At times, it is not fun.
By David Enna, Tipswatch.com
“COVID is just a cold.”
This is how our Overseas Adventure Travel tour leader explained Europe’s (and most of the world’s) new attitude toward COVID-19. And it is a milestone in world travel, marking a dramatic change toward this now-endemic malady.
The theory is: Most people have been vaccinated. Many people have already had a bout or two with COVID. For most people, symptoms are cold-like — producing coughs, some aches and possibly a fever. Nothing too serious.
Travel policies vary from country to country, but in almost all European countries there is no need to prove you are vaccinated, wearing face masks is optional, testing for COVID is optional even if you have symptoms, and isolating is optional even if you do test positive. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control advises:
Travelers who develop any symptoms compatible with COVID-19 during or after travel should self-isolate and seek medical advice and test for SARS-CoV-2 to exclude a diagnosis of COVID-19.
Note the word “should.” This is not a requirement. The world is eager to bring back the flow of travelers and is transitioning to a “don’t ask / don’t tell” policy on COVID.
That is a massive change from the situation two years ago. I’ve been thinking back on our travel experiences since 2020 and realized how much things have transitioned as our fear of COVID lessens.
February 2020. During the very early days of COVID (when the U.S. probably had fewer than 100 reported cases), we traveled by boat up the Nile to Cairo. About halfway through the trip, a doctor suddenly appeared on board and hand-sanitizing stepped up. One of our travel friends was having difficulty breathing. We later learned that another Nile cruise ship — at the same ports at the same time with American travelers — had a huge outbreak of 70 cases.
We couldn’t travel overseas again for two years. But then we took off with a vengeance:
April 2022. We were with a group of 15 travelers in Sicily. To travel then you needed to 1) prove you had been vaccinated, 2) take a verified COVID test before departing and 3) take a verified COVID test before returning home. No one in our group had any symptoms of COVID. At the time, if our tour leader tested positive, he would have been banned from leading tours for one month.
May 2022. We traveled to the Czech Republic with an extension to Romania. Because of the combination of COVID and the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the main portion of the trip had only six travelers and the Romania portion, four. All the same rules applied. I can remember feeling very relieved when we tested negative for COVID in Bucharest so we could return home. No one had any symptoms of COVID.
Since June 2022, people traveling by air no longer need to provide a negative COVID test in order to enter the United States.
August 2022. This was a combination land-cruise ship experience on Viking. During the land portion (Fairbanks to Anchorage) we traveled by bus with 37 passengers. A few days in, I noticed a lot of people coughing (harshly) around us. My wife and I were wearing face masks on the bus, but many people weren’t.
To board the 900-passenger ship, you had to first test negative for COVID. Of the 37 people on our bus, 13 tested positive, including a friend we were traveling with. The 13 positive cases were sent to a hotel room and flew home the next day. No isolation was required (which wasn’t true in Canada at the time). At this point I realized that when you fly on a plane, you may be sitting next to a person with a known case of COVID.
My wife and I and our remaining friend (a doctor) boarded the Viking ship and took off. Within a couple days, we all tested positive for COVID, the first time for all of us. Symptoms were minor for us, but a bit worse for our friend. We all had come prepared with prescriptions of Paxlovid, which we began taking and isolating as much as possible. Within two days, my wife and I tested negative.
December 2022. We traveled with Overseas Adventure to Costa Rica. Travel rules had greatly eased by this point. Unfortunately, near the end of the trip, one of our travel group did get COVID and had to isolate for the remainder. So at this time, travel companies were still enforcing a five-day isolation period. The ailing person, however, flew home with the rest of us.
September 2023: We traveled in northern Greece, Albania and North Macedonia with a group of 16 that included 6 other family members. Midway through the trip, one of the cousins got COVID and he and his wife had to isolate for five days and then rejoined the trip, still wearing face masks and isolating at meals. Their rejoining caused almost-heated complaints from a couple of other travelers. But that was the policy, and the travel leader held to it.
And then … May 2024
We just returned from a 16-day trip through northern Spain and northern Portugal.
As I noted earlier, European travel in 2024 is mostly “don’t ask / don’t tell” when it comes to COVID. On our trip, with 16 travelers, two arrived with active hacking coughs. By the end of the trip, that number grew to maybe 12. Face masks were not required, but my wife and I often wore them while on cross-country bus trips. Some others didn’t.
