Travel in the pandemic age

COVID-19 Pandemic

We did it. We finally left our home zone. Sure, we had been going to the grocery stores, and shopping for other essential items that we needed over the last several months, while wearing masks of course. And sure, back in May, we slowly started to host/participate in cocktail hour(s) with our close friends, but only when we could be outdoors. However, we had not been dining inside any restaurants, and had not been inside other's houses, except to briefly use the washroom.

So it was not without some trepidation, that we decided to venture outside our bubble. She was getting cabin fever pretty bad, and even with the recent surge of cases in Kelowna, we desperately needed a break from what I call Groundhog Day. We had planned an out-and-back route that would take us through areas we'd travelled past before, but never stopped to check out anything along the way.

The first stop was an easy one - my parent's place in Kamloops. Since we had been following COVID-19 safety protocols pretty well, we did not feel too concerned visiting my elderly parents. Even still, there was no hugging, and we avoided close proximity contact. With the warm summer weather upon us, we ended up spending most of the time outside anyways; there was some significant pool cleaning required!

After a couple of nights there, we started the real portion of our road trip. We slowly headed to Revelstoke, stopping at a few touristy things along the way. We paused in Salmon Arm for a brief walk along the lakeside pier, and to grab lunch - our first time sitting inside a restaurant in almost 6 months! With only a handful of patrons, and very noticeable safety protocols being observed, we did not feel at risk. The sign-in sheet for contact tracing seemed voluntary, as no one appeared to care if we fill it in or not. COVID score: 4/5.

A surprising highlight just before Revelstoke, was the 3 Valley Gap Heritage Ghost Town. We really only stopped here to stretch our legs, and delay our arrival a bit into our hotel before the 3 pm check-in time. But for a paltry $14, the historic site was really quite interesting. Sure, it needs a little bit of maintenance, but it was pretty cool, the way they had transported the buildings to this site, and filled them with historically correct furniture and artifacts. The Roundhouse was probably the most impressive building, being the largest indoor rail turntable in North America. It had actual rolling stock in there that you could walk through and imagine what train travel was like when travelling across Canada. With all of the attractions being outdoors or limited access to only one family group at a time, I give it a COVID score of 5/5.

Only a 1/2 hour's drive from there, we rolled into Revelstoke. I had picked a small hotel on the edge of town based on Tripadvisor reviews, and it was clean and comfortable. With what seemed like less than 30% of the rooms occupied, we did not feel that there was much risk of encountering COVID from other guests. The included buffet breakfast was now being served by a pleasant, older woman, but she was not wearing a mask, and did not hesitate to encroach on our 2m space. For that reason, I'd only give this hotel experience a 3.5/5 for COVID safety.

That evening, we went to a very popular restaurant/pub in town that had what we figured was a good, socially distanced, outdoor patio. As such, there was a considerable line-up to get in, but each group spaced out nicely on the sidewalk. There wasn't any contact tracing sign-in at the hostess desk and the hostess herself was not wearing a mask, but each table was diligently sanitized after each set of patrons vacated it. Servers were wearing masks, and individual water containers were delivered to each table. No menus were handed out; instead, we were asked to use our mobile phones to see what we wanted to eat. COVID score: 3.5/5.

The highlight of our road trip, was the Meadows in the Sky Parkway, in Mount Revelstoke National Park, where you get to drive almost all the way to the top. A short hike later, you are at the summit, and can take a few loop paths that present you with panoramic views of the surrounding snow-capped mountains. Obviously, being an outdoor activity, and with very few hikers on the trails, COVID score maxed out at 5/5.

On our second evening in town, our second restaurant choice had an option to book a reservation, so we simply walked up, and were immediately presented with an outdoor picnic table, spaced appropriately from the other diners. All staff were wearing masks, and we were politely asked for a name and contact information for tracing purposes. COVID score: 5/5.

Making our way back, we stopped a few times on the way to Kelowna, our overnight stop. We were amazed and disconcerted by the number of Alberta license plates we saw everywhere! While there are no rules against Albertans coming into BC for non-essential travel, it is generally frowned upon. Given the difference in COVID containment in AB versus BC, most of us feel that they should really be staying in their own province until they can control it more effectively. As such, I'm giving the region in general a COVID score of 2.5/5.

In Kelowna, we arrived at our motel and checked in for our brief stay. To our surprise, we were asked if we wanted to use the pool, and what timeslot we would like. They were limiting the number of guests who were allowed in the pool area; it didn't really matter however, as the water was so warm that it was akin to taking a bath, so crowds were not an issue. Instead of a buffet breakfast, we were told that a continental breakfast would be delivered to our door, and they asked us what time we would like it to arrive. We were asked to check out by dialling a code on the phone, and to simply leave our keys on the desk inside. COVID score: 5/5.

