David J. Danto

 

Business travel thoughts in my own, personal opinion

 

             

 

eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org      Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD

 

Preparing To Travel During Delta

 

  “This has to be about my fifth blog discussing how I’m preparing to travel during the pandemic.  COVID19 is like a bad horror movie where the monster just won’t die.  As it stands today I have a leisure trip scheduled for the last days of August, and I’m flying directly from there to a business conference in the first week of September.  If it doesn’t get significantly worse out there then I intend to take that trip, but I have to face the fact that it likely won’t be the trip I imagined months ago.  (Again, special thanks to all the COVIDiots who have refused to be vaccinated and have caused this latest wave.  If it weren’t for all the people who legitimately can’t be vaccinated – younger children, those with medical issues, etc. – I might contemplate if a plague that kills only stupid people was really a bad thing.  Alas, the COVIDiots are harming more than just themselves.) 

 

So I’m faced with what I need to do differently and prepare for as I travel during these dark times.  Here is a brief list of the extra precautions I’m planning to take with links for you to get the same gear I’ll use.  (The links are to public stores and I have no affiliation to them / make nothing from sharing the links.  You can probably source these things at other places too.)

 

·    Masks, Masks, Masks – It was nice to be able to take our masks off for a little while before the Delta variant became prevalent.  Those days are temporarily over.  When I leave my house I intend to wear an N95 or KN95 mask all the time.  Here are the N95s I’m using, and here are the KN95s I’m using.  Both of these are a bit on the large side for someone with a bigger head like me.  I firmly believe that these masks go beyond the cloth ones, as they not only prevent you from spreading germs, but if worn properly, they block virus particles from entering your lungs.  I wear these both to protect myself and as a courtesy to the people I interact with while traveling.

·    Air Purification – I’m going back to carrying my air purifier on my travels.  I let it run in my hotel room, and I bring it to restaurants and place it on the table when I have to eat out.  I use this battery-pack with built-in AC inverter to power it when I’m out at a restaurant.  Does it look silly on a restaurant table?  Absolutely.  Does it make me feel better about eating out?  You bet.  In addition, I’m again going to be VERY picky about which restaurants I eat out in.  I’ll need very well-spaced tables, very high ceilings and open windows and/or great ventilation.  If not, I’ll just do take-out and eat in my hotel room.

·    Room and Surface Cleaning – I’m going back to using an alcohol mist on every surface in the hotel room, and on every surface I need to touch outside of my room.  I found the sprayers from these spray bottles fit directly on standard store-bought bottles of isopropyl alcohol (which are thankfully easy to purchase again now.)  I also carry around a small spray bottle that I keep filled with alcohol.  I found these bottles on clearance a while ago that work really well for this.

·    My Own Pillow – As I’ve blogged about before, past neck surgery already had me purchasing my own supportive pillow in every city I traveled to pre-pandemic.  This is my preferred brand and style though there are others that are good as well if I can’t find it.  If I can’t carry my own from home I’m still buying one to use at a local store.  I feel MUCH more comfortable knowing my head is breathing all night on a surface I know is clean.  If I ever need to use a hotel provided pillow I cover it with a hypoallergenic, waterproof, bed-bug proof pillow-protector.  Here is one of many options available on-line and in local stores.   I carry a few in my bag all the time – both to protect me from hotel pillows and/or as a comfortable pillow case for any purchased pillow.

 

 

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As I’ve said on more than one occasion over this last year, I’m sure these steps and items do more to make me feel comfortable than they do to actually protect me, but if they give me even a 10% edge over being unprepared I’ll happily take that. 

One month to go before this next trip.  Let’s hope things calm down somewhat between now and then. 

 

This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions.

All image and links provided above as reference under prevailing fair use statutes.

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As always, feel free to write and comment, question or disagree.  Hearing from the traveling community is always a highlight for me.  Thanks!