First impression: I have never gotten to the airport so quickly. This is my first drive into Boston since mid-March. There was traffic, but not crazy traffic.
Next thing, super weird: No trouble finding a spot in the central parking garage. Literally, I parked near about four other cars right at the entrance to terminal C.
It gets weirder: The airport was largely empty (like the Worcester airport maybe?) and seemed cavernous. If you have visited tourist destinations which require you to pass through a metal detector, you have some sense of what it was like going through security at this point. Breezy, quick, low stress. I didn't waltz through, but I could have.
After security: Passengers waiting to board the flight were well-behaved, and were all wearing a facemask.
The boarding: JetBlue has made the decision to board passengers from the back of the plane first, then progressively move towards the rows at the front of the plane, so as to minimize direct contact among passengers. Deplaning was different as well, with passengers encouraged to stay seated until those in front of them had made their way towards the exit. Hopefully this is something that will stick after the pandemic is over (it will be over, right?), because it just seem to make sense.
Your in-flight experience: At least at this point, with reduced numbers passengers on these flights, they are evidently making efforts to allow social distancing on the flight. In my case, both outbound and inbound, the seats around me were empty. Not sure how long that will continue, as we move back towards normalcy (It will get normal right?)
Snacks with germs: You know the thing where they roll a 2-ton metal cart up and down the aisle and totally on purpose whack you on the knee and elbow? That features is also on hold, at least temporarily. On JetBlue, anyway, each passenger has the option to take a bag with a couple of snacks (like seed sticks or a fun-size bag of pretzel dust) and a small bottle of water. Again, it wouldn't kill me if - at least on short domestic flights - we decide to forgo the option of 10 different beverage options, with or without ice, and just free up the middle aisle for people who are trying to get to the john.
Stress much?: I was nervous on the outbound flight, somewhat less so on the return flight, not sure why. I've been fortunate enough to be able to maintain social distancing during the pandemic for the most part, and the feeling of being so close to the people for the boarding, the flight, and the deplaning, just makes one a bit tense. At least this one.
1 bag packing: The whole focus of my blog, and my book on the topic, is 1 bag packing. Gotta tell you, there was no trouble finding room in the overhead bin on these flights last weekend. I stuck with all my usual practices around minimal travel and packing, because these have served me well during the "normal" pre-pandemic travel days (remember the pushing? the shoving? the touching of tray tables and then scratching your nose?)
My plan is to stick with these well-honed strategies for any travel which is necessary during these weird times, and pick up right where we left off, after the pandemic is over.
It will end, right?
