Top Ways to Avoid Diseases Like COVID-19
As I write these words in the mid-2020s, COVID-19 remains an extremely contagious and dangerous airborne disease. Even young and previously healthy individuals have developed serious long-term health problems because of COVID, and many of them showed only “mild” symptoms at first. Getting infected (or reinfected) is one of the biggest risks you’ll take when you travel. To minimize this risk, I travel far less frequently and far more selectively now than I did during the pre-pandemic era.
Here’s the bad news: You can’t eliminate this risk entirely.
Here’s the good news: You can take steps to reduce your chances of infection.
I’m not your doctor, and nothing on this site is medical advice—it is for educational and informational purposes only. However, I have never been infected (to my knowledge) with COVID-19. That’s because I take extensive multi-layered precautions to avoid it.
These are some precautions for you to consider when traveling that will lower—but not eliminate—your risk.
Wear a Mask
- Wear a high-quality mask (like an N95, N99, or P100) consistently and properly. If you don’t know how to put one on properly, there are YouTube videos for that. These are the best respirators around, but even a surgical or cloth mask is better than no mask. Wearing a good mask is one of the best things you can do to avoid infection.
- If you must remove your mask (such as for identity verification at a TSA checkpoint), take a deep breath, remove your mask to show your face briefly, exhale, and put your mask back on.
- Ask others (such as an Uber or Lyft driver) to wear masks when possible, because two-way masking is always better than one-way masking.
Clean the Air
- Outdoor activities are safer than indoor activities. In poorly ventilated areas, the coronavirus can spread like smoke and remain suspended in the air for long periods of time. You can still get infected outside, but you’re much more likely to get infected inside.
- Use HEPA air filters to clean the air. They don’t work right away, but they will remove virus from the air if given enough time. Many portable air filters are available that you can carry with you to wherever you spend the night.
- Open windows in buildings and vehicles you share with others whenever possible to allow fresh air to circulate.
Get Vaccinated
- COVID-19 vaccines by themselves are insufficient protection, but they are an important part of a multilayered approach. The vaccine will not prevent you from being infected with or transmitting the virus. It will not prevent Long COVID. However, it will lower your odds of death or hospitalization from COVID-19.
- Vaccines always lag behind the virus, because each vaccine was tested on a virus strain that is no longer dominant by the time this updated vaccine is released.
Avoid Crowds
- Avoid or minimize your contact with crowds, because even a high-quality mask and up-to-date vaccine will not guarantee your protection.
- Travel during off-peak seasons, days, and hours to reduce your exposure to others.
- Travel to less popular destinations to reduce your exposure to others.
- If you must be in a crowd (such as a line), minimize the duration of your exposure. Try to get away from anyone who is showing respiratory symptoms like coughing.
- If you must travel long distance, it’s generally safer to drive than to fly.
- If you must fly, take an early morning, nonstop flight and sit in a window seat. Try to avoid flying on a Friday, Sunday, or holiday, which tend to be busier periods.
- If you must overnight somewhere during your travels, it’s safest to reserve your own Airbnb place (like a tiny house or cabin) with a host that allows contactless check-in and check-out arrangements. Staying at a hotel or motel where you’ll have to share the air with other travelers is riskier.
Keep Clean
- Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer whenever you come into contact with possibly infected surfaces. COVID-19 is an airborne disease, but the virus can survive on surfaces for extended periods. So can other diseases, like the flu, and any illness can ruin your trip.
- Shower and change your clothes after being in a setting where viral transmission is likely, such as a crowded venue.
Again, these precautions will not guarantee that you remain free of infection, just as wearing a seat belt, staying under the speed limit, and remaining sober will not guarantee that you avoid a car accident.
However, the more of these mitigation measures you take, the better your chances will be of staying healthy during and after your trip.
Safe travels!