With the rash of cases that have come out of Kelowna, we knew in advance that we would not be strolling around the downtown or waterfront areas, so our last stop on our trip was a brief visit with friends who had recently moved to Kelowna. After enjoying some socially distanced cocktails and charcuterie, we drove to the nearby golf club for dinner on the outdoor patio. With a reservation in hand, we were escorted by our table, which was nicely spaced from the adjacent tables. All staff were wearing masks, and protocols were being followed. COVID score: 5/5.

As an observation, it seemed that when we went to places that have had very few or no cases of COVID-19, the locals were much more complacent than people we know in Vancouver. But we did not feel that were at risk during any point during our trip - I guess because we chose activities that would not put us in situations where we would be in close proximity to others that were not in our social bubble. That said, given the high number of Albertans travelling to to South Central BC right now, and the somewhat lax attitudes around COVID in the Okanagan Valley, I think we'll be giving that entire area a pass for the time being.

Safe travels everyone!

Back to work!

COVID-19 Pandemic

Yesterday was a milestone day for me - I went back to "work". Yep, Hollywood North is back open, and a handful of productions that have Canadian cast and crew have started back up. It's not the same as it was when it shut down in early March, but it was good to be back on location.

Stock photo

The first thing that was different, was a check-in station that everyone goes through upon their arrival at circus. Each person has their temperature checked, questionnaires are filled out by the crew members and PPE was handed out. A COVID-19 safety talk laid out the procedures for the day - essentially social distancing to be maintained wherever possible, and masks must be worn everywhere until final picture.

When it came time for the wardrobe check, each person waited, spaced 2m apart, and then presented their options to the costumer, who sat behind a table, 2m away. Emphasis was placed on using the performer's own clothing, except for specifics, like waiters and doormen, in this case. After approval, each person wiped the table with a disinfecting wipe. There was no hair and makeup for the Background performers (BG); we were instructed to arrive camera-ready. Shuttles were loaded only to about 50% capacity, so no one was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder for the ride to the set location.

The next big difference, was getting breakfast at the food truck. Instead of a table full of chafing dishes laid out with all the options, you ordered it off the truck; even the "Fast Track" was served by the catering team. Another table with a glass partition was set up for the extras, like fruit, yoghurt, beverages, condiments and utensils, all of which was handed out by the catering crew. Craft services was set up so that all of the food items were individually packaged, so there were no tongs to pass potentially pass on the virus. Lunch service was pretty much the same procedure as breakfast - beer-battered fish and chips... yummy!

Luckily, our holding area was in a big, spacious hotel conference room, and so it was very easy to spread out, even though everyone was still wearing their masks. It was a somewhat small BG group of 23, which I imagine will be the shape of things to come. When it was time to go to set, all of the BG kept their masks on, right through rehearsals. The crew wore their masks 100% of the time, and the only ones not wearing masks, were the actual cast, who I noticed never wore them for the duration of the shoot day. Often, you'd have to remind the BG, "hey, you're still wearing your mask", as we were about to shoot.

I had read in the news that they were trying to limit the number of crew members on set, but I did not notice much difference. There was still lots of action in and around Video Village, and crew members moved about normally. There were stands with hand sanitizer close by, as well disinfectant spray or wipes, and masks for those that misplaced theirs. With BC continuing to hold the line on COVID-19 transmissions, it looks like good news for the industry, and I hope that we continue to manage well during the pandemic, so we can all keep British Columbia's TV & Film business going.

Staycation - Tour de BC Sud-Ouest

Travel and Leisure

Ok, so it's not as glamorous or as culturally enriching as going to France, but since we need to get away somewhere this summer, we've decided to book a staycation road trip around the Southwest area of our province. Today, our top medical expert, Dr. Bonnie Henry, announced that it is ok to travel within the boundaries of our province. Ironically, most of BC has had very few cases of COVID-19 since mid-May, ranging from zero to one case per day. Could the folks from the Lower Mainland bring the virus to these areas? Potentially. But with the number of cases getting so low, even in Metropolitan Vancouver, the economic value of tourism is outweighing the risk of bringing infections to these outlying areas.

