- Taking a
vacation during the pandemic can be a source of personal and public scrutiny. - It may cause you to wonder whether you're being selfish or reckless, and there's no question that the decision comes with an enormous amount of privilege.
- But not all getaways are morally "wrong," and responsible trips can be critical for your well-being and relationships.
- Like many other activities we choose to participate in during the pandemic, it's important to weigh the risks and benefits, and staying home indefinitely has its own negative consequences.
Kyle Wright felt like a hypocrite. Just a month or so earlier, he'd been shaking his head at how reckless some of his friends on social media appeared to be for traveling — some internationally — for pleasure.
"Like, maybe you could choose not to
But then Wright began planning his own trip. Information on the virus had developed, and he felt that it was feasible to pull off a road-trip vacation while ensuring the safety of both his group of travelers and the community at his destination.
Still, Wright, an entrepreneur in Brooklyn, New York, told Insider, "I definitely felt a little uncomfortable going."
Now, a few weeks out, he's glad he did.
"Overall it showed me that as long as each step is thought out and carefully executed to the best of our abilities, vacations during COVID are possible," he said. "It's important for our
With knowledge about the coronavirus pandemic changing by the day, the question of whether, how, and when you should take a vacation is not only a moving target but also the subject of personal and public scrutiny.
Are you selfish and uncaring? Is a trip a slap in the face to frontline and essential workers? Are you needlessly putting others at risk, particularly in places that may not be equipped to handle an outbreak?
Unquestionably, there is immense privilege involved with even asking yourself these questions. Considering them is crucial during a pandemic that has devastated marginalized communities.
But getting away responsibly can be critical to your mental and physical well-being. Staying home indefinitely can be detrimental. Put another way: It's OK to get away.
Not all trips are morally wrong
There are indeed foolhardy ways to take a holiday (exhibit A). And, it's true that the more we all move around, the longer it will take to get the virus under control.
But like decisions about schooling, going out to eat, or reentering the gym, responsible choices about travel are all about weighing risks and benefits. Nothing is risk-free, not even self-isolating at home for months. (Besides, regularly getting food and supplies delivered simply shifts the risk of transmission away from you and onto essential workers.)
While experts are still learning exactly how the disease transmits, a few central concepts are well established: Outside is better than inside; fewer people is better than more; more distance is better than less; well-ventilated air is better than stagnant.
When it comes to travel, then, renting a car with a partner is lower risk than sharing a plane or a train with strangers. Small group hikes are safer than big beach bashes.
Fleeing a community with high rates of transmission is risky to the people in your destination, and an older traveler with heart disease is more at risk than a young person with a clean bill of
A populated hotel is most likely riskier than a well-sanitized rental home, though "hotels are not unsafe at all — it's what we do in them," Dr. Trish Perl, the chief of the division of infectious diseases at UT Southwestern Medical Center, said during a webinar hosted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Don't travel if you're sick, avoid crowds, and "don't be fooled" that if you go somewhere that screens people for COVID-19 you don't have to wear a mask, Perl, an IDSA fellow, said.
"While we don't want you to do anything that is going to put you and your family at risk," she said, "if you do decide to do this, we do think there are ways that can be done that will make the activity safer."
Time away is critical for your well-being. Endless time indoors can be devastating.
Americans have always been reluctant to take vacation days, despite their known benefits in preventing workplace burnout, supporting mental health, improving sleep, and lowering blood pressure.
These days, those benefits are especially critical, with a third of Americans experiencing clinical levels of depression and anxiety — and that was in May. Even Michelle Obama said she was suffering "low-grade depression."
"Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting," Obama said on the latest episode of "The Michelle Obama Podcast."
Melody Wilding, a social worker who coaches people on workplace success, previously told Insider those stresses were compounded for many by a heavier workload, a lack of boundaries, and "the energetic drain of having this existential uncertainty in the air." It's driving us all toward burnout, she said.
But even though we may need it, we're especially reluctant to get away — and feel guilty if we do.
For Rachel Baye, a journalist in Baltimore who hasn't taken a day off all year, the feeling has constantly made her question whether she should cancel a coming four-night trip to the Berkshires, even though she and her husband plan to stick to isolated activities like hiking.
"I feel guilty about the whole thing," she said, "like we are contributing to the spread of this virus."
Others may worry about getting fired. We cringe about rubbing our luck into our jobless friends' faces. We question the benefits of enjoying ourselves during a time of crushing global despair. We wonder whether our outings are stimulating the economy or threatening low-wage workers' health.
These aren't concerns to brush off, but they're also not ones that holing up indoors will solve.
According to research in The Lancet that included 24 previous studies on the psychological effects of quarantines during disease outbreaks, the experience can lead to post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, confusion, anger, fear, and substance misuse.
After taking a break, Wilding said, "our relationships and interactions with others are smoother, calmer, and hopefully more equitable because they aren't fueled by stress and burnout."
But feeling guilty about a getaway can snuff out some of those positives. According to Babita Spinelli, a New York City-based therapist, "privilege guilt" is a prominent, though largely useless, emotion among her clients these days. "Guilt stops acting," she said. "We feel like we're acting, but we're really doing nothing at all."
Shifting from guilt to gratitude, she said, can better prepare you to put your privilege to good use.
The new normal of travel is here to stay
Regardless of whether it's right for the US economy to be reopened for leisure travel, it's happening. And many coronavirus-related developments, from temperature checks to mandatory mask-wearing, may be here to stay.
While some of that new normal is in part set by industry — mask requirements, space between seats, sparsely populated elevators, and careful cleaning practices — the bulk of it relies on the rest of us to take responsibility.
"I am confident that we can do some of this if we're smart and if we can get people to comply," Perl said.
The way Kyle Wright sees it, complying with public-health recommendations long before hitting the road was precisely what allowed him to go on, and enjoy, a vacation safely.
Had anyone in his crew not checked all the boxes for joining — a history of social distancing, a clean bill of health, and agreeing on a strict masking policy when out of the rented house — it would have been scrapped.
"We managed to be able to go on vacation solely because we did follow all the rules," he said, "and continue to."
- Read more:
- Stop shaming people for going outside. The risks are generally low, and the benefits are endless
- How to make good enough choices during the coronavirus pandemic, since making risk-free decisions is impossible
- Why you still need to take a vacation in lockdown — and how to make the most of it
- Is travel safe? We interviewed experts on risks associated with flying, booking hotels or Airbnbs, renting cars, and more, plus ideas on safe vacations during COVID-19