wild_turkey

In your opinion, what would be a reasonable end point for requiring masks on planes? Specifically, what metric would you be looking at to determine when it will be safe for people to fly without a mask mandate? Number of cases? Number of deaths? Hospital or ICU capacity? Something else? Currently, the 7 day average for Covid deaths in the U.S. is under 500/day. At least 90% of those are unvaccinated, so it's a safe assumption that less than 50 vaccinated people are dying in the U.S. each day. As for the unvaccinated, do you really believe that an airplane mask mandate is going to be the thing that saves them at this stage in the pandemic? How much lower are you wanting these numbers to be before you would consider making masks optional in airports and on planes?

Most people would probably agree with you on bottled water, as well as toiletries limitations. I would personally love to see those things change back. Individually none of these things are a big deal. Whether it’s banning liquids or requiring a mask, neither are going to prevent people from actually traveling if they want to travel. Collectively though, they gradually add up to make the travel experience less convenient or less comfortable. My point is that an ongoing travel discomfort like wearing a mask should be required only if there are significant public health benefits, so that it doesn’t become like the bottled water inconvenience that’s just an inherent part of plane travel being a pain in the ass. Some people are using “It’s no big deal” as if that should be reason enough to keep doing it. If that’s the case, should we continue masking on planes forever? Why would we ever drop the requirement if it’s not really a big deal? Why not mask up at the grocery store too? Central Market is way more crowded than the airport and they have worse air filtration, and it’s not a big deal to grocery shop with a mask on.

Absolutely agree but it goes both ways. There are a lot of people who sit in the middle of the political spectrum and try to make decisions about things like masks based on what makes the most sense at the time and not what political party we identify with. This may come as a shock to some people here, but it’s possible to recognize that masks have been an important part of our fight against Covid-19 and they did help prevent spread, but also that they are not necessary indefinitely and we have collectively reached a point where things like air travel can occur safely without requiring all passengers to be masked at all times.

“It’s no big deal” is not a valid reason to continue requiring masks on planes in April 2022. I’ve had no problem wearing a mask on a plane for most of the pandemic, but I don’t want to continue to be required to do so simply because “it’s no big deal.” Could I continue wearing a mask if Covid cases were still out of control, or a new variant was evading the vaccines? Absolutely, but that isn’t the case at this point in time.

Mask requirements undoubtedly hurt the tourism industry. Dropping the mask requirement will be a net positive for the tourism industry, even if a small percentage of immunocompromised people feel less safe and decide to stay home from a trip they would've otherwise taken.

1. Valid point, but you could also get noise cancelling headphones if listening to people talk bothers you. 2. You can still wear your mask if you want to avoid smelling other people's farts. 3. Does a mask requirement have any effect on how close people stand to you at the airport? People still cram in line even in peak Covid with mask usage. 4. That's up to your husband. If the lack of a mask requirement keeps him from traveling in the future, he was probably just looking for an excuse to get out of it anyways. 5. Complete agreement, but we can't expect people to wear masks forever simply for the sake of visibly separating assholes from non-assholes.

I understand what you are saying, but flying on a plane (or doing anything in crowded public spaces) was always a risk for an elderly immunosuppressed person, way before Covid started. Maybe people didn't think about it as much 3 years ago, but the risk was always there. Assuming that person is fully vaccinated and boosted against Covid, is the risk of air travel significantly higher in April 2022 compared to April 2019? And that person is still free to wear an N95 mask if they are concerned about it, which is probably way more than most immunosuppressed people would've done pre-Covid.

I'm sure there are some people "spiking the football" because a reduction in mask requirements validates their political viewpoints. Perhaps those are the types of people you prefer to engage in conversation with because it gives you something to argue about. If that's the case, then I will step aside and let you continue doing that. My initial comments and questions were pretty benign and you've already made an assertion about my intelligence level, so maybe that's just who you are. The vast majority of us are happy about this for the simple reason that it allows us to be more comfortable while traveling and it represents a return to normalcy. I personally supported widespread mask use for the first ~16 months of the pandemic and again during the Delta and Omicron spikes, including on airplanes and in airports. I travel a fair amount for personal reasons and I attempt to be compliant with my own mask use in the airport and on planes. I don't whine about it and I don't attempt to skirt the rules, but that doesn't mean I enjoy wearing a mask, nor do I think it provides any public health benefit at this stage of the pandemic. It made a lot of sense until recent months, but Covid cases are low, deaths are low, and vaccines/boosters are readily available. It's time to move on from this.

