International travel and Covid 19

[Artisttyp]

Very respectfully, take a look at my November trip report in the Monterrey (Mexico) forum. I went to a COVID hotspot that, at the time, was redder than a baboon's ass. As an unvaccinated mongerer, I had sessions with multiple WGs and practiced DFK, DATY, and other fluid-swapping activities. And still, I didn't get sick. I'll never know if I can chalk that up to luck or my immune system.

I have known people to do the same in Tijuana but you never know with this thing. I wouldn't want to be holed up in a hospital in MTY by myself if I needed ER facilities.

Glad you got through it ok.

[Quagmire1974]

Obviously mongering is never a safe hobby for several reasons but these days even more so. To feel somewhat secure myself and the girl would have to be vaccinated and like you say the virus would need to be controlled to a certain extent wherever I was. For a second I wondered if certain sex acts would be safer than other.

Very respectfully, take a look at my November trip report in the Monterrey (Mexico) forum. I went to a COVID hotspot that, at the time, was redder than a baboon's ass. As an unvaccinated mongerer, I had sessions with multiple WGs and practiced DFK, DATY, and other fluid-swapping activities. And still, I didn't get sick. I'll never know if I can chalk that up to luck or my immune system.

Its a quagmire I tell you.

Thanks, that made me chuckle!

[NRandom940]

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/7377054002

Now we need clarification on when "summer" actually begins in the eyes of the EU. Google tells me "summer" begins June 20th, but maybe EU has a different thought

[Artisttyp]

Here is my overall summary of where low risk mongering is headed over the next 6-12 months:

Unfortunately, the vaccines are not 100% effective. If you are double vaccinated with one of the mRNA vaccines and two weeks have passed, your risk of contracting the disease and suffering life threatening effects will be extremely low in countries with high vaccination rates. If, on the other hand, you are surrounded by a high density of infected (and frequently asymptomatic) individuals, your risk will still be very high.

Mongering countries that you COULD visit without a quarantine right now, but have very high risk of disease and have a poor to non-existent vaccine rollout (and remember that second and third world countries usually have minimal head room for a surge of need for ICU / oxygen): Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Sint Maarten, Dominican Republic, Greece, Peru, Curacao, Panama.

Mongering countries that are open right now and have good vaccine rollout: Dubai. Dubai still has high numbers of infections today, but those numbers should drop in the next few weeks, as the vaccination rate gets higher. Israel got the high quality Pfizer mRNA vaccine, Dubai mostly got the lower quality Chinese vaccine, so they will need higher vaccination rates in order to achieve the same success as Israel.

Mongering countries planning to open soon and have good vaccine rollout: Israel and UK. Due to the vaccine, Israel now has only around 100 cases per day, compared to 10,000 per day in January. The UK should see similar results in a few weeks.

Mongering countries planning to open soon and have very poor vaccine rollout: Thailand. Thailand was incredibly lucky to keep their case numbers down for the past year, but look at India. Without a robust vaccine campaign, Thailand could easily follow India only a few weeks after you book your flight.

UPDATE: 10 minutes ago, European officials announced that fully vaccinated Americans will be welcome in Europe this summer. Stay tuned. Will Germany reopen FKKs? Spanish brothels?

This is a great post.

Obviously mongering is never a safe hobby for several reasons but these days even more so. To feel somewhat secure myself and the girl would have to be vaccinated and like you say the virus would need to be controlled to a certain extent wherever I was. Unfortunately I don't believe in the two jabs and that's it back to normal principle. There are still variants floating around and we really don't know what lies ahead with these vaccines.

For a second I wondered if certain sex acts would be safer than other. Perhaps but when you equate just talking to a chica a risk factor the other " safety measure" seem ridiculous.

As pathetic as it sounds I have done this as a lifer for over 25 years. What the heck am I going to do with myself if I am too concerned about Covid to screw hookers? Its a quagmire I tell you.

[Quagmire1974]

These posts are the flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for scouring the Internet for relevant news. Anyone else have any grand plans as the vaccine effect starts to re-open the world?

You're welcome. Part of the benefit of jockeying a workstation at my job 40 hours a week is that I get to sit on my ass and scour the internet for COVID-related travel stories. I post any and all stories that I find that I think might be relevant and of interest to the ISG mongering community.

