Mini Vacation with an Unsuspecting Enemy Approaching
We knew the virus was coming, the Coronavirus that is. We knew it was an aggressive type flu. How was this any different to me than the former potential pandemics I have seen over the past couple of decades? The swine flu, the bird flu, the Ebola virus, H1N1 – all situations I had heard about, worried cautiously about, but survived without seeing any direct impacts in my region to cause me alarm. Several strains of flu occur in our population every winter and we just hoped not to catch it, but if we did, we would get over it.
I honestly didn’t see this as being anything different for the Coronavirus. Just another really aggressive type flu bug when the flu typically has a death toll every year for specific populations. I don’t want to get the flu, but I don’t necessarily fear it for myself or my family. At least, not until this year, 2020.
This year I was able to go to Jamaica for a business trip for a Mastermind meeting, February 21-February 25. Long travel days on both ends. This was my first international travel in 15 years. I have only traveled internationally twice in my lifetime. I had been to Mexico when I was in high school nearly 40 years ago and 15 years prior when I celebrated my 40th birthday taking a cruise to Key West, Florida, Cozumel, Mexico and the Cayman Islands. We didn’t need passports for either of them, but there was a hint that passports would be required back in 2005.
I wasn’t sure how the trip to Jamaica was going to be different, but I knew the world had changed. I had a passport that had never been used. I remembered the extra time it took to go through customs when we returned to the United States coming back from Mexico in the 1980’s, but I don’t remember having to do that when I returned from the cruise in 2005. I really didn’t know what to expect traveling internationally.
I knew of the heightened concerns of the Coronavirus largely because of my upcoming international flight. I was getting alerts from the airlines, but that was about it. At that time, it was isolated to China. My awareness and concern didn’t really perk up until late January, early February as my trip was approaching and reminders of the Coronavirus concerns were coming through my email for travel planning purposes.
I don’t watch the news and wasn’t seeing much in my social media feeds at the time, so it was "something going on overseas” but was not really on my radar in the Midwest of the USA. Flying through the US and making my connections were uneventful on my way to Jamaica. No real worries or concerns. When I arrived in Jamaica, the only question they asked us through customs beyond the basic …are you bringing in food, animals, etc was if I had been to mainland China. Nobody was wearing masks. It all seemed routine. The trip to Jamaica was exhausting due to the 12-19 hour travel days, but essentially uneventful. The only thing I thought was quirky was the squirt of hand sanitizer for everyone going to the buffet to eat. I actually thought it was a great idea, but an unfamiliar one.
Check out my next email titled "Business as Usual, Sort-Of"