Since there seems to be a handful of people still in favor of requiring masks on planes, could you please explain your reasoning for this stance? Is there a valid reason for wanting everyone to wear masks on planes? The reason I’ve seen tossed around here appears to be some version of “People should continue being required to wear masks on planes because people who complain about wearing masks on planes are babies.” That’s not a reason at all. It’s a worn out attempt at virtue signaling or belittling people who you view as different (inferior to) yourself. I would be interested to know what the actual reasons are.

Covid-25

I’m staying at Encore in 3 weeks. Stayed at Wynn/Encore many times so I’m familiar with their stuff. We have dinner reservations at Sinatra the first night and CATCH (Aria) the second night. I’ve had both before and enjoyed both. Our friends who are going are less seasoned Vegas visitors have not eaten at either. Any compelling reason to switch either of these reservations to somewhere else? We aren’t afraid to spend money on food, just like a good vibe and a good meal. I just booked these because I’m familiar with them.

How brutal are we talking about? I’m flying out of DAL in 3 weeks. I have Precheck.

Masks on planes needed to be optional as of 2 months ago. The requirement for U.S. citizens to get a Covid test within 1 day of re-entering the U.S. needed to end 6 months ago. The people responsible for these ongoing requirements are idiots who are making public health decisions with no scientific basis, which is about par for the course since March 2020.

Watched it over the past week. Pretty well done series and seems fairly accurate. Even though I knew the gist of the story from loosely following it in the news over the years, it’s still fairly shocking and infuriating to watch it in a drama series.

Paul Westhead launching into Shakespeare at his press conference killed me.

Jackson Hole is great. You can do stuff in town, explore the Tetons, or go over to Yellowstone. Have you been to Banff? It’s another great option, perhaps one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It’s a nonstop 4 hour flight from Houston to Calgary, then an easy drive into Banff. And a third option, my personal favorite mountain destination, is Telluride. There are 2.5 hour nonstops HOU-MTJ, then drive about 2 hours down to Telluride. I like that it’s smaller than Jackson and you are right in the mountains as opposed to looking at them from afar. If I was camping, I would choose a campground in GTNP over Telluride. But for staying in town, give me Telluride over Jackson any day.

Anyone have a recommendation for a good place to buy trees? Other than just the obvious Archie’s, Mike’s, and Calloway’s garden centers?

I think it depends when you go. Later in spring through summer is more likely to have sargasso. It was okay when we were there last week.

We’ve only lived in FW for about 5 years but we enjoyed going downtown pre-Covid. Among our regular places were Del Frisco’s, Del Frisco’s Grille, Bird Cafe, Grace, Taverna, Reata’s rooftop for drinks, Flying Saucer, AMC for a movie, Scat Jazz, or late night drinks at Thompson’s. In the last couple of years, it just seems like a ghost town whenever we are down there. Bird Cafe and Taverna have both closed, lots of shops have closed. We attributed that to Covid but maybe a lot of it is the management. Hopefully someone gets it figured out. Having an active downtown makes the city feel more vibrant.