I will be traveling in May and will announce my plans in the relevant ISG forum soon. Beyond that, I likely won't be traveling again until the final few months of the year for two reasons: first, because my employer is going to keep me hopping all summer, and two, because I'm also waiting to see which countries decide to open to fully-vaccinated travelers, of which, I am one.

I don't know about anyone else, but I actually have more hope now than I did at this time last year. The vaccines are here, people are getting their jabs, and countries are reopening to vaccinated travelers. Oh, and I can find toilet paper on the store shelves without having to wait in any fucking lines for an hour, LOL.

[ShinyCrazy]

Here is my overall summary of where low risk mongering is headed over the next 6-12 months:

Unfortunately, the vaccines are not 100% effective. If you are double vaccinated with one of the mRNA vaccines and two weeks have passed, your risk of contracting the disease and suffering life threatening effects will be extremely low in countries with high vaccination rates. If, on the other hand, you are surrounded by a high density of infected (and frequently asymptomatic) individuals, your risk will still be very high.

Mongering countries that you COULD visit without a quarantine right now, but have very high risk of disease and have a poor to non-existent vaccine rollout (and remember that second and third world countries usually have minimal head room for a surge of need for ICU / oxygen): Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Sint Maarten, Dominican Republic, Greece, Peru, Curacao, Panama.

Mongering countries that are open right now and have good vaccine rollout: Dubai. Dubai still has high numbers of infections today, but those numbers should drop in the next few weeks, as the vaccination rate gets higher. Israel got the high quality Pfizer mRNA vaccine, Dubai mostly got the lower quality Chinese vaccine, so they will need higher vaccination rates in order to achieve the same success as Israel.

Mongering countries planning to open soon and have good vaccine rollout: Israel and UK. Due to the vaccine, Israel now has only around 100 cases per day, compared to 10,000 per day in January. The UK should see similar results in a few weeks.

Mongering countries planning to open soon and have very poor vaccine rollout: Thailand. Thailand was incredibly lucky to keep their case numbers down for the past year, but look at India. Without a robust vaccine campaign, Thailand could easily follow India only a few weeks after you book your flight.

UPDATE: 10 minutes ago, European officials announced that fully vaccinated Americans will be welcome in Europe this summer. Stay tuned. Will Germany reopen FKKs? Spanish brothels?

[ShinyCrazy]

These posts are the flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for scouring the Internet for relevant news. I just posted in the Israel forum about tentative trip planning, for anyone who may be interested. In my estimation, Israel and the UK will be the first mongering destinations to emerge from the pandemic, simply because they have a high percentage of vaccinated adults. Once the vaccines are approved for children, those two countries will crush the disease and things will start returning to normal. I would love to fantasize about travel to Thailand (or even Germany or Spain), but Europe is 6 months behind Israel in vaccinations and Thailand and Colombia and Brazil haven't even really started. I've given some thought to Dubai, but it is insanely hot until much later in the year, and the non-mongering tourist appeal is pretty much meaningless conspicuous consumption, which is boring after a day or two. Anyone else have any grand plans as the vaccine effect starts to re-open the world?

[Quagmire1974]

Current projections for United Kingdom's "Green List" for travel:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/30-countr...121650813.html

New features of United Airlines' "Travel Ready" app:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/unit...143319546.html

Fresh lockdowns and restrictions in Laos due to COVID cluster:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/laos-lock...080201373.html

COVID pandemic improves to COVID endemic in Britain:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-pan...144132492.html

Minor changes to Mexico COVID "stoplight map":

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/cor...rus-stoplight/

[Quagmire1974]

Europe COVID vaccination campaign accelerating:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/whisper-q...133826482.html

Countries currently projected to be on United Kingdom "Green List" for travel:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/only-eigh...093659319.html

United Airlines and Delta Airlines restarting flights to Iceland, Greece, and Croatia:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/united-de...204116273.html

State Department of United States updates "Do Not Travel" advisory:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-put-mor...200458935.html

Greece modifies quarantine requirement:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/gree...122958551.html

France signals vaccinated travelers welcome beginning May:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/macron-sa...163015763.html

American Airlines trimming service to South America due to surging COVID:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/american-...191503179.html

[The Cane]

Well, that didn't take long. Jerks!

