On the Fence About Traveling
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 132
On the Fence About Traveling
Good morning all!
I've registered for an annual AA conference, and it's located in Jacksonville, FL on 8/5 - 8/8. My parents have warned me about going down there now that there's a surge in Covid cases, and I'm feeling pretty stressed out about the whole thing. I just wanted to post on here to hear your opinions, as you guys normally have pretty good insight, and have helped me tremendously in the past five months of my sobriety.
I'll be flying, with a layover in Atlanta. I'm fully vaccinated. The conference is taking place in a big hotel right in the middle of Jacksonville.
I start to overthink. Mom is overly cautious, and a worry-wart, especially when it comes to this virus (for good reason! she works with the hospital here where we live.)
Dad is more of a "do what you feel is right, but don't say we didn't warn you" kinda guy.
Anyhow, any help would be much appreciated!! Also, I don't want to start some sort of argument
Just looking for what you would do in my seat.
Thanks in advance! Hope you all have a nice Sunday.
I've registered for an annual AA conference, and it's located in Jacksonville, FL on 8/5 - 8/8. My parents have warned me about going down there now that there's a surge in Covid cases, and I'm feeling pretty stressed out about the whole thing. I just wanted to post on here to hear your opinions, as you guys normally have pretty good insight, and have helped me tremendously in the past five months of my sobriety.
I'll be flying, with a layover in Atlanta. I'm fully vaccinated. The conference is taking place in a big hotel right in the middle of Jacksonville.
I start to overthink. Mom is overly cautious, and a worry-wart, especially when it comes to this virus (for good reason! she works with the hospital here where we live.)
Dad is more of a "do what you feel is right, but don't say we didn't warn you" kinda guy.
Anyhow, any help would be much appreciated!! Also, I don't want to start some sort of argument
Just looking for what you would do in my seat.Thanks in advance! Hope you all have a nice Sunday.
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Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,169
Vaccination effectiveness is above 90%. This means you have a huge safety factor in your favor, but it also means that you can still get Covid, although it's likely to be a mild case, and the chances of dying are near zero. The new Delta variant is much more contagious than the original Covid, so we are in another surge, although it is mostly in areas of low vaccination rates.
Are you at risk flying, even if you are vaccinated? Well, yes, you are always at risk, but the risk goes up in crowded enclosed spaces. Airlines claim the air in the crowded cabins is filtered. I'm not sure how to interpret that. I haven't read any comments from the CDC in regards to filtered airline cabin air, but it seems to me that the Delta germs have to go right past your nose on the way to the filters.
The convention itself will be a crowded space. The crowd is large and dense and constantly mixing, with carriers of the Delta strand circulating through the crowd.
I have been to a couple of these conventions, and they were enjoyable, but none of these were critical in maintaining my sobriety, even in my early stages of recovery. I would answer definitively that I would not go. Whether you should go or whether you need to go is ultimately your decision.
Are you at risk flying, even if you are vaccinated? Well, yes, you are always at risk, but the risk goes up in crowded enclosed spaces. Airlines claim the air in the crowded cabins is filtered. I'm not sure how to interpret that. I haven't read any comments from the CDC in regards to filtered airline cabin air, but it seems to me that the Delta germs have to go right past your nose on the way to the filters.
The convention itself will be a crowded space. The crowd is large and dense and constantly mixing, with carriers of the Delta strand circulating through the crowd.
I have been to a couple of these conventions, and they were enjoyable, but none of these were critical in maintaining my sobriety, even in my early stages of recovery. I would answer definitively that I would not go. Whether you should go or whether you need to go is ultimately your decision.
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 25,373
Well, there's two opposing views already, 
I wouldn't go, but not because I'm scared of Covid. I wouldn't go because I don't like big crowds in general and especially when it's a self-help group - too many armchair psychologists, and that is overwhelming to me.
I'm fully vaccinated and at this point I can't see being afraid of it forever. Take a mask if you go...other than that, out of the 161 MILLION people in the U.S. who are fully vaccinated, only 5900 (ish) have been hospitalized and tested positive for Covid. 1141 have died.
161,000,000 . 1141. The vaccine is a miraculous success. Here's the latest CDC reports as of July 19, 2021 : Covid Breakthrough
I wouldn't go, but not because I'm scared of Covid. I wouldn't go because I don't like big crowds in general and especially when it's a self-help group - too many armchair psychologists, and that is overwhelming to me.
I'm fully vaccinated and at this point I can't see being afraid of it forever. Take a mask if you go...other than that, out of the 161 MILLION people in the U.S. who are fully vaccinated, only 5900 (ish) have been hospitalized and tested positive for Covid. 1141 have died.
161,000,000 . 1141. The vaccine is a miraculous success. Here's the latest CDC reports as of July 19, 2021 : Covid Breakthrough
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Sonoran Desert & Southeast Asia
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No way would I go. For an AA conference? The surge there is the highest in the country, and as DG says the rooms will be crowded. I would probably go if a relative were dying, anything else is superfluous in the middle of a pandemic, vaccinated or not.
The statistics do not fully reflect the recent surge in Delta variant. It is exremely contagious with viral load 1000x higher than the one we faced this past winter.
The statistics do not fully reflect the recent surge in Delta variant. It is exremely contagious with viral load 1000x higher than the one we faced this past winter.