A few days before the end, my wife and I tested positive for COVID and so did at least six other people. But no testing was required and a couple travelers told us they saw no need to test <cough, cough, it’s just allergies>. I honestly think a dozen people ended up with COVID, and at least one person had more serious symptoms.
Everyone — COVID or not — flew home on the same day.
For me, the symptoms were minor — a very mild fever and a bit of congestion. My wife had a bad cough that continued for a week. We again had prepared with Paxlovid, which we began taking just before flying home. We are fine.
Final thoughts
This isn’t a travel blog, but I think this is valuable information for people who are planning overseas travel. At this point, the risks COVID presents to a vaccinated and healthy population are fairly minor … yes, more like a cold. But the risks remain.
Honestly, COVID has sapped some of the fun out of traveling. It’s not fun to travel by bus, surrounded by coughing people. It’s not fun to be constantly swapping face masks on and off and struggling to talk to people who hear only muffles.
On the other hand, this is a world we want to see and experience. So we will keep traveling. Advice:
Keep a helpful, positive spirit. If you know you are ailing, take steps to protect your fellow passengers.
Prepare for your travels by stocking up on COVID test kits and quality face masks. You may need neither, if you are lucky.
At least once a year, get a COVID vaccine booster. My most recent shot was Dec. 7, 2023. But we met a couple on this trip who were vaccinated two weeks before leaving and the husband got COVID (minor case).
Wear your face mask through the airport on your departure day and until everyone is boarded, ready for take off. That’s a pain, I know, but you do not want to get sick as you are leaving for this adventure.
If you are traveling by bus or car with people who are coughing, put on your face mask. If you are about to enter a very crowded, tight-space religious shrine …. er … skip it. Enjoy the outdoors.
If you can get a prescription to Paxlovid before you leave, do it. (Some doctors will do this; others won’t.) My doctor warned that it can have harsh side effects, but for me the only nasty effect is a lousy taste in my mouth, which remains today after my last dose Friday night.
Also, if comfort is a concern, consider traveling by river boat or a smaller cruise liner, which offer much better options for isolation and relaxation. The trade-off is losing some on-the-ground history and experiences. (There is no way I would take a 3,000-passenger cruise, however.)
Share this advice with anyone you know who is planning a trip overseas.
Happy holiday weekend, everyone.
* * *
Feel free to post comments or questions below. If it is your first-ever comment, it will have to wait for moderation. After that, your comments will automatically appear.Please stay on topic and avoid political tirades.
David Enna is a financial journalist, not a financial adviser. He is not selling or profiting from any investment discussed. I Bonds and TIPS are not “get rich” investments; they are best used for capital preservation and inflation protection. They can be purchased through the Treasury or other providers without fees, commissions or carrying charges. Please do your own research before investing.
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities 
Hello from the UK
In 2020 the authorities rebranded the ‘flu. This is standard business practice when sales are falling. This is why the ‘flu almost disappeared from the statistics to be replaced by COVID 19.
As I realised in the 1980’s that people who had the ‘flu vaccines still fell ill, I never had any. Even my wife fell ill for 3 days in 1989 after having had a ‘flu shot.
All the testing is pointless and masks only useful if you are trying to reduce the effects of air pollution.
All in all it is good business for the mask, test and vaccine makers but no benefit to us.
On behalf of Our Reptilian Overlords, I must remind you that disclosure of Truth like that contained in your comment is not permitted, any more than disclosure of the Round Earth Hoax or the Moon Landing Hoax. In future, please restrict your comments on this blog to the topic of fiddling with small pieces of green paper.
Signed,
Oop the Mouse, Overseer for Northwest Europe
My wife and I are just about the only people in our circle who have never had Covid. Some of them have described it as “like having a cold for a few days,” but others as “It’s been four months, and my breathing still doesn’t feel normal.”
We’re seniors now, and I have asthma (normally very well-controlled and not evident), and, from the beginning of the pandemic, seniordom and respiratory conditions were known to be extra risk factors for a nasty experience with Covid, so we’ve seen no reason to take chances when there’s a ready alternative. We are, of course, vaccinated, but the main reason we’ve never had Covid is that ever since that word entered our lives, we’ve never stopped masking whenever in enclosed spaces with groups of strangers: planes, trains, taxis, hotel hallways, elevators, offices, the grocery.
