Category: Allgemein

Travelling will change forever.

Or not?

People are more aggressive, that is for sure.

I was standing at the counter waiting for my sandwich. The server put on the counter on the left side of me, 2 feet away. A man approached the counter and stand just on my left side almost touching me. He was wearing a mask but completely ignored the 6+ feet social distancing rule and any polite behaviour toward other people. He had no respect.

I asked him, if he would like my sandwich.

Then he just started calling me names. Whore was one of the friendly ones. I stood there in disbelieve. I told him this is not acceptable and he should better talk normal to me. He kept on calling me names and made assumptions on how I wanted to be handled by him. The server walked out from behind his protective environment. At this moment the guy just took off. I would love to say that this was a single incident, but unfortunately not.

Generally everybody is missing respect.

No sense for the space they are invading. No sense of respect for the people working in the new environment. Everybody is focused on themselves and forgetting that not everything is about them.

On the plane more people ignoring the rules for storing away laptops. Also just making someone aware that you are about invade their space, an (does not even need to be friendly) “excuse me” …  All of this gone.

Scary new world.

At the beginning I thought the pandemic will teach people to look out for each other. But instead everyone is more focused on themselves.

I feel sorry for the people who have to work in hospitality or other direct customer facing environments.

Also customer service. I called a call centre. After the call the representative said thank you as I treated him as a person and talked to him in a polite manner.

I do not like this new world. Please start respecting each other again.

Due to an illness in my family I had to fly during the pandemic.

And it was surreal.

On a normal very busy day, the airport was empty. Barely a person to be seen.

Only a couple of flights were scheduled and the gates were announced far apart, to allow social distancing.

Dropping off my suitcase, I did not know how to behave. There were marks on the floor, but no one seems to be caring. Protection were up for the employees, but how do you get your boarding pass to them?

At the end, the procedure was easy. You tried to stay out of their space and as much as possible behind the marks. When you had to drop of the suitcase, I did it without breathing out, and when she checked my passport, I forgot to take off the face mask (which I was wearing to protect her, just to be sure – I am aware of the fact, that this will not protect me).

I was wearing a facemark to be polite, even though I did not (and do not) have any symptoms, and to make the life of the employees at the airpot and on the plane less stressful. Some of the employees at check in, security and on the plane were wearing masks, some were not.

Going through security, the guards told me that I was inconsiderate and stupid and should have stayed home (would have love to, but my husband had to go to hospital). The same usually coming from the passenger making assumptions without knowing the story.

A lot of people were insecure on how to interact with other people, all kept their distance.

As soon as boarding started, all bets were off. You saw people in full gear, getting close to friends without a face mask and other passenger, even though earlier they made a point of staying away from everybody.

I have now lived through the pandemic so far in 2 countries.

I have to admit, that Germany is highly respected in the UK. But my experience is very different. I was told from friends (with whom I just talked via Skype) that they were in Ischgl and were home very ill, but were not tested. Neither by the doctors nor the German health agency and were told by their employer to not do it on their own, unless required by a hospital if they would be submitted.

On the street and in big supermarkets people did not care about social distancing. On the street, you had to be careful not be run over by couples walking side by side, as well as mothers with their strollers. From my experience only if it was a small shop and the owner told the customers how to behave and what to do, they followed the rules. Other than that – no.

In regards to human interaction – almost not existing. No calls to see how you are doing, or scheduled calls just for a “sofa crawl”. Maybe I do not have the friends I though I have.

In the UK the opposite. My experience (except mothers with strollers) people are considerate for other people, call each other up, mean the question “how are you?”. We have a lot of contact via FaceTime, Zoom, with different people (old friends and new ones).

My personal advice for travelling during this time:

• be considerate
• look out for the people around you
  you might be carer or they might – you do not know
  you do not know their story
• be kind
• take your time
• breath
• wear a mask
• wash your hands
• try not to touch your face

Question: if you need to enter a non isle seat on a plane, why do you stand just in front of the isle seat, so the person sitting there, cannot let you in?

I am travelling with a suitcase, which is the Maximum allowed size on a plane as hand luggage and a messenger bag.

The best one I ever had was a cheap one from target … took me ages to destroy it. Tumi: great bag, but zippers were constantly broken or wheels fell of. Now I have a rimova and I love it. Little size wonder. Am amazed how much goes in there. Additionally I have not been able to destroy it (till now).

Important is that the luggage can be easy stored, checked in if possible.

The handbag should be big enough to hold the electrics and stuff, but is easy enough to carry, so one does not get a bad back or muscle aches.

I have a messenger bag with a top handle. Just fits on top of the suitcase and can be easily carried over the shoulder.

Back packs … I had them your years and I have to admit, for me they are like the Bermuda Triangle. I always chuck stuff in and never take it out. After a couple of weeks they are so heavy to lift … and my suitcase has barely any weight.

Usually I am looking around the web to find information on what to do, enjoy, love and hate (I am easy to influence). But I am a consultant and therefore travel a little and missing a blog or information on business travel. No matter if short or long …