Knock on wood! My Days 3, 7, and 10 RATs (covid tests) have all been negative.
My flights from NZ to the East Coast were ALL full to the brim with hacking, coughing, maskless people (well, the flight from NZ to the West Coast featured masked people, because of Air NZ policies), however, I wore my N95 masks nearly 100% of the time while on the flights.
I kept in mind the research and did the following:
- Because I knew I'd be super dehydrated/hungry from wearing a mask a lot, I drank as much water as I could before my flights, and had a big meal before heading to the airport. I luckily had a whole super shuttle to the airport to myself, so that was great.
- Because the highest risk time is when people are crowding at the gate, boarding, and before takeoff/after landing (when the plane ventilation system isn't switched on) I stayed as far away from my gate as possible, and waited until the last minute to go through security and board all of my flights. I even hung out outside of the airport after checking in and checking my luggage - mostly to drink a ton of water. I was within sight of a status board while outside, so I timed it carefully to give myself enough time to go through security and get to my gate. Waiting also meant giving up space in the overhead lockers near me, but that was OK. I planned ahead and kept all the things I needed during the flight with me in my backpack and stowed it away under the seat in front of me.
- I refused the meal services while on my big 13 hour flight to the US from NZ. I had brought food, so waited a good 2 hours after everyone else had taken off their masks to eat before I pulled my food out, then scarfed my food down as fast as possible. I was going to try to not eat for the whole flight, but this quickly became impossible with the way that my blood sugar works. Plus I had to take my thyroid pills at a certain time.
- I drank as much as I could while my mask was off, while eating. It was probably no more than 7 minutes, honestly. That was the only time I took it off on any of my flights.
- I booked a 24 hour layover once I arrived in the US. This just happened to be the cheapest option, INCLUDING the cost of a hotel for 1 night. This gave me a 24 hour period to rehydrate, eat, and have my mask off. I also ended up hanging out at an outdoor pool (no one was there!) during my layover. It was easily the smartest travel decision I've made in a very long time. While in the hotel room, I had the air blowing constantly, and I blocked off the crack under the door to the hallway with a towel. Whenever I left my room, I wore a mask. I took room service and all my meals into my hotel room.
- For my next flight, I repeated #1 and #2, and made sure the overhead air vent blew directly on me the whole time. This is also recommended by the research. This flight was ~3 hours, so it was much easier to not eat, drink, etc.
So far I've masked at home, ate all meals in my room, etc except for when I am in my own room. I also mask when I go in a store or inside anywhere. I don't bother masking when outside...plus it is 90+ F and very very humid here! Now that I am negative on Day 10, my family and I agree that I can go maskless in the rest of the house.
And so far, so good - no covid in our household (yet)!