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/fak...em-11618330621

[Quagmire1974]

More states in Mexico improve to green "COVID stoplight:

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/cor...ated-low-risk/

Increasing number of sex workers in Mexico due to economy weakened by pandemic:

https://apnews.com/article/pandemics...9841c7120cc9e8

New interactive map to help plan travel during pandemic:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/world-tra...090059693.html

Another travel tool created by Expedia:

https://www.businessinsider.com/expe...avelers-2021-4

[Quagmire1974]

We have a strong third wave going on now. Most of the most vulnerable seniors are vaccinated now, but younger people are getting the various variants, and intensive care units are pretty much full in many places. We still do not have the new cases / per million that the US has, but we're getting up there. And in many places the variants make up the majority of the new infections.

I don't wish any ill will on Canada or Canadians. I've visited both Vancouver and Montreal (as has one of my coworkers), and during my time in those cities, the people were gracious, the food was fantastic, and there were plenty of touristy sights to see and things to do. I'm glad that the Biden Administration is loaning Canada one and a half million doses of COVID vaccine, and I wish that we could do more to help.

As far as travel. The point of this forum blog. Don't bother trying to come to Canada. First, its not easy to get in. Second Canadians do not yet want visitors.

Well, when Canada and Canadians are ready to receive visitors, I'll be ready to arrive and spend money. I'm itching to go to Nova Scotia; my coworker and I are actually in an unofficial race to see who gets up there first.

[Zeos1]

Some interesting articles on Covid in Canada. We (speaking as a Canadian) do / did not have access to the quantity of vaccines that the US has had. Many reasons among which is no manufacture of any of the leading contenders for vaccines in Canada. We have a strong third wave going on now. Most of the most vulnerable seniors are vaccinated now, but younger people are getting the various variants, and intensive care units are pretty much full in many places. We still do not have the new cases / per million that the US has, but we're getting up there. And in many places the variants make up the majority of the new infections.

As far as travel. The point of this forum blog. Don't bother trying to come to Canada. First, its not easy to get in. Second Canadians do not yet want visitors. And third, you don't want any of the variants. The UK one, the South African one, or the Brazilian one. Vaccines still provide some protection, or even very good protection. Depending on the variant and the vaccine. But no need to take a chance.

We are in full swing with vaccinations now as supply is finally coming in, and pretty much everyone should have at least one shot by the end of June. But generally everyone or most are getting the first shot, with the second delayed until everyone has at least the first. To save as many lives as possible, but not necessarily the way some of the vaccines should be administered.

[Quagmire1974]

Ten countries where vaccinated Americans can travel:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/th...?siteid=yhoof2

Vaccine failure in Canada results in COVID surge and fresh lockdowns:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/millions-...124453116.html

Vaccinated Americans warned not to travel to Canada:

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...212553410.html

Canada jealous of vaccine success in United States:

https://nypost.com/2021/04/05/heres-...amid-covid-19/

Biden Administration to provide airlines with technical guidance for vaccine passports:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden...155358500.html

Advice to protect your COVID vaccination card:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/inst...173414714.html

Vaccine booster shots coming in the future:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/covi...174117589.html

Europe COVID vaccine misery continues:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/europes-c...090013030.html

Travel industry indicates where people want to visit as COVID pandemic wanes:

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/desti...211834095.html

Brazil being decimated by COVID:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-bra...020252274.html

On a personal note, I recently received the second dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine. The worst that I had happen was "COVID arm" (Google it) at the injection site.

Thanks to my employer, I've got a boatload of vacation time to use this year. I'd like to visit some new countries, but with the COVID vaccine rollout a complete mess in Europe and very slow in many other parts of the world, I'm strongly considering visiting different portions of places where I've already traveled (United Kingdom, Mexico, Dominican Republic) and also focusing on the Caribbean. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have more hope now than I did at this time last year. Stay safe, stay healthy, keep working, and keep stacking cash for future travel, guys!

[Quagmire1974]

IATA travel pass app launching for Apple and Android:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/iata-...095225306.html

Ecuador now open for fully-vaccinated travelers:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/article...nated-tourists

Europe reboots COVID vaccine efforts:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/europe-re...175001202.html

Possibly 12 countries open for Britons by June, including United States:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/just-12-c...182600122.html

Naysayers doubt creation of COVID vaccine passport:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/experts-u...144521240.html