OT- Traveling Blues
Just a small vent about modern day traveling.
I just got back from a brief trip to the Dom.Rep. (yay.. warm breezes, cold drinks and sunrises).
I can't count the number of people that I encountered on my travels that were sick. I'm not talking about garden variety sniffles or cold recovery, but hacking, can't stop coughing phlegm up, wheezing sick.
Why must people go out and get into enclosed metal tubes with other passengers when they are so obviously unwell? I guess I can't 100% blame these people for their inconsiderate actions because airlines have also made it almost impossible to recover costs when people can't make flights too.
I mean, what if I were planning a trip to see a medically fragile person? Now being exposed, I have to make the right choice and avoid people. I'm not sick yet..but won't be surprised if I spend Christmas under the weather.
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the worst was on our last
the worst was on our last flight home. The gentleman sitting behind me was so obviously ill... and with a booked flight, no option of changing seats.
It was so bad I could feel literal whooshes of air and occasional spittle hit the back of my arm. He was just coughing explosively. I literally was attempting to breath through the hood of a sweatshirt I was carrying and kept my eyes closed to hope no germs would infiltrate me.. oh and breathed as little as possible... AND took a hot shower and immediately put all the clothes I was wearing in the wash. and hand sanitizer..lol.
That sounds horrible. I am
That sounds horrible.
I am just going to stay home or go where I can drive!
I have a cough that's not
I have a cough that's not contagious. I need to go see a specialist about it but haven't gotten around to it yet. When I cough in public, people give me looks of death.
Totally off topic, I have a
Totally off topic, I have a chronic cough too.
My Mom has it, her Mom had it.
It's a tickle in the throat that causes a dry cough.
I've seen pulmonary Drs, allergists, ear nose throat specialist and they can not find the cause.
When we moved the cats stayed with my son and the new house has hardwood and never had pets, so the allergic reaction is out.
I'm taking pills for acid reflux and the head of my bed is up 4inches, so that's out.
I've been tested for asthma and that's out!
It's the most annoying thing. I'm constantly telling people I'm not sick, it's a chronic cough.
Same except I haven't had all
Same except I haven't had all the tests yet. It started this spring so my Dr. kept saying it was just seasonal allergies but it hasn't let up much.
You really should get that
You really should get that checked out. My mom had one and then it was discovered it was lung cancer. Not to be an alarmist but just as a word of caution...
I can usually get the vibe of
I can usually get the vibe of people who have a situation like yours and the occasional dry cough or suppressed cough isn't what gets me. Also, I'm sure that you practice good "cough hygiene".
The people that I encountered were doing that deep wet coughing accompanied by the snorting of goop and wheezing.. almost certainly would be a cough a person wouldn't live with for very long. lol.
I am actually getting cancer
I am actually getting cancer ruled out for another reason so I can rest easy there.
I have no idea what causes it but it's worse when I'm stressed.
I always try to cough into my shirt, which also seems gross but I like to avoid the dirty looks.
Last night I had a little
Last night I had a little tickle in my throat. This morning I was fine... hit me around 11am... tickle was back... now I'm fully stuffed up and about to head home.
It always comes on very fast for me... and hard. Last year, I broke a rib from coughing.
I got a terrible cold just
I got a terrible cold just before we were to leave for Mexico.
My husband wasn't going to go without me and flight insurance doesn't cover minor illnesses.
If we hadn't gone we would have lost $2500! No refunds, no rebates, no rescheduling.
DH said, you can be sick here or sick on the beach, here loses us money, there the money is already spent.
I took a load of echinacea, brought some airborne and NyQuil for on the plane and hoped for the best. No I didn't wear a mask, honestly it never dawned on me to get one.
I ended up sleeping most of the flight and was probably more of a risk to the people on the bus transfer than to the people on the plane.
Two days in and I was perfect! The sun, sand and sea cured me.
I think I am going to invest
I think I am going to invest in some masks for my next trip. It may look goofy but might prevent me coming down with something on my vacation.
Our trips are pretty short.. this was only a 4 night trip. If I had come down with something on the vacation... it would have basically ruined the majority of my trip.
But, I also understand the problems with cancelling. Travel insurance isn't always a good option and you will probably lose some of your money anyway. Also airlines don't do well at allowing reschedules. Plus vacations are scheduled with jobs that might not allow changes either. So people do what you did and travel while sick. Unfortunately that means others you encounter risk getting sick on their trips too. But, we often don't have much choice in the matter.
We really didn't feel we had
We really didn't feel we had a choice, for all the reasons you listed.
Time off work, it was a pkg deal and insurance said only if a Dr says you are too sick to fly.
Masks are a good idea.
I also like airborne tablets, they have lots of vitamin C and I'm not sure what else. DH had one and he didn't catch my cold.
About stupid dry coughs Some
About stupid dry coughs
Some medication cause it. Some of those wax melts smelly things put me into a coughing fit. Others don't.
I can tell when I walk into a store IF no one dusted in years because I have allergies to dust and dogs (yes we have dogs too
) and seasonal allergies that seem to last all year round.
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Traveling...we make ever effort to avoid winter travel because of what you wrote. EVERYONE seems to be sick from Nov-April at least that is our experience.
As much as I want to take a cruise during the winter---uhhh no thanks between higher risk of norovirus and the flu season in general we will pass.
ESMOND---Hopefully your fellow passenger does not have TB....it has been known to happen. You will be notified IF he comes up positive. He will be so sick he must go to the doctors then they will test him and inform the cdc who will notify passengers.
I wish there were guidelines in place preventing feverish passengers from flying. JMO of course.
Airlines do have the right to
Airlines do have the right to refuse boarding to any passengers that they feel are too ill to fly.
Your post reminded me of a couple of times I've seen it.
We were on our way home from Vegas when they removed 5 people. Two of them were throwing up before boarding, one of them tossed their cookies in the aisle (that made for a lovely flight home) and the other two were their friends, we thought.
Coming back from Hawaii we saw an airline employee pull a couple out of the boarding area. The guy had this big hacking cough and was spitting phlegm into a garbage can. It was lovely.
I never really thought about it but they didn't come back and weren't on our flight.
I wonder who covers the extra costs if the airlines say you are to ill to fly?