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I wouldn't go (I'm fully vaccinated). Florida is becoming a hotspot right now. And, the travelling itself is one thing, but being at a conference, likely in an enclosed space, with hundreds? of strangers doesn't sound good to me. You have no way of knowing who is vaccinated and who is not. Will masks be enforced? You'd be eating and drinking in close contact with others. It doesn't sound good to me.
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Join Date: May 2015
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Originally Posted by advbike 
No way would I go. For an AA conference? The surge there is the highest in the country, and as DG says the rooms will be crowded. I would probably go if a relative were dying, anything else is superfluous in the middle of a pandemic, vaccinated or not.
The statistics do not fully reflect the recent surge in Delta variant. It is exremely contagious with viral load 1000x higher than the one we faced this past winter.
The statistics do not fully reflect the recent surge in Delta variant. It is exremely contagious with viral load 1000x higher than the one we faced this past winter.
Originally Posted by Anna
I wouldn't go (I'm fully vaccinated). Florida is becoming a hotspot right now. And, the travelling itself is one thing, but being at a conference, likely in an enclosed space, with hundreds? of strangers doesn't sound good to me. You have no way of knowing who is vaccinated and who is not. Will masks be enforced? You'd be eating and drinking in close contact with others. It doesn't sound good to me.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 132
Thanks all for your input, it has helped me make a decision.
going to cancel my flight and hotel tomorrow morning. Disappointing, but beats getting covid, and bringing it back to my family. People have so much on their plates right now. I missed a trip. Boohoo
but other people have real problems!
thanks again.
going to cancel my flight and hotel tomorrow morning. Disappointing, but beats getting covid, and bringing it back to my family. People have so much on their plates right now. I missed a trip. Boohoo
but other people have real problems!thanks again.
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: Wisconsin, USA
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Originally Posted by WindPines
Thanks all for your input, it has helped me make a decision.
going to cancel my flight and hotel tomorrow morning. Disappointing, but beats getting covid, and bringing it back to my family. People have so much on their plates right now. I missed a trip. Boohoo but other people have real problems!
thanks again.
going to cancel my flight and hotel tomorrow morning. Disappointing, but beats getting covid, and bringing it back to my family. People have so much on their plates right now. I missed a trip. Boohoo
but other people have real problems!thanks again.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 5,169
I feared Covid before I was vaccinated. Now my fear is so minimal that it doesn't cross my mind. Vaccinated people should not be guided by fear, but there is a strong case to be made for both reason and community health, and it's up to all of us to decide if we want to participate in that. Vaccinated people can get mild cases, and when that happens, they become carriers. They will be passing on the disease to others, not just the people in Jacksonville, where the variant is now running rampant, but to others on the plane on your way home, and to your own community, which includes your loved ones, coworkers, and neighbors.
I was happy to remove my mask when the CDC said vaccinated people could now do that, but then I got one of those edgy feelings where you know that something inside you has not been fully reasoned out. Then I started thinking about why, and about my community responsibility, and I remasked. I also decided against attending the Montana Wilderness Convention this fall, which means a lot to me. But it's not just about my community. I actually am reducing my personal exposure to a virus that can infect vaccinated people. This is not about fear, and it doesn't have to be. It's a personal decision that makes the most sense to me.
I was happy to remove my mask when the CDC said vaccinated people could now do that, but then I got one of those edgy feelings where you know that something inside you has not been fully reasoned out. Then I started thinking about why, and about my community responsibility, and I remasked. I also decided against attending the Montana Wilderness Convention this fall, which means a lot to me. But it's not just about my community. I actually am reducing my personal exposure to a virus that can infect vaccinated people. This is not about fear, and it doesn't have to be. It's a personal decision that makes the most sense to me.
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Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: London
Posts: 333
Depends on how old and healthy you are and how old and healthy the people you live with are? Obviously, as a vaccinated person, you can still get covid but getting it severely is potentially reduced by the vaccination however, like i said, you need to look at how your health is too. That's ai, nothing more for you to consider than that.
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Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 527
If you were a sponsee of mine coming to me for added clarity on this issue, I'd first recommend making sure you're on top of your recovery program -- since clarity (i.e., knowing how to handle situations that used to baffle us) is one of the promised fruits of our recovery. That boils down to a spot-check of meetings, steps, and service.
Meetings: For me that means first 90 in 90 and then at least 4 per week. Also, do I have a home group and a service commitment?
Steps: Am I balking on my step work? If I claim to be living in 10-12, am I reviewing the instructions on pages 84-89 every day?
Service: Again, do I have an A.A. service commitment? And, am I sponsoring anyone? Specifically, am I sponsoring anyone in the first 3 steps?
Beyond that, I'd tell you that there are some decisions that don't have a "right" answer (as compared to, e.g., "Should I cheat on my spouse?") -- so, checking in with others like you're doing here is great -- but after that just ask your Higher Power what he/she/it would like to do and go with that.
Meetings: For me that means first 90 in 90 and then at least 4 per week. Also, do I have a home group and a service commitment?
Steps: Am I balking on my step work? If I claim to be living in 10-12, am I reviewing the instructions on pages 84-89 every day?
Service: Again, do I have an A.A. service commitment? And, am I sponsoring anyone? Specifically, am I sponsoring anyone in the first 3 steps?
Beyond that, I'd tell you that there are some decisions that don't have a "right" answer (as compared to, e.g., "Should I cheat on my spouse?") -- so, checking in with others like you're doing here is great -- but after that just ask your Higher Power what he/she/it would like to do and go with that.
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