Planned road trip route this summer

Being from Kamloops originally, it makes sense to include a stop there to visit the parents for a couple of days, and break up the drive time to the Interior. The drive from Vancouver to Kamloops is fast and easy up Highway 5, but not very exciting. From Kamloops, the highway gets more interesting as you head East; although I've driven this route dozens of times, we have never really stopped for anything other than gas and food along the way. This time, we'll make a point of pulling over for local attractions and other things to see. We're going to use Revelstoke as a home base to explore the two parks nearby - Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park. Despite the fact that it's a month away, we're already looking forward to something different than weekends in the backyard!

Tour de France - cancelled!

Travel and Leisure

Ok, not THE Tour de France. However, it is currently postponed - but I think it will ultimately be cancelled. What I'm referring to, is our own tour that we had planned for France this September. Back when we had booked at the start of February, the coronavirus had not spread very far, and we didn't even give it a second thought. What was motivating us, was the excellent price we were getting for non-stop service with Air Canada from YVR to CDG.

I was getting pretty excited - I ordered the Rick Steves guidebooks, and started mapping out an itinerary that would take us on a circle route, leaving Paris after 5 days, heading East through the Champagne region, then on to the Alsace wine route, continuing to Burgundy, and then back to Paris to fly home. We had picked great boutique hotels in Paris, and carefully selected AirBnB suites for the rest of our journey. I was even starting to plan our days, so that we wouldn't run into issues where we went to Versailles on the same day that the Louvre was closed, for example.

Sept. 2020 itinerary through Eastern France

Then the news from Italy started to come in. Oh oh. It was still pretty early days - probably not even called a pandemic yet. But the rate of COVID-19 spread was going crazy, and pretty soon, we were heading into our own lockdown. I stayed glued to the news - like watching a slow-motion train wreck - not wanting to hear more bad news, but yet could not stay away from finding out where the virus was hitting next. With France and the rest of the EU limiting travel to only European nationals, it was starting to look like European summer vacations would be in jeopardy; Macron made a statement that France could stay closed until at least the end of Summer. But maybe September would work out still?

The first big hint of things to come for us, was when Air Canada cancelled our mid-September non-stop flights to Paris (mid-April). We were placed on one-stop flights via Montreal and through Toronto on the return; not a huge deal-breaker, but the non-stop flights were definitely bonus factors for booking into Paris. That's when I started seriously looking into AC's flight cancellation policy. At first, they were talking about giving credits that could be used only until March 31, 2021. 2021? We may not even have a widely-available vaccine by then, I thought. Where would we be able to go in early 2021 that would not have crowds and social distancing measures prohibiting tourism? But with a recent change to the cancellation policy, and a confirmation message from AC, they are now going to allow flight credits to be used up to 24-months after the flight cancellation date.

Looking like we won't be seeing the inside of a plane anytime soon

Now I'm really starting to think about our options. What if we got infected, recovered, and then presumably would have the antibodies to prevent further viral spread? Surely there will be immunity passports or something by then, and that might enable us to see France, with limited crowds due to social distancing measures still being in place? But even if that were the case, would major attractions like the Louvre and Versailles even be open to tourists? What would be the point of going to Paris, if you can only walk through the streets and see sights from the outside? And just as our small towns are asking visitors to stay away during the pandemic, would that be the case for the towns and villages that we would want to take in on our French countryside tours?

And then the other day, the WHO came out with a statement essentially saying that post-infection antibodies are not a proven thing yet, so don't count on herd-immunity to stop the spread of COVID-19. So that was the death blow - not just for our French vacation, but for life in general, to return to some sense of normalcy in the next several months. Maybe there will be travel in Europe at the end of the summer, but it certainly won't look anything like what we had planned for. While technically we haven't cancelled our flights yet - we want to extend the 24-month window into the end of Spring 2022 - we've ruled it out in our minds.

We will see Europe again in the future, just not for a long while. In the meantime, in the words of our Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, "Be kind, be calm and stay safe".

Quarantine cookies

Ever have a craving for a good, chocolate chip cookie? There's something about a fresh-baked, still warm from the oven, chocolate chip cookie that makes it the ultimate treat.

I remember an episode of "Friends", where Phoebe had to try and get a copy of her grandmother's secret chocolate chip cookie recipe, which turned out to be the exact recipe from the back of the Nestle chocolate chip bag. This is exactly what I thought about Ma Chin's super family secret recipe, and so after calling her one day to get it, I found that it too, was the same Nestle recipe! But for some reason, these cookies, while very tasty, always ended up being thinner, crunchy cookies, which she dislikes.