We haven’t had a sit-down meal in a restaurant since 2019, because a sit-down meal in a restaurant would require unmasking in close proximity to strangers. But that’s OK, because restaurants were never a big part of our lives anyway. For that same reason, cruises and their compulsory shared-table dining are not in our foreseeable future, either, but that’s also OK, because riding trains in Europe (or, rather less pleasurably, in America) is our favorite type of travel.
For the record, we hate wearing masks (and remove them the instant we get outdoors again), but it seems like a minor inconvenience compared to the alternative.
Last year I was waiting to leave an arriving Amtrak train, and the man in the aisle seat nearest the door looked up at me and said, as if it was any of his personal business, “Nobody wears masks anymore.” I shrugged and said, “Well, I do.” In a sneering voice he said, “Oh. You must follow the liberal media.” I resisted the temptation to say, “Oh. You must be a horse’s ass.” It speaks very poorly to the intelligence of Americans, and the degradation of common sense and civic life, that public health measures ever became politicized. To me the situation was always, and remains, a simple matter of “the Golden Rule”: If you would not wish to be made sick, do what you can to avoid making others sick—which also has the advantage of protecting yourself in the bargain. Alas, nothing is so simple these days.
Excellent points, thank you.
Definitely sad that a public health issue was turned political.
Thank you for your insightful comments and observations. If only we could close that Pandora’s box again and have a more civil society!
Joanne
David, You wrote “At this point, the risks COVID presents to a vaccinated and healthy population are fairly minor … yes, more like a cold. “
The truth is that Covid 19 is still currently killing about 400 people a day in the U.S.
The current mortality rate for Covid 19 in the US is 3 times that for the flu and a recent study in the UK and Wales found the mortality rate at 4 time that of the flu. It seems inappropriate to call Covid 19 effects “more like a cold”
In addition, it is recognized that both Covid 19 and Flu mutation rates are aided by the increased amount of world travel and the additional resulting exposures.
Perhaps the freedom and enjoyment of travel are worth the risks, but there are risks.
It’s sad and depressing to hear about all of these vaxxed and boosted people who are repeatedly coming down with Covid.
Thank you for that. Some of us in our 70s with many high-risk attributes and immunosuppression are still concerned about Covid, as opposed to the rest of the world. Most healthy people will do fine. But not everyone. I’m glad to hear you were properly prepared for it and doing well.
I have a trip to Paris booked in August. Now I am worried. I will have to wear masks on the Metro.
Opinion: if Metro is crowded, I would.
I went to Key West in February and had to transfer going and back. 4 full planes in total but I didn’t get sick. Is there something different about the strain of Covid in Europe with everyone getting sick?
Planes are pretty safe, actually. The problem hits on land, in crowded interior spaces.
last year, i contracted covid within 48 hours after a domestic flight with the likely source a person coughing two seats over.
generally speaking, the timeless motherly advice about “covering up” when coughing rings true to me. best to consider that basic wisdom to combat the spread of respiratory infections of any ilk.
Most air on planes is fresh from the outside, and the remainder circulates through medical-quality HEPA filters, making it about as safe as you can get (short of individual air tanks).
A good solution is to avoid packaged tours. Buy a camper van, shop in local markets, avoid crowds. Especially avoid public transport (but sadly one always has to fly when departing from and going back to the US, although I hear ships are now becoming popular). I traveled around Europe for six months back in the 1970s in an old VW bus with my girlfriend. We never got sick, only stayed in hotels in London, Paris, and Rome, and were the free-est we have ever been. People ask “where did we go to the bathroom”, I honestly cannot remember. I guess it was not an issue. I suppose we used the woods. Sometimes, we stayed overnight in a cheap campground (Europe has many campgrounds).
Unfortunately, I hate both driving and camping. These OAT tours are great because you learn a lot about local history and culture, ethnic divisions, food, etc. We visited a farm, had lunch with a local family, talked to a university student, got to taste all sorts of interesting food.
