looking up tickets to Aus this week

I got a reminder from BA that I still have a voucher to be used before September. I had thought it was not valid anymore. Nice of them to remind me.

@Willeke Scotland is currently being reasonably good at following the rules, probably just to be different to the English... not that there is any rivalry :-/

@Willeke My airline and hotel reward schemes all carried over all my points that should have expired, so I'm hoping Ibiza, Vegas and Warsaw this year, plus maybe a Tenerife or Gibraltar visit

@MarkMayo My eldest daughter was hoping to get an exhange with Australia through her uni this year - bit gutted she got Wisconsin instead of Melbourne, but I'm sure she will still enjoy it

@RoryAlsop hopefully Scotland will follow England soon too and drop everything :-)

I'm really looking forward to a mask-free and fear-free year of travel in 2022

no more masks, no more tests, no more vaxx checks, no more fear

@JonathanReez No - I really really hope not. Still too many people getting really ill - long term ill, and a backlog in hospitals the NHS reckons will take till 2024 to clear

@JonathanReez It makes a lot of sense to follow one of the good habits we see in east Asian countries - with masks as a default in any case

@JonathanReez fear is sort of irrelevant. It's more caring for the vulnerable

Well, if they don't... still a lot of mask-free destinations, luckily. Even Australia (Sydney) is dropping masks soon, so they'll be a good option.

I'm fine avoiding pro-mask jurisdictions this year, I respect the laws of other nations

@JonathanReez This conversation is likely to get too political, but as @MarkMayo pointed out, countries that have tried to relax lockdown early have regretted it

Florida did not regret anything, being the least restricted jursidiction in the world for over a year

they did not flinch with Omicron and are still fine

And at the end of the day it's not about you or I, being presumably healthy individuals, but about those that are vulnerable. Taking care helps avoid their illness or death, so wearing a mask is a tiny thing that helps a bit. And is zero effort

Not zero effort to me, that's for sure

Wearing a mask is a horrible experience

@JonathanReez hahahaha - Florida is almost the poster child for doing anything badly. From well before Covid.

@JonathanReez It is literally no efforrt. Even the Canadian womens ice hockey team managed to wear them for their match - while expending more effort than you or I will ever see in a day

Its really not depending on the person. That's a major disconnect between a lot of people. I know that some people feel it is for them, but its not for me and a lot of others

If you have trouble wearing one, it implies you may be extra vulnerable to breathing complications, so should really avoid public unmasked areas even more than I would

I hated it pre-vaccination but wore it because I care about my health

@RoryAlsop I run in 10k races all the time, no breathing problems

@JonathanReez There is no opinion or feeling about this - it's just facts. It helps protect others. If you run 10k's then you should easily cope with wearing a mask when near others to protect them

I physically can but it is extremely unpleasant and demeaning to myself and many others

Remember, it is not about you - it is about others. If you care for them, you should take all the steps available

So this year I swore not to leave the US/Canada to any jurisdiction where masks are mandatory

I respect the laws of other nations but also won't give them tourist dollars

@JonathanReez and that is just utterly incorrect. There is nothing demeaning about looking out for others

I think that's a fair trade off

Why can't those others put on a high quality medical mask such as N95 or P100?

as they did pre-COVID for the flu and other viruses?

@JonathanReez If you for some reason think masks are demeaning and won't care for others, then my guess is those countries are more than happy without you visiting

@JonathanReez yes they do that as well

@RoryAlsop right, the pro-mask countries would indeed be more happy and I won't be visiting them

you will see that the highly vulnerable take incredibly onerous steps to try to stay safe

I'm only going to go to places like England or Sweden where masks are optional

@JonathanReez and you aren't worried about catching covid, right?

not in the slightest

And then giving it to others who are less healthy

Because that is what your attitude tells me

like I said - it isn't about you

if you don't protect others who need it, then that is a problem

All of us should make whatever efforts we can to protect the less healthy

and vulnerable

and underprivileged

I have a feeling we are diametrically opposed on this so probably no point trying to continue on this

@RoryAlsop sounds good. I've posted this as I'm a big fan of travel and do a lot of it

I don't care about COVID policies, I only care about people being able to travel freely to every place in the world and experience our beautiful planet to the fullest

I miss crowds of tourists, I miss seeing international visitors in my city, I miss going to tourist events and seeing hundreds of people from all over the world

That's all I care about, not the virus. I think that's reasonable for Travel.SE

Things were going really well for tourism in 2019 with even Iran and Saudi Arabia becoming tourist-friendly and I really hope we don't see a setback moving forward

@JonathanReez Oh, me too. Have travelled internationally since before I was a teenager so lockdown seriously inconveniences me. Have travelled to every continent (excluding Greenland, if that counts as a continent) and love seeing places. I have always hated tourists and crowds, though - and have always tried my best to not "be a tourist"

And Edinburgh in August is so much nicer without the millions of tourists who used to ruin the place :-)

Prague was also much nicer without tourists, I’ve lived there for 10 years and never seen it that empty in the summer months

I'll step in to say @RoryAlsop no! Greenland isn't a continent ;)