How will covid and economic crisis effect travel culture long term? Discuss! | Squat the Planet

How will covid and economic crisis effect travel culture long term? Discuss!

ItsAWastelandBaby

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I've just barely got started on the road and now I'm stuck holes up until covid ends, and I'm worried that things won't be the same after and I already missed the best window. I'm new to this so please jump in, how does everyone think things will change in the next few years?
 
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SWAMPxASSx420

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I myself have recently accepted I’ll have to find a job for the next forseeable future; I imagine busking on the streets wont be normal until shows and larger gatherings are back in full swing. I also expect hitch hiking to be really slow until all of this happens as well. One of these unfortunate things we all gotta “ride out”
 
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ItsAWastelandBaby

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I myself have recently accepted I’ll have to find a job for the next forseeable future; I imagine busking on the streets wont be normal until shows and larger gatherings are back in full swing. I also expect hitch hiking to be really slow until all of this happens as well. One of these unfortunate things we all gotta “ride out”
I've had luck busking, haven't tried hitching, mostly just worried about even more loneliness and isolation than usual
 
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MetalBryan

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I think supportive/safe road dogs and pooled resources are going to be key to traveling. Wish I had something more to offer.

I suppose it's going to depend on how you approach the virus. My friend in ATL says work is easy to come by because the places that are still open are doing crazy business... but you gotta hang out in an epicenter to get that busking money.
 
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Probably not what you wanna hear but the fact is traveling right now makes you part of the problem. Being in contact with multiple strangers every day then going to another area and doing the same potentially puts you and other people at greater risk for getting covid, passing it on to someone else and them continuing the spread.

America as a whole still hasnt quite been able to as a unit grasp how serious this shit is and has somehow managed to convince people that it's a political issue rather then a public health risk.

People isolating themselves as much as possible still hasnt sank in yet and it's no surprise more cases are showing up every day because of it. Not even taking into account that nobody knows exactly what the long term effects of being exposed are.

Covid 19 is not just like the flu.
 

Beegod Santana

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Until we get a vaccine I reckon everything is gonna be rather shitty. Next summer however will probably be an awesome time to be on the road. Hitching will probably be easier cause there will be tons of lonely ass people road tripping desperate for someone who isn't their family to talk to. Train schedules will probably get way busier cause shipping will pick up. There's gonna be tons of first year concerts and festivals, every band will be trying to tour, ect...
 
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trashswag86

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As a homeless person, I hope to catch it soon as I can, cause I don't want that shit in the winter time. That'd be really dangerous, not just cause of the elements, but cause of seasonal depression as well.

I wear a mask around those who wear masks, out of respect. But around people without one, I keep it off. It's not the best situation, but I really don't wanna die this winter.

As for how it'll change travelling? Unless the economy really takes a bad turn, trains are still choo-chooing and can be ridden solo. Walking can be solo.
Though solo's not a must. If you have a road-dog or two, nothing wrong with having a closed-loop covid spread.
Socializing beyond that should be limited, but there's other reasons to travel. So I don't see it killing travelling forms so much, other than hitch-hiking. Only thing it's really killing is socializing and busking. You can still travel, no problem. Just depends on how you do it.
 

superphoenix

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I typically travel alone and avoid people anyway, but it's true that some places now are just shadow cities and not quite how they were before.
 

Desperado Deluxe

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Honestly travelling can be a good way to avoid contact with people. If your always in a big city hanging out with people your going to get sick anyway.
Hitching might have more people not picking you up but the good days of hitching have been dwindling for years. Biking seems to be pretty ideal for me at least. Hopping is probably even better with less people out and about to interfere.
Have faith dude it's officially the future with plexiglass up everywhere, let's just hope we don't end up needing it for bullet protection because then will truly be the end of life as we know it.
 

trashswag86

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Mind linking some research that backs this up? Cause far as I know this is absolutely untrue.
My bad. Thought I read about immunity somewhere.
Here's what I found on WebMD, for anyone that's interested:

"In China, 5%-10% of people tested positive again after they'd recovered, according to news reports. It's not clear whether:

1. These people got infected again
2. The virus reactivated in their bodies after being quiet for a while, or
3. The test results were flawed.
Researchers think the antibodies in convalescent plasma (the liquid part of blood) from people who’ve recovered from COVID-19 might help people who are sick with the disease. If you’ve had a positive antibody test and want to donate plasma, visit your local blood donation center, or check out the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project."

Good to know I might have a future in Plasma donations.
 

Barf

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My almost seventy year old mother wants to come visit me and the grand-baby.

I know ima have to tell her no.

My little sister in Chattanooga, wants to come visit my mom, then mom wants to come see us.

She was talking madness about flying in a place.

I’d hate to have momma bring something here. There’s been a huge Covid spike in the last two months in MT cuz the weather is perfect.

Its hard and isolation isn’t my friend...
 

Rune

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I foresee freelancing being the only way to travel soon, with all of this craziness going on, but hopefully Im only paranoid about this. .-.

I cant even understand how the government is saying its still a big deal when I havent known anyone getting it for quite some time and no one here even seems to think much about it anymore. :[

All the borders are closed and it makes me VERY nervous since theyre saying its on the rise and this and that but..
the more i think about it, i feel theyre going to straight up force vaccinations, stick people that dont do as they say in fema camp-style things, moniter the public via technology, and keep everyone on lock down through a subtle martial law maneuver..

and i dont even think thats as horrible as its going to get.
 
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ali

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I have a friend who works as a nurse in Florida. Her hospital is overflowing with COVID cases right now, more than ever before. Patients who are going in for "normal" illnesses, surgeries and emergency care are in stretchers in the hallway because the COVID ward takes up so much of the space that used to be used for regular patients.

It's not unusual that you might not have met anybody who got it. I've only met one or two people who got it. Not everyone gets it. But it doesn't really matter if COVID is relatively rare, or if most people who get it have a relatively easy time of it. What matters is that many hospitals are not equipped to deal with the rapid influx of people who are having a bad case when a town has an outbreak.

That's why it's still a problem. The best thing you can do to help out your community is get vaccinated. Of course, it's your choice whether you want to or not, but if you want to see the end of this thing, then vaccination is a pretty low effort way to help it along.

In most countries vaccination is free. For most people the risks of complications from the vaccine are much lower than the risks of complications from COVID. Most importantly, it will decrease the chance that you personally will be unlucky enough to suffer from a bad enough case that you're taking up a hospital bed, which helps out healthcare workers who are really snowed under right now, plus it helps out people in your community who are sick with other things and would like to get care without being stacked up in a hallway waiting for mostly-preventable COVID cases to be processed.

With regard to the government response... Trust me, i was in China when the outbreak first started. North America ain't got shit on the lockdown there. In China they literally fenced off neighborhoods, went door-to-door testing people daily, you had to show ID just to leave your house, and you were not allowed to visit any other neighborhoods in your own town. Tens, maybe hundreds of millions of people were forcibly tested and quarantined. No way that will ever happen in rich countries in the west. If they didn't do it 18+ months ago when the virus first broke out, they're not going to do it now that the majority of people are vaccinated and we have more knowledge about how to treat and prevent the disease.

What i am worried about - and what we do have evidence of happening - is closed borders. There is little evidence of "martial law" in most western countries, but there is a lot of evidence that fascists and nationalists have preyed on the fears of the masses to keep national borders closed tight, all over the world. So the people who are really being screwed are multinational families, migrant workers, merchant seamen and refugees. And, of course, travelers like us who want to cross a border for fun and profit.
 
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