Image courtesy of Hilton Hotel

Long ago, on my first ever, out-of-the-country business trip, I had to go to Santa Clara for a training class with IBM. Our company travel agency booked me into the Doubletree, which I had never heard of, as they did not have any properties in Canada back then. I didn't know it at the time, but the Doubletree chain (now owned by Hilton), was famous for their warm, chocolate chip cookies that they handed out to guests when they checked in. Needless to say, when I tried their cookie, I was immediately sold on them! When I checked out, I bought a small tin of them to give to my brother's high-school chum who lived in San Francisco at the time. Copycat recipes have been available online for a while now, but due to the pandemic, Doubletree actually revealed their secret recipe! So, with nothing but time on my hands, I thought I should give this recipe a try.

As you can see, they turned out pretty well, and tasted very good - I'd rate them about 8.5 vs. the original Doubletree version. I didn't have any walnuts on hand, and I remember the hotel ones having a slightly more oat-y texture. But the flavour was excellent, and of course, they are best served warm! Aside from adding the walnuts next time, I would chill the dough for a couple of hours before baking them - it keeps them from spreading out too much and becoming too thin. Regardless, they make excellent treats during the coronavirus quarantine!

March 2020 - a month of change

COVID-19 Pandemic

A little humour for these dark days

For those of us here in Vancouver, March has been the biggest month of change. Sometime in the future, I'm sure I'll be looking back on this time as THE month that shaped the future for us, so I thought I jot down some personal perspective, for posterity's sake.

4 weeks ago: I had a busy week working as an Extra - four days in a row, which is uncommon for me. On this day, 4 weeks ago, I was playing a doctor for an upcoming Marvel comics TV show, ironically. I remember being cognizant of touching things like door knobs and other common surfaces, but was not yet distancing myself from others much. Of course, we were glued to the news, watching the situation unfolding in China, wondering if/when it would turn bad here. Total BC COVID-19 confirmed cases: 12.

3 weeks ago: I'm up visiting my elderly parents in Kamloops, and we've taken steps to sanitize surfaces around their house, while we were watching how bad things were getting in Italy with how quickly their cases grew, and then moved to lockdown. I accepted a booking for Batwoman for March 16th, not thinking much of it at the time. I was washing my hands more frequently, and hyper-sensitive to touching anything in the hospital when I was visiting my mother. Back down to Vancouver on Thursday, when the WHO declares a pandemic; I started to get ourselves prepared at home for what I predict to be a coming lockdown. Friday, Riverdale shut down due to a potential positive case, so I told my agent that I wanted to back out of Batwoman, which got cancelled anyways, along with all of the rest of TV & film in BC. On the weekend, Whistler Blackcomb closed for the season. Total BC COVID-19 confirmed cases: 39.

2 weeks ago: Officials had started talking about "getting ready", and told people to not leave their homes. Having experienced the worst Costco shopping outing in my life, it was obvious that Vancouver had woken up to the reality of this pandemic, and what they might need to do for the coming weeks and months. I went back to Kamloops, and purchased groceries for my parents, and prepped them as best I could so that they don't have to venture out. Health officers and politicians talked about how we must social distance ourselves to slow down the spread. Later, back in Vancouver, friends and neighbours were out enjoying the warm weather, but staying safely apart. Total BC COVID-19 confirmed cases: 186.

Cocktails with friends via FaceTime

1 week ago: The official word came out - stay at home unless you are in an essential job or need to get groceries or drugs. After a particularly sunny weekend, officials chastised the "COVIDIOTS" for not following social distancing protocols. We heard that two of our good friends likely had contracted it, as had the next-door neighbour. With a downturn in the weather, sidewalks and front yards were almost devoid of life. Yet, when walking the dog, people would cross the street to avoid coming face-to-face with each other. Video calls with our friends became the new normal, and around a week or so ago, my wife started working from home, full-time. The house has never been so clean, and yet the "honey-do list" still grows. Total BC COVID-19 confirmed cases: 617.

Today: Had to go grocery shopping for the first time in almost two weeks; while the local Save-On Foods had put in social distancing protocols, it seemed very busy in the fresh produce section. Some people were wearing masks, and I instantly felt naked for not wearing one. No reusable shopping bags, as they can transmit the virus to store workers. Once I got the groceries home, we wiped down or washed our goods, but it still felt like a futile effort. We found out this week that another friend has it, as does her sister and brother-in-law. Aside from the schoolchildren, no one is enjoying this. Total BC COVID-19 confirmed cases: 1013.

