First major COVID-era trip!

New packing essentials: masks, tests, sanitizer

Venturing out of our cocoon

Our trip to England will be the first major travel we've done since the start of the "COVID-era." We did do two local road trips last spring, in that brief halcyon period after getting vaccinated and before the Delta variant's summer surge. This will be our first trip by plane, and our first trip abroad, since the pandemic started.

Many friends and acquaintances have already traveled by plane with no adverse outcome, especially in the past year or so (post vaccines). So it doesn't seem as scary as it once did, though I personally wish the mask mandate on planes had not been lifted before our trip. However, things in both the US and UK do seem to be at a reasonable point. We're hoping for an enjoyable, COVID-free trip, but we're certainly bringing good masks and some test kits.

How are things in the US?

Sign as of 4/26

Things have settled down a lot in the US, although the possibility of another variant and another surge is always lurking. California lifted its indoor mask mandate on February 15th; now it's more of a personal choice whether to mask or not. I've been happy that significant numbers of people still wear masks, because it makes it an easier option to take, if one feels the need. Also some businesses do still encourage mask wearing.

As luck would have it, due to a fluky ruling by a Florida judge, as of April 18th, masks are no longer required on plane flights. We still plan to wear them, especially in the airports, which we understand can actually be riskier than the well-ventilated airplanes.

How are things in the UK?

Things also look relatively good in the UK, by now. COVID restrictions and requirements within the UK were lifted on February 21st. Mask wearing is still encouraged on public transit and in certain other contexts, but it is no longer required. As of March 18th, there are also no longer any particular requirements for international arrivals to the UK (such as needing to test and/or show proof of vaccination). The US will require a negative test from us upon re-entry, at the end of May, but we hear it's easy enough to get at the airport.

A second booster

Being older and more at risk, we were already interested in the option of getting a second booster--but it seemed even more advisable now, given that we don't want to get sick on our trip!

Within the past two weeks, both of us have gotten a second booster, at CVS stores, and both of us have taken the "mix and match" approach, which theoretically can give you a slight added edge of protection. There's not definitive proof of the advantages of mixing and matching, but there's no known downsides either, so it seems a reasonable thing to do as long as it's equally convenient to get either one, which it is in our area.

In my case, I'd gotten Pfizer for my first two shots and booster, and switched to Moderna just for this second booster. I was a little afraid the side effects might be worse with Moderna; I hadn't been affected much at all by the Pfizer shots, so I was apprehensive that I might get more woozy with this one, while at the same time thinking that then I'd be more assured that something was happening. As it turned out, I wasn't affected much by the Moderna shot either, other than my arm hurting for a few days, and maybe feeling very slightly more tired. I never had a fever or needed to doze for several hours though.

Next Post

In the next post I'll outline our planned itinerary and talk more about the nature of our trip—why are we going to England anyway? Where in England are we going? Are we going to rent a car??