Pandemic Travel

Today I am flying from Rome to Chicago.  I am seeing family for the holidays and meeting up with Che to do some work before returning home to Siena.  I haven’t flown in two years, and I have been curious about what pandemic travel might be like.

Things have been changing fast.  Every few weeks since I planned this trip, the rules have changed, and I have had to adjust.  It has required paying attention and being ready to make changes, but for the most part the actual experience isn’t that bad.  No one that I saw was unwilling to follow the guidelines.  Some people made mistakes, forgot to pull the mask back up after eating, left a nose uncovered here or there, but the flight attendants are good at gentle reminders and everything went smoothly.

On a personal level, I found it difficult to sleep in the face mask, and it took a while to calm my breathing.  I eventually managed it and became a black and blue mask mummy for the first two hours of the flight.  Those who have traveled with me know that I pack late and sleep little before a flight, so once I am finally seated and have a glass of wine in me, I usually catch up on sleep for the first couple of hours on the plane.

I look kinda super-villainish, right?  Happy Holidays!

J