While the total confirmed cases here is low relative to other countries and provinces, and supposedly the rate at which it is spreading is decreasing, I keep reminding people that these are just the confirmed cases - i.e. the ones that have been tested and come back positive. I've read studies that say that these confirmed cases are only the tip of the iceberg, and the ones that went untested, or where the individuals are asymptomatic, could be 10x, 20x or 100x the confirmed number. That puts today's potential number of infected in BC at between 20,000 and 100,000 people! Worse still, is the messaging that is going out from our officials that make no mention of this potential, unseen, "bottom of the iceberg", which is really what concerns me. I fear that the small relative number of confirmed cases will not make the general public wary enough, and that they will go back to their ways and start increasing the spread again. I hope that I look back at this post months, or years from now, and see that these predictions were way off the mark.

Surviving the pandemic

Organisation

How prepared have you been for this COVID-19 pandemic? Were you caught flat-footed, with bare pantry shelves? Or were you ready with your N95 masks, gallons of hand sanitizer, and a year's worth of MREs? In most respects, this global crisis is much less severe than other bad things like an ELE (Extinction Level Event) meteor strike, or nuclear war with the accompanying nuclear winter that would follow. As such, "preparedness" really has a different reality in this situation - you probably don't need to be able to mill your own flour, or start growing your own veggies to survive this. Getting through this is going to require minimizing contact with others and practicing extremely good hygiene - which is why we're in this Social Distancing mode. In retrospect, I did not have this on my list of things that I would need to be prepared for in a crisis situation - i.e. do we have enough supplies to quarantine for two weeks?

We're about two weeks into our own government-requested, self-imposed isolation. Neither of us are sick, nor have we been in contact with any confirmed cases, but we are doing our best to minimize the spread within our circle of family and friends, and in our community. I don't think we are "preppers", but we have some level of emergency preparedness that probably exceeds the average person. For example, we had created our own emergency kits for use in case of other disasters, such as earthquake, tsunami, etc. And because we have a separate, unused basement suite, we typically have a fair bit of non-perishables and frozen food stored down there, as well as supplies of paper towels, Kleenex, toilet paper, etc. Admittedly, some of these things are really required for disasters worse than this pandemic, where things like vacating our home, and/or leaving the area are required. e.g. "shelter in place" is certainly a lot different than the folks that had to vacate quickly due to flood, or worse, in a matter of minutes because of an approaching wildfire.

Costco lineup!

So when I saw this coming, I think we were somewhat prepared for the "stay home" order that I knew was imminent, but had yet to come. However, due to an unplanned trip to see my elderly parents, I was unable to take the last few steps to stock up on the few items that we had not recently replenished (no, not toilet paper). As such, when I got back and needed to get some dog food at Costco, I was faced with the horde of people frantically trying to get their hands on toilet paper and hand sanitizer. This was my first real experience with what happens when the media whips people into a frenzy, and rational thinking quickly gets pushed aside. Grocery stores too, were getting cleaned out, and in less than a week, they were imposing limits on most products, and enforcing social distancing measures.

Ketchup supply dwindling

We are doing well from a supply perspective; there are a few things that we are running low on now (milk, ketchup, fruit, etc.), but they'll get added to the grocery list, and we'll be able to get them next week. But while I was out cleaning the garage (what else does one do while staying home?), I noticed that one of my emergency bags was growing mould on the bottom! Upon closer inspection, it turns out that a can of peaches failed, causing the mess on one side of the bag - yuck! A quick Google informed me that while canned goods normally can last years, certain products can cause the cans to swell and fail before you end up using them. As such, I'm going to start eating up these canned items, and will eventually replace them with new ones once this pandemic passes.

Reasonable success at Walmart

How have we done so far then? If this were the zombie apocalypse, I'd say we'd have scored 6/10. We didn't have adequate supply of key items that would have augmented our 'grab-n-go' bags, one kit was a mess, and drinking water had not been refreshed recently. But with this stay at home order, it's much different - there's no issue with water, electricity, gas and the all-important internet. So rating our preparedness is a bit different, as the things that I feel are important revolve more around how many times you need to go out to get items that are running low/critical. We could have done better at keeping our non-perishables stocked, and when the infected cases started to rise, I should have gone out to re-supply earlier. We have N95 masks in our emergency kits, but we haven't used them (yet). We had disinfecting wipes on hand, but our bottles of sanitizer were almost empty, and required re-filling. You can't do much with respect to perishables like fruit and veggies, but we could have had some more canned or frozen ones on hand. My assessment? Based on our current supply situation, I'd say we're at a 9/10, but two weeks ago, we would have only been 7/10. I think 10/10 would have been a lofty goal, and really, not a practical one, as you'd have to have things like jugs of milk in your freezer, and a fully-stocked root cellar.