We went to Tulum this weekend and had a great time. I'll provide some info in case anyone is considering a trip to Tulum and wants some perspective. Trigger warning: This post will be in regards to Tulum, Mexico. If you are interested in travel to Antarctica, that's a different thread and this won't be of much interest to you. Wife and I love the beach but we live in DFW, so we travel to beaches whenever possible. Our favorite beaches are in St. Barth, where we try to go 1-2 times a year, but it takes some effort to get there and that isn't practical for a weekend trip. Mexico is a great option when we need a quick getaway, especially when the Texas spring weather is still too chilly. Lots of options in Mexico and I can certainly understand that some people would prefer one area over another. I know people who love Cabo and have no interest in Isla Mujeres, and vice versa. To each his own. I'm not here to convince anyone that Tulum is better or worse than any of the other places, just different. Tulum suits us for a variety of reasons. We like that the hotels are mostly smaller boutique hotels without the mega AI resorts that occupy Cancun and much of the Riviera Maya. We like that there are no cruise ship day trippers. We like the jungle vibe of the Riviera Maya. We like that the crowd skews towards younger people who are mostly fit and attractive. We like that a thong bikini is standard beach attire, and if my wife wants to lose her top, that's fine too. We like the food scene and being able to walk along the main beach road and pop into any random bar or restaurant that looks appealing. We like that it generally has a live-and-let-live kind of vibe. It's not without its drawbacks. The biggest drawback for us is the chance of sargassum on the beach, which is unfortunately true of anywhere in the Caribbean. In St. Barth we can mitigate that by going to a different part of the island, but in Mexico, it's just a long continuous beach so we have to accept it for what it is. This past weekend, sargassum was moderate on Friday but then pretty mild on Saturday and Sunday. I consider that a win. There's also the fact that it's a 1 hour 45 minute ride from Cancun airport, but we can get a driver and relax along the way. The loud beach clubs can be annoying, especially if you accidentally book a hotel that's right next door to one. We've spent many nights in various Bagatelles but I think that phase of our life is mostly behind us, so we avoid places like Bagatelle and Taboo, and we pick hotels that are a safe distance away. It's fairly easy to spend a weekend in Tulum and avoid loud clubs entirely, or if clubs are your scene, then there's plenty to choose from. This past weekend we stayed just 2 nights. Fairly short but entirely doable and it beats sitting around our house bored. Flew out of DFW early Friday morning and were on the beach in Tulum by noon. Flew home Sunday afternoon. Easy non-stop flights on American, which should eventually be easier once the U.S. Covid test requirement is dropped. We stayed at Ahau which has about 20 rooms. It has a great location, walkable to most places, but not too close to loud clubs. The hotel has a beach club of its own that plays beach club music 11-7, fairly loud during those hours, otherwise fairly quiet. There was a live band on Saturday which was nice. Rooms are nice and clean but not overly extravagant. Our room's back porch faced the ocean and steps went directly into the sand. We would absolutely stay at this hotel again. We had dinners at Arca (excellent) and NU Tulum (good but not memorable). Also had drinks at Meze which has a great environment and the menu looks good. If we go back I would want to eat at Meze or Hartwood. Food prices are pretty typical for what we pay for a restaurant of similar quality in Texas. We did not go to the ruins or a cenote because that wasn't the goal of our visit. We wanted to lay on the beach and we had limited time. The ruins are easy to do and we've been there before. The good cenotes are farther from town and require at least a half day commitment, or possibly a full day. Perhaps next time. The Sian Ka'an nature preserve also looks like it's worth exploring. Long post, hope it's somewhat informative or helpful for anyone interested. Here are a handful of pics:

We started this last week and love it so far. For the poster asking about whether your wife would like it, my wife knows dick about basketball and she’s very into it. We were very disappointed to sit down to eat last night and realize episode 5 hasn’t been released yet. Ugh, gotta wait now.

Wynn and Encore adult pools fit your description. Good music, good service, a little more upscale clientele, attractive women, gambling poolside, limited crazy drunk kids (they’ll be at EBC). If you stay at Wynn you get access to just the Wynn pools. If you stay at Encore you get access to both Encore and Wynn pools.

I used to like Will Smith - Fresh Prince, Independence Day, MiB, Bad Boys 1 and 2, Enemy of the State, I Am Legend. Not to say I don’t like him now but I think he started taking himself too seriously. He quit taking fun roles and started taking serious roles that either weren’t good movies or he didn’t have the acting skills to make them work. And I remember him complaining about not ever getting Oscar nominations, so I just lost interest. But I guess I don’t pay much attention to celebrity gossip. I’ve learned today that he’s into Scientology, likely crazy, and Jada either cheated on him or they have an open relationship? Not that I doubt any of these being true, but can someone share specifics on the crazy part and open relationship part?

You don’t need to paint me a picture because I’m in Tulum currently and that has absolutely not been my experience, this time or on previous trips. I have seen ZERO people standing in a line to take a picture of something. You are acting like this is The Louvre which couldn’t be farther from the truth. I see people hanging out on a beach having fun. That’s it. I also don’t know how you can read minds and figure out that random strangers go to a certain place for the sake of saying they went there rather than say, I dunno, maybe they enjoy it? But then again, I’m not the one that got on a thread about a Mexican beach to brag about Antarctica.

Congrats? Those are seriously great places to go but I don’t think anyone started a thread on Tulum to see how it measures up to Patagonia or Antarctica. If that’s your criteria then you could pop into most threads on this board and let them know that [insert name here] is overrated. But that would be a dick thing to do and this isn’t a travel contest. I also can’t think of a single person who goes to any part of Mexico to classify themselves as a world traveler. It’s Mexico. It has nice beaches, good food, beautiful people, and it’s close to Texas. I really hope you realize that.