Travel has continued to surge in July and August, and travel shaming and COVID-call outs are becoming more common.- While some travelers continue to share their photos and experiences on
social media , many are choosing to curb their online presence or to not post at all. - "I think people are afraid. Everyone's under a microscope," said food blogger and influencer Ali Maffucci, who experienced backlash after traveling from New Jersey to Florida to be with family during quarantine.
- The US Travel Association has stated that with proper precautions like face masks and hand-washing, people can travel safely; the CDC still recommends that travel be limited to essential needs only.
When my friend (we'll call her Jess) decided to meet her boyfriend (we'll call him Jason) last month in Baltimore, she was nervous about the trip. "It's like a secret rendezvous," I remember Jess saying before she left. Jess, who lives in New York and hadn't seen her boyfriend since before the pandemic began in March, said she was nervous for all of the obvious reasons — but also because of what people might say if they knew she was traveling during a pandemic.
There's no doubt that
Some things we know for certain. If we don't travel and don't leave our homes, we won't risk getting or giving the virus to anyone else. According to the CDC, travel will increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. We also know that if we wear a mask, wash our hands and practice social distancing, we can prevent the virus from spreading.
But here's the reality: As coronavirus rates continue to soar, so does the number of people traveling.
In July, US airlines saw more than 700,000 passengers per day over the July 4th weekend, a figure that has continued to climb in recent weeks. On August 2, 799,861 people passed through a TSA checkpoint. Yes, these figures are down compared to the same time last year, but the numbers don't lie. People are traveling, whether we agree with it or not.
So where does that leave us when it comes to posting about our travels on social media?
"It would be kind of tone-deaf to post about your great vacation, and there would be a potential backlash to doing so," said Dr. Jennifer Thomas, a TEDx speaker, psychologist, and coauthor of the book "When Sorry Isn't Enough." "And maybe some people won't post out of a fear of being shamed, but also out of consideration for not wanting to rub salt in the wounds of people who are stuck at home and not wanting to gloat and say 'look, we got out and have a change of scenery.'"
The shaming Dr. Thomas is referring to is a relatively new brand of social-media shaming being dubbed "travel shaming."
It's the latest public display of chastising people's decision to travel during COVID and has only been exacerbated in today's cancel-culture, COVID-callout world. The ire of online trolls and even those within our own social-media circles is real, my friends.
When asked about how we should be talking about travel and travel shaming that's going on online, Thomas, who's based in Greensborough, North Carolina, happened to be traveling en-route with her family for a socially distanced vacation.
"Travel in a way to make sense to you, and where you feel like you're not endangering your family or other people — but then be aware if you post about it that you're taking a risk of backlash and potentially offending some people," she said.
Nobody can speak to this particular brand of social media backlash better than food influencer and author of two New York Times best-selling cookbooks, Ali Maffucci.
In March, Maffucci, along with her husband and two small children, made the difficult decision to leave their high-rise apartment in Jersey City, New Jersey to quarantine with family in Florida.
"When we went to Florida, the state of COVID was completely different than it is now," Maffucci told me in a recent phone conversation. In the days that followed, Maffucci said she received so many hateful comments on Instagram she had to turn off the comments altogether. "I got a lot of heat and a lot of hate from people," Maffucci said. "People would say things like 'how dare you endanger other people around you, how selfish of you, you just need to stay in your house, it's not that hard.'"
Maffucci said while she was initially taken aback by the wrath she received online, she took it as an opportunity to have more direct conversations with disapproving followers. "Ultimately I made the decision to keep my family safe in the way I best know how to do it — and no one is gonna tell me that I can't keep my family safe."
Maffucci, who has more than 202,000 followers on social media, said her posting habits have definitely shifted since then. She thinks it's a good thing that her colleagues in the travel space are being transparent about their experiences, but advises anyone posting right now to err on the side of caution.
"I've seen some of my influencer friends traveling and posting about their travels because they want to be honest about it," Maffucci said. "But I think people are afraid. Everyone's under a microscope, and they don't want to lie about anything; they want to be open about it and share their experience."
Summer Hull, a Houston-based editor and director of travel content at The Points Guy, said she's noticed this shift in the conversation around travel both on her personal and professional feeds.
"People are not only afraid to share travel photos on their social accounts right now, which I 100% understand, but they're also afraid to publicly ask questions about travel or admit that they are actively considering it, so information sharing is happening in one-on-one online conversations in some cases," Hull told Business Insider via email.
In July, Hull and her daughter traveled from their home in Houston to the reopening of Disney World in Orlando. She said that despite taking every precaution possible, she was nervous about the potential backlash that would be associated with it.
"In truth, I was nervous about the trip, and very strongly debated not taking it," Hull told Business Insider. "I was going to document the opening for work, so I shared the coverage on my work-related social accounts, but kept it off my own personal Facebook as I just couldn't handle any more potential negativity."
Sarah Dandashy, an award-winning travel influencer and founder of Ask A Concierge, believes that having an open and honest dialogue about how we're approaching safe and ethical travel right now is paramount.
"My approach to travel content has been very different since the pandemic started," Dandashy told Business Insider. In addition to being a content creator, Dandashy, whose job in the travel industry was furloughed as a result of COVID-19, said she decided to start sharing her experiences traveling on social media in an effort to show how people can travel safely and responsibly.
"I really wanted to provide value, hope, and knowledge, so I decided to create a series of travel update videos. They've been game changer for me, not only personally, but also in the engagement with my followers," Dandashy said. "I was putting out something with substance, and to my joy, I found that both travelers and travel industry professionals were responding positively."
Dandashy, who recently came back from a road trip to Sedona, Arizona, said influencers have the unique opportunity now to serve as a role model for those looking to talk about and travel in a safe and informative way.
"Some people think it's too soon to travel; others question if it's ethical to act like all is normal when things are not normal," Dandashy said. "But generally, I find that people are really looking to those individuals who are traveling now to get a sense for what it's like. From face shields to gloves, plexiglass to social distancing, people want to see what's happening in destinations and more so, what the travel experience is like."
Not all travel influencers share Dandashy's point of view.
In Phoenix, Arizona, which has seen one of the biggest spikes in COVID-19 cases of late, travel writer and influencer David Duran said he's making the conscious decision to stay put, with the exception of the occasional day trip with his new quarantine puppy named Piper, at least for the time being.
"It's not that I'm refusing to travel, it's that I'm choosing not to travel," Duran told Business Insider. "I just don't feel like now is an appropriate time to be traveling unless it's absolutely necessary."
Duran, along with more than a dozen family and friends, made the decision early on to cancel a trip to Bali this summer to celebrate his 40th birthday, and said while international trips are out until at least 2021, he would consider taking a road trip later this year when the time is right.
"Right now, especially living in Arizona where the cases are exploding daily, it just doesn't make sense to leave," Duran said. "Financially, that's the worst decision I could make, but I'm putting health and safety above a paycheck for the foreseeable future."
Back in Jersey City, food blogger and influencer Ali Maffucci said while she doesn't intend on traveling again anytime soon, embracing a sense of normalcy while keeping yourself and others safe don't have to be mutually exclusive.
"There's no zero-risk situation unless you stay in your house and do not leave," Maffucci said. "It's just not possible anymore. It was possible for a month or two months but I think now, people are realizing that we're in this for the long haul and we can live a somewhat normal, enjoyable
Michelle Gross is a travel, food and lifestyle journalist based in Jersey City. A member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), you can keep up with Michelle's travels on Instagram @pinktravelproject or Twitter @pinktravelpro.