I don’t use a tent (I hate tents), but I don’t mind sleeping in a van or camper. Driving is fine. I study the history of places before I go, and I use my trusty Blue Guides. Farms are good places to park, talk to a farmer, get fresh milk. If you stay in one place for a few weeks, you get to know the people. People seem to shop everyday in Europe, so you also get to know the shop-keepers. You can practice the local language. It is a leisurely pace, as distances are short in Europe. No time schedules. This traveling style also minimizes getting communicable diseases like Covid, colds, flu and avoids hotel bedbugs. I took a train in Europe once and caught a bad cold that was difficult to shake. Never again.
If masks reduce my chance of getting sick by 1% (COVID or otherwise), I’ll wear them.
I’m tired of traveling and getting sick. So much so that I don’t have any desire to travel by airplane (and definitely not ship) any longer. On a recent trip to Croatia, 4 out of 5 of us got sick. At the same time, a friend and his wife went to Paris – she came back with COVID (her third COVID infection, all through traveling). Travel isn’t worth it any longer. I’ll travel by car instead – I like driving.
Good thoughts. We also carry face masks on planes, trains, taxis, etc and use them if someone starts coughing.
Coincidentally, we fly to N. Spain Monday and our travels will also follow the Bilbao to Porto route. (We also have 3 nights in Salamanca.) Any favorite places? It’s too late for us to change our itinerary, but it’s always good to hear the opinion of others.
Appreciate all the great Series I bond and TIPS advice over the years.
Thanks,
We really enjoyed walking when we could along the Camino de Santiago and then ending up in Santiago de Compostela. The square where the walk ends is always full of emotion. There’s another fabulous pilgrimage spot in Lamego, Portugal. Our Lady of Remedies.
And don’t forget the risk of “long covid”. (Covid is not like the flu or a cold in that regard.) For an update on the rise of the latest variant and the risk of long covid, the following is worth a read I think. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-25/early-signs-of-rising-covid-in-california-as-new-flirt-subvariants-dominate
I personally view N95’s as a painless and minor risk avoidance tactic when flying or in airports. Kind of like buying TIPS when the stock market likely produces larger gains over time. 😉
And sincere thanks, as always, David for your continual and insightful guidance.
“But we met people on this trip who were vaccinated two weeks before leaving and both of them got COVID”
Wasn’t a major selling point of the vaccine that it would prevent the spread? At different times Biden, Fauci and Walensky all said a variation of “if you get vaccinated you don’t carry the virus and cannot get sick.”
At this point, no one believes the vaccines are absolute protection against COVID, which is constantly evolving. More realistically, the vaccines ease the symptoms of COVID, possibly to nearly undetectable levels. If you aren’t hacking and sneezing, your are less likely to spread it.
Two weeks also may not have been enough time for the vaccine to take full effect before they were exposed. Two weeks after COVID was the minimum recommended intake time.
I am a frequent international traveler and I know that plenty of people will get irritated by this, but I haven’t worn a mask as protection against COVID for quite some time because they have been proven to be ineffective. Cochrane.org, is a distinguished international research organization headquartered in the UK. It is heavily relied upon by scientists and health care professionals across the globe who seek high-quality information to make health decisions. A study of studies review conduct by Cochrane concluded that masks, including the N95, are ineffective in preventing the transmission of COVID for a variety reasons. The Cochrane study has been attacked by people seeking to discredit it, but those efforts have failed. Additionally, in a sworn deposition, Dr. Fauci testified that he knows of no scientific evidence supporting the masking of a population to prevent the spread of COVID. The major news media organizations in the U.S. and abroad are reticent to report on these matters. Perhaps they do not want to admit that they were wrong. My wife and I tested positive for COVID in March 2022, the day before our scheduled departure from Turkey. We were fully vaccinated and everyone in our small tour group was required to mask at all times. None of that worked, and we were not the only ones to get sick . Although we are in our 70s, we are healthy and fortunately our symptoms were very mild – no worse than a cold. People with multiple comorbidities need to exercise caution, not only against COVID, but against other flu and flu-like illnesses.
The Cochrane report concluded: “We are uncertain whether wearing masks or N95/P2 respirators helps to slow the spread of respiratory viruses.” And its senior editor said: “The results of this review should be interpreted cautiously, and the uncertain findings should not be taken as evidence that these measures are not effective.”
