The last time my nuclear family went on an airplane ride was probably in 2019, or three years ago.
We were supposed to go on a major family trip in April 2020 but that was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic and the world has never been the same.
My kids have not seen their grandparents in 3 years. My wife, who used to travel regularly for work, only saw her parents in the flesh, last month, if only for a few hours, because her 2-year work from home regime ended and the traveling started again. At the rate she has “normalized,” I reckon she might earn back her formerly elite status with her usual airline and get her privileges back by the end of the year.
Anyway, the return to constant airline traveling has emboldened my wife to book tickets so we can finally see her folks in Metro Manila during this “summer break” of the kids.
When she got the tickets last April, I was still apprehensive. I feared that we could get inconveniently stuck there by the COVID variant surge that we had been bracing for. Anyway, it was her project and we were truly long overdue for a visit to the in-laws so I just crossed my fingers that nothing significant would derail this year’s inaugural travel plans.
Well, the elections came and went, the surge hasn’t arrived, and our society still hasn’t been crippled by COVID yet again. It looks like we are going to ride an airplane by the end of this week.
All over the country, families are already gearing up for travel. My Manila-based siblings who also haven’t been home in 3 years are starting to make plans. Because the best doctors and medical facilities are still in the country’s capital region, medical checkups with faraway doctors are being scheduled. Businessmen and corporate slaves are starting to earn their airline miles once more. As long as we don’t get hit by another nasty strain of the coronavirus, we should be back to a sense of normality by the 3rd quarter of this year.
If you come to think of it, the scariest part of air travel in a world that is still dealing with COVID is not the aircraft. This is because among all enclosed vehicles and spaces, airplanes have the best ventilation. Because their cabins have HEPA filters and are designed for multiple air changes, passengers should be relatively safe from infection, even on long haul flights. As long as your last line of defense, the facemask, doesn’t fall (off your nose and into your chin), air travel should be safe.
My problem with travel are the terminals because I have no idea if ventilation systems were improved and retrofitted during the extended lean season to make these buildings safer from coronavirus infections. Hopefully HEPA filters have been installed and ventilation systems upgraded to introduce more fresh air into the buildings while exhausting the stale and potentially virus-laden air. Buildings didn’t do that before because continuously cooling outside air is not very energy efficient and therefore more costly to run.
Anyway, as long as we keep our masks on 100% of the time, we should be safe. The 2-year training period on the “minimum health protocols” should be enough to keep us wearing our masks, especially in the crowded areas that airline terminals are fast becoming these days.
Aside from keeping our masks on, we will also have to be ready with our vax cards and other contact tracing documents that might suddenly be required if something goes awry. We need to be able to get home and not get stuck wherever we are because knowing our government, things could get really messed up for the unprepared. Emergency funds for unforeseen circumstances will also have to be on the ready because despite the general feeling of normality, we have to remember that “normal” has not yet been officially declared.
The best part about travel and life these days, is that government finally ditched that gruesome face shield requirement. Only the Pharmally people who overbought the overpriced face shields should be required to use it for the rest of their lives.
I’m not too excited about travel. There are still too many unknowns and maybe my antisocial self has already become used with staying home. But it was a big part of our life and it will make a comeback, whether we like it or not. Getting used to it will mean taking baby steps. A week in Metro Manila should help my family relearn this basic life skill.*
