Pandemic has made traveling a bit more tricky and way more expensive. There are numerous protocols, health safety measures, and rules to follow. These things are enforced to ensure a person and the surrounding are safe from covid-19. However, with disinformation that is rampant in our society regarding to conspiracy theory around covid-19 has made people lose its trust to the pandemic. As result, people are more reluctant to wear mask, wash their hands, and follow the protocols.My experience with traveling long-distance currently has opened up my eyes to these things.

I was traveling by train to another province which is located 4 hours from my first hub. In the check-in counter, I was given face shield and was asked about my rapid test result. This is mandatory in the train station and also airport. On the contrary, traveling by bus the protocols are less stricter than these two. So, the possibility of catching covid might be higher than these two(I am not saying traveling by train/aiport won't make you catch it) but in regards to safety measure, traveling by bus is more lax.

Inside the train, the seats are spaced and passengers are required to wear the mask and the face shield. The staffs will often check the temperature and give us reminder to wear our mask. However, upon my finding, there are many people who are not wearing mask and ignore the advice from the staff. My anxiety heighten as I keep hearing some people cough constantly and have sniffles. I became more uncomfortable in the train as I had to use the loo. I am generally allergic to use public loo but I couldn't help it then. I tried to wash my hands compulsively and tried my best to not touch any hand rails. It was one of the most uncomfortable travel experience I have ever had.

In normal days, I traveled just fine despite experiencing delays and numerous complications. I felt fine roaming around public spaces without excessive fear of bacteria and germs. Sure, I would still be cautious. To be fair, I always wear mask while traveling and also constantly wash my hands after being in contact with possible spot that is used by more than 100 people/day. So, it was no different than these days except I increased my fear meter from 70 to 100.

When I reached my destination, I was surprised of what I found. I saw more people who are not wearing mask. They just walk around the train station without mask. Not only that, I reached the destination at around 1:30 AM and the train station was crowded as usual. Even on the way to my final destination, I saw teenagers hanging out and some cafes are still open. There was no curfew at all. It was in contrast to where I live that shops and everything has to be closed at around 10 PM. So, it was interesting to see the contrast. The next day, I learned from my mom that people in this city believed that Covid-19 is governments attempts to make people's live miserable and get more money and increase the control. Hence why, I still could see many people not wearing mask and the shops are still open as if nothing happened.

I already have a family who got covid-19 who was relatively young and has extensive history of work related travel. So, it reminds me to be more vigilant when I travel. Funny thing is, at the moment I am writing this, I am currently sick too. I just hope it's only travel fatigue.

I think in order to travel these days, you have to be extra careful with the surroundings. To summarize my post, some things I learned from my recent travel will be:

• Researching the place you're about to visit especially the general public perceptions to covid-19 and the city safety measures to it
• Be more efficient with time, don't wait too long in the public spaces. Make sure to only spend an hour at max before your departure
• Follow the protocols and safety measures
• Make sure you are in fit condition before traveling, not stressed, anxious, exhausted,has fever etc.

Last but not least, I hope this will help remind you of things to look out during traveling.