My wife and I only wore face masks at times of higher-risk situations, like the crowded airport or a bus with coughing people sitting around us. Can it ensure protection against COVID? No.
In other words, there is no credible evidence that masking is an effective means of preventing the spread of COVID. Yet, for several years we were told otherwise. I have no issue with people choosing to mask themselves, but forcing others to mask without proof of effectiveness is wrong. We all deserve the truth. Sadly, school children who were forced to mask, suffered.
The statement by the senior editor is an opinion that is not shared by all.
I’m a recently retired nurse and have traveled extensively over the past two years (Portugal, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UK). Like David, I mask in crowded spaces. As the article below from The Annals Of Internal Medicine notes, masks aren’t 100% effective but they do help.
Thanks again David for your continued TIPS education!!
I was a participant in Thursday’s auction, adding it to my ladder. Wishing you continued happy & safe travel adventures.
https://doi.org/10.7326/M23-1190
thanks. My hope is the scientific community would apply scientific rigor and learn from what actually worked and what didn’t….
Nothing new to learn. I distinctly remember them saying the science is settled and everyone should follow it. /sarc
Wow, lots of misinformation in the Jay post, including the spin on Fauci. In the early days of Covid there was a shortage of masks that needed to be saved for health care professionals. Since then, Fauci has always advised to follow CDC guidelines. Masking is not 100% but proven to help.
Thanks for posting these experiences. Helps confirm our likely decision to continue our new travel style. We will probably continue to avoid planes (aka COVID tubes) and travel in the US by car, enjoying outdoor attractions. We have had all the shots, but neither of us have ever had COVID (as far as we know).
It’s too bad, we enjoyed a trip to Italy in 2015, with no car and had planned to do more European trips like that. But 10-12 hours in planes plus more time in airports and then riding on buses and trains is no longer appealing at all.
You may want to research the superior air circulation systems used on commercial aircraft. The COVID risks while flying are minimal.
Right on Jay!
Misconceptions are astounding surrounding COVID when data is readily available. Aircraft are surprisingly high air turnover (filtered or outside air each 3 min I read); Covid tube might apply to a packed autobus.
PS – to Dave Enna, not sure a booster is wise in health people (don’t know your particular health situation). Initial shot was reasonable risk/reward in early days; however, now, with mutations and reduced lethality, you don’t need to risk long-term health on a vaccine that doesn’t have long-term data (initial clinical trail subjects were unblinded and vax’d; thus losing possibility of long-term comparisons on all-source mortality).
PPS – great blog and typically good comment section.
There is literally zero evidence that vaccines cause any health issues. There is no reason *not* to get vaccinated/boosted for COVID, same with the flu. The fact that tens or hundreds of millions have been vaccinated/boosted without sign of complications is a better test than you’ll ever get in any blind trial.
If you are at all realistic about the relative risks of COVID vs boosters, the only conclusion is unquestionably to get boosted.
David,
Thanks for sharing your travel adventures. Seems like the long flights and bus rides are a hotbed of transmission.
Thanks much for posting this. While this isn’t a travel blog, I suspect I am not the only one who has enjoyed reading occasional comments on your travels within your usual posts. Even without that, this just seems like good food for thought. You have vacation traveled widely, for extended periods, and via varied modes of transport over the past four years, so I was very happy to read your thoughtful perspective.
It is disappointing that even with your precautions, previous exposures, and this many years into this pandemic/endemic, you still weren’t able to avoid getting infected on your most recent trip.
David:
We just returned to Texas from Europe and two days later my wife and I had symptoms. I was tested positive 5 days later. We believe that adjacent passengers with symptoms on a nine hour flight were the transmission mechanism. I think Covid may be an additional cost of a European vacation.
Chuck
Thanks for posting your experiences.. Many acquaintances have been coming down with Covid or having Covid like symptoms. The worst cases seem to be lasting 6 weeks. They had all traveled in the US or were spending time with people who recently traveled and also got sick. I guess it is not over.
I was not able to open the link to “CONTINUE READING”.
Thank you.
I accidentally published this a day early (jet lag!). So now I am just making it live. Oh well.