edited:
braumeister said:
We've decided to cancel our May trip to Italy and Germany.

We assume that essentially everyone will be exposed to the virus at some point, and it would probably happen sooner if we're in Italy since it would have more time to spread widely there.

So the next consideration is how hard would it hit us? Being older, it's more likely at least one of us would have severe symptoms, and we really don't want that to happen far from home.

Possible quarantine doesn't even enter into the decision, because as it spreads more widely, quarantine will quickly become pointless as a containment measure.

Besides, Europe will still be there after this is all over.
Click to expand...


Scrapr said:
I hadn't really thought about cancelling my April-May trip to London-Paris-Dijon. I have bought everything non refundable. And i haven't bought trip insurance yet. That premium is probably going up as we speak. The total cost won't kill me. But we'll see how it is as I get closer to lift off. Best case the D'Orsay is not crowded! I booked 1 night at a hotel next to Heathrow last night. I think I looked a couple weeks/a month ago and it was $50-60 iirc. Last night it was $30 *that should GBP not USD. So $38/night

I was talking with 2 friends this weekend about their separate trips to Ireland. The cancellation talk never came up

Since this is a solo trip it would suck to get very sick.

now a Chinese man has reported to have died in Beaune. France..about 20 minutes from Dijon. Testing for the beer virus. And one fatality in Paris
Click to expand...

I have a trip to Portugal in April. Not planning to cancel.

Also mostly non-refundable.

For trip cancellation insurance, you have to enroll within a few weeks of making the first payment for the trip or else you won't find any carrier willing to enroll you.

Plus, you need "Cancel for Any Reason" because generic trip cancellation policies won't cover you canceling because you're worried about catching some disease.

Maybe if the US State Dept had some travel advisory banning Americans from traveling to the countries you plan to visit.
 
gattara said:
... A couple of our previous Rick Steves tour guides told us about Italian hospital experiences, and let's just say I may not want to end up there.
Click to expand...


It made me curious. I searched the Web for some stories, and found the account of an American who found himself in a public hospital in Verona. The medical care was not bad, but the accommodation was spartan. Private hospitals may be fancier, but then there's additional cost while a public hospital is free to Italians.

For a diversion from the virus scare, this makes an interesting read, in case one needs medical care in a foreign country: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...r_With_the_Italian_Hospital_System-Italy.html.

PS. Here's another story that parallels the above: https://www.thelocal.it/20191218/how-i-ended-up-in-hospital-in-italy-without-health-insurance.
 
Last edited:
NW-Bound said:
For a diversion from the virus scare, this makes an interesting read, in case one needs medical care in a foreign country: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...r_With_the_Italian_Hospital_System-Italy.html.
Click to expand...

That sounds reasonable. My only experience was last year when I had to go to to an ER in Norway. We had just boarded a ship, but it wasn't scheduled to depart for several hours and the ship's doc wanted me to go the the ER as a precaution. I spent around two hours in the waiting room, which was fine as I saw a few other people called first who obviously were in more distress than I was. A quick exam and a Norwegian doctor carefully explained exactly what was going on (in perfect English) and reassured me that I was fine.

On the way out, I stuck my credit card in the kiosk and was charged the equivalent of about US$48 (same as any Norwegian). Well, there was also the roughly US$45 for taxi rides to and from the hospital, but that's to be expected. Norway is an expensive country.

Got back to the ship in plenty of time for our trip. So my single encounter with European medical care was definitely a good one.
 
NW-Bound said:
It made me curious. I searched the Web for some stories, and found the account of an American who found himself in a public hospital in Verona. The medical care was not bad, but the accommodation was spartan. Private hospitals may be fancier, but then there's additional cost while a public hospital is free to Italians.

For a diversion from the virus scare, this makes an interesting read, in case one needs medical care in a foreign country: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...r_With_the_Italian_Hospital_System-Italy.html.

PS. Here's another story that parallels the above: https://www.thelocal.it/20191218/how-i-ended-up-in-hospital-in-italy-without-health-insurance.
Click to expand...

Ok but if your find yourself sick in a country fighting this virus do not expect a "normal" hospital encounter.
 
Oh geez...remember a few weeks ago I posted info about the 3M full face mask with cartridges? Used for painting, mold removal, etc. P100 filters.

Totally sold out everywhere.

What is going on out there?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
Travel Tips from a trip to Greece
Replies
17
Views
2K
brett
B
NW-Bound
Flight SNAFU at BA and AA
3 4 5
Replies
113
Views
10K
kgtest
K
C
  • Locked
Travel insurance with Covid coverage
Replies
15
Views
1K
USGrant1962
USGrant1962
K
Lost phone, recovered from perp
2
Replies
49
Views
3K
Gremlin
Gremlin
njhowie
Visiting The Mouse
Replies
5
Views
1K
njhowie
njhowie

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom