Yes, it’s safe to travel and see more of the wonderful world

By
stevewhysall
-
0

For the past three weeks I’ve been travelling with my wife, Loraine, and some good friends in Italy and Malta.

 We travelled without any problems whatsoever. No Covid infections. No lost luggage. No injuries. No flight cancellations. No pressure to social distance. 

Together, we again discovered the fun of travel. And I want everyone to know that, yes, indeed, you can travel again . . . safely, confidently and without fear or hesitation.

People are back in the streets and having fun

Everywhere we went over the last few weeks – from Rome to Florence,  then down to Palermo and all around Sicily and finally over to the bustling party-street scene that is Valletta, Malta – we found people happily socializing, freely mingling, without masks or painful social distancing protocols. It was wonderful to see. I found myself gasping with delight.

Everywhere, we saw streets filled with people, all enthusiastically enjoying themselves, hanging out in bars, dining in packed restaurants or just relaxing in cafes with pals over coffee or a glass of Prosecco. 

A taste for travelling in Italy. Wine flows easily in Florence.

I detected no anxiety or sense of panic. People were clearly happy to move freely in close proximity to one another in busy shopping areas or at teeming street festivals and concerts. It seemed to me that they had all just decided to forget about Covid and get on with their lives without fuss or fear.

In Italy, we were welcomed without being pressed to provide proof of vaccination or required to take an expensive and unnecessary Covid test. 

The same was true when we arrived in Malta. We were simply waved through the border without fuss or bother. 

We travelled on crowded planes and trains – from Rome to Florence and back – and again on the very popular Leonardo Express from central Rome to Fiumicino airport. Everywhere, we found the same relaxed, confident social dynamic and freedom of movement, even in the busy, congested airports of Rome, Palermo and Munich. 

From Sicily, we travelled on a packed ferry to Malta and from an even busier ferry from Valletta to the neighbouring island of Gozo.

Everywhere, we wandered freely without masks and without being pressured to social distance, especially in Rome where we were constantly around energetic crowds of tourists.

We had a similar experience in museums and churches, art galleries and other key historical sites as well as in city centres where squares and markets were often burgeoning with tourists from all over the world, all happily and nonchalantly mingling with the locals.

Crowds outside the Pantheon in Rome mingle closely together without feeling the need to social distance
Everyone's seizing the day to get on the move. Happy scooter group in Rome.

At all times, we felt completely comfortable, relaxed and safe. We certainly did not feel the degree of anxiety that we felt a year ago when we were in Spain and the UK.  

I guess restrictions have lifted and people are now very happy to embrace their new freedom to move and socialize.

All the people in my little tour group to Sicily-Malta returned home this week. No one got Covid. No one was robbed or injured or experiencing any theft of property or lost luggage. No one had their flight cancelled. Travel was as easy as it ever was, arguably easier because in many places efficiency has been improved.

And we all felt a complete absence of menace as we travelled. Even pestering from irritating freelance street vendors seems to have disappeared. 

And far from being greeted with caution and suspicion because of Covid, we were welcomed pretty much everywhere with an abundance of enthusiasm and appreciation and shown nothing but exemplary hospitality and kindness. 

It was continually uplifting to see how people have embraced their new post-pandemic freedom. It was something I had longed to see.

It was also thrilling to see how the world is getting back to its old self after the dreary past two years of the Covid pandemic.

Always fun to travel to Italy

The point of this little missive is to encourage you all to travel again and not to worry that it could go sideways. 

I believe my recent experience of travelling in Italy and Malta proves that we can indeed again travel with confidence.

If you follow basic safety rules and simple hygiene protocols, you will find it’s fun to travel again, especially in Europe where people are flooding the streets and having a whale of a time. 

It is truly a lovely sight to see people sitting, dining peacefully together, chatting happily and safely and socializing without masks and without the constant fear of getting sick.

Travel on planes is also now much more pleasant without demands for masks and expensive Covid tests. 

So let’s seize the day and do what we’ve been aching to do for the past few years – go travelling and see more of the wonderful world.

swhysall@hotmail.com

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR