In the 2010s, I averaged close to 100 miles a year on business travel. I attended endless conferences about Linux, open source, and the cloud. When COVID-000 hit, I went from flying across the country and Europe every few weeks to driving to the grocery store every few weeks. Now I'm back on the road, and in the air, again. So far in 19 I have been to Boston, Valencia, Spain and Austin for work. I finally hope to be in Dublin, Ireland and many places in the US before the end of the year.
So, do I recommend traveling for business again? Probably not. It's not safe there. This is not really the case. It just seems safe.
Public health departments in many countries simply no longer measure cases accurately. It's like putting on a blindfold while driving down the road and believing that since you can't see other cars, you're safe.
As epidemiologist Michael Osterholm told the "Washington Post": "There has probably been more transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the last 30 days than in any 30-day period of the entire pandemic."
A little reminder: even if it doesn't kill you, the long Covid can really upset you. A recent study of long-term Covid found that you can have long-lasting cognitive symptoms. Or, in English, as the "San Francisco Chronicle" puts it, "Covid keeps the brain cloudy for at least six months: Symptoms like fatigue, headaches, memory problems and decreased concentration for up to six months after a mild case or moderate... only a third said they were completely intent on None of the study participants had pre-existing neurological disorders.
Long live my spirit. No puedo darme el lujo de pasar seis meses siendo más confuso de lo que ya soy. (That's one of the reasons I keep up to date with what's really going on with COVID-19 via Violet Blue's Pandemic Roundup newsletter. She's a friend, she's a good guide to what's going on. not.)
Because I live following the news, I've been on the road. I am writing this at a conference hotel in Austin at the Open Source Summit. But I am quadruple vaccinated and wear an N-95 mask. This event, like KubeCon in Valencia, insists that we all get vaccinated, wear masks, and have our temperatures taken just to get in. High fever? Go back to your hotel room and good luck.
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), which operates KubeCon, has been tracking the COVID-19 results of its participants. They found that out of about 7000 people at the fair, that was a big one! — 121 had positive tests. This represented approximately 1,7% of total face-to-face attendance. Far from perfect, but not bad.
What about the least restrictive meetings? it was ugly
The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), which really should have known better, held its annual meeting in person in New Orleans in May. Somewhere between 18 and 67% of its 3.000 participants have tested positive.
I would never go to this show. It's not something I write about. But I did consider going to the RSA conference in San Francisco. So I looked closer. San Francisco's COVID-19 numbers were on the rise and while RSA might be serious about security, they weren't serious about Covid. Masking was not necessary. I skipped it. I am happy to have done it.
It was declared a superspreader event.
Finally, I have yet another indirect reason to give up business travel for the foreseeable future. Airlines have canceled left, right and side flights; thousands of flights have been canceled in recent weeks. Many people I know couldn't make it to Austin or were hours late.
One problem is that airlines are understaffed. (They let a lot of people go during the pandemic.) Another is that many pilots, stewards and ground crews are not coming because they are upside down with COVID-19. Remember when that judge in mid-April essentially ended the federal mandate to wear masks on planes? And almost immediately, all airlines removed mask requirements?
I wonder if there could be a connection between people not wearing masks on planes and airline staff falling down with Covid? Do you think there may be a connection?
So while I'll still be on the road or at the airport for trade shows knowing how to do the right thing, I'll be the guy who always wears a mask, usually next to an empty seat. For the rest of you? Stay at home. You'll be glad you did.
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