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Coronavirus – Can I Still Travel?

By Posted on 0 3 m read

The coronavirus COVID-19 has affected over 100 countries and territories around the world, and many people I speak to daily are asking if they can still travel.

How harmful is coronavirus? According to World Meters, there are currently 105,905 cases, with 3,567 deaths in the world. This sadly seems to be rising by the minute.

What is Coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a type of virus. It was first reported in Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019.

Coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.

What are the symptoms?

According to the BBC, coronavirus is a disease that generally starts as a fever, followed by a dry cough. After a week, it can then lead to shortness of breath, with some patients requiring hospital treatment.

These symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness. They are similar to those for much more common viruses, such as colds and flu.

Today I read that there are currently 206 cases in the UK, (where I am based) and despite the UK’s strategic response to the virus, I still feel a little bit anxious about travelling. However, I do think that with the right cautions and procedures, we can travel as long as we follow the right steps. Below I give you some quick tips on how to stay safe during the outbreak.

Before I share my tips, I would suggest reading in more detail via the BBC and the World Health Organization website. I won’t be able to cover everything, so please do bear this in mind.

How can you stay safe and travel during coronavirus outbreak

coronavirus tips on staying safe while travel

You have a basic understanding of what coronavirus is, and the symptoms. Now you want to know how you protect yourself when travelling?

1) Hygiene is Important

You must take your hygiene seriously. Wash your hands for more than 20 seconds. Make sure you are using a tissue to sneeze and cough. If you don’t have a tissue, then I would suggest coughing and sneezing in your sleeve.

If you are travelling, consider wiping down surfaces and carrying hand sanitiser. While travelling, you mustn’t be touching your face until you have washed your hands.

There are videos of how to wash your hands correctly – it might be worth watching.

2) Seek medical advice

If you do feel you have the symptoms mentioned above I would suggest seeking medical advice – for those in the UK, it is 111.

You may also want to seek medical advice if you have recently travelled to the following countries:

  • Cambodia
  • China
  • Hong Kong
  • Iran
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Laos
  • Macau
  • Malaysia
  • Myanmar (Burma)
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • Taiwan
  • Tenerife – only the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam
  • Italy

You may be advised to stay at home. I would take this very seriously; you don’t want to continue spreading the virus if you have caught it.

3) Stay informed

If you are travelling soon, or in the next few months, you must stay up-to-date with exactly what’s going on.

My suggestion would be to download apps such as BBC News, CNN and other news outlets so you can receive regular updates.

Staying informed will help you decide on whether you can still travel.

4) Avoid travelling to Wuhan

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that travel to China should be avoided if it not essential. The Chinese officials have closed travel to and from Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province.

If you must travel to China, the CDC encourages you first to discuss it with your doctor, avoid other people who are sick and avoid animals and animal markets.

5) Consider travel insurance

You may also want to consider purchasing travel insurance or confirming what your insurance covers.

Please note if you’re visiting countries with several coronavirus cases and Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) has not officially warned anyone against travelling like they have with certain areas of Italy, you can not expect to be covered through insurance.

6) Stay Calm

It’s hard to say this, with the number of cases rising every day, but please try and stay calm. I know what it feels like to feel anxious when travelling, so I do appreciate your worries.

How I see it prevention is always better than cure and I do hope we can all continue to travel and stay safe in doing so.

coronavirus can i still travel

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Unpopular Opinion: Dubai is Overrated

By Posted on 1 4 m read

Dubai is sooo overrated.

I am always a believer that you shouldn’t take on what someone says about a place, destination or anywhere in the world. Why? Well, because everyone’s experience is and can be completely different from mine or anyone else’s.  

For example, I remember while travelling in Cambodia and briefly discussing with a friend on what Vietnam was like. He had commented on how much he hated it and that it was racist! Now we all know the racism that I have experienced in the past, but I have to be honest. I can tell you all that when I travelled to Vietnam myself, I didn’t once experience racism and very much enjoyed myself. But honestly, guys, can you imagine if I took on his word? I wouldn’t have gone!  

So you’re rightly wondering where I am going with this right? 

This is a post that is very much an unpopular opinion’. I write this post with a strong line that I think Dubai is overrated. Yes, I said it, and if you want to understand why and willing then I would suggest you continue reading this post. 

Why do I think Dubai is overrated? 

Before I get into this. Please understand why I say I am only speaking from my own view. Just because I think Dubai is overrated doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go. Read when I talk about this in a recent blog post – Travelling Perceptions & Safety: Why I don’t Allow the Experiences Stop me From Seeing The World?

I travelled to Dubai five years ago and although I enjoyed myself with a few hiccups (cause everywhere has a few hiccups when travelling). Honestly, after all the 35+ countries I have been too, I guess Dubai is overrated for me. 

Listen BEFORE YOU JUMP ALL AT ME! Please hear me out! 

There is no uniqueness to Dubai 

I have grown up most of my life in a city (London) and travelled to several cities in the world. Travelling and living in cities has made me realise that cities don’t fully represent a country. I love to experience the cultures of a country, I like to see the difference between the upper and working class (whatever they call it in their countries). And I love to understand the politics of a country. 

When I went to Dubai, I didn’t really feel the countries uniqueness. It came across to me as a money pumped place.

Glorified living in Dubai 

My other reasons for seeing Dubai as an overrated destination almost links to my first point. There is almost a sense of a glorified way of living when you are over there. People go there to style and do the absolute most! Which for me removes the feeling of real reality. 

Uggghhh smoking 

I also hated that smoking was allowed in all the clubs! And it was gross! My weave, my clothes everything stank of smoke and it was disgusting! Clubs also all finished at 3 am- way too early for me ( a girl still wanted to party). 

Dubai clubs closed at 3am!

Indoor Ski Paradise 

Another thing that makes me feel like Dubai is overrated was the indoor ski paradise! I mean what????? It made me really uncomfortable seeing a country in the middle of a desert with an indoor ski paradise. It’s no wonder that Dubai has the largest ecological footprints of any city in the world!

ski paradise in dubai

Migrant work like slaves  

The city has so much money and big bling boats, skyscrapers and skylines. When you are there you will see a number of migrants working on these infrastructures. This saddens me that it’s built by migrant workers from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, which I am sure they all live in slave-like conditions.  

Final thoughts…

Overall, I think Dubai is overrated because it lacks real culture because again it is a man-made city. The country is one big shopping mall! I never really got the sense that there was a real religion of Islam while I was there.

Dubai came across very business and materialistic like. A place that is heavily revolved around making money, driving fancy cars. For me, Dubai exists as a place that is fit for those that like to appear to live the high-end materialistic lifestyle.   

Again, I don’t think this means you should not go! I wanted to state my opinion (and glad I did)! I am sure I will go back again to see what has changed since I first went there, but for now, I think everyone should express how they feel about a country.   

What about you, have you been to a country that you just weren’t impressed by? Let me know in the comments below. 
P.S. I would like to thank everyone on Twitter that gave me the confidence to get this blog posted.

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