Lithuanians continue to travel, but he hides even from loved ones: co-workers will condemn, grandmothers will be cursed

From what is shown on social media, one would think that in 2020, Latvia or Estonia went no further, no one traveled anywhere. But do not be fooled! Your friends, colleagues, relatives, classmates keep getting on planes and flying, this to your brother in London, this to a resort in Italy or Croatia, this to your loved one in Paris. Everything is happening, but much quieter. To intimidate the public, many fear saying publicly that they are gone. So it goes in silence, in silence it goes in silence and neither was here nor what was here.
Quite a strange phenomenon, but it is already becoming the norm. I decided to tell you what the daily routine of travelers is like now.

Airports around the world are now half dead. While the flights were taking place, there were no long lines left, all the tumult travelers were used to. Fewer people, less staff, not all institutions have opened yet. Some (smaller) airports do not have cafes or shops.

The reduction of airport staff is a bit of a hassle, as in some countries all the usual processes are much slower as a result. At Milan Malpensa airport, for example, there has recently been a queue twice as long for check-in. The people in it, of course, do not keep the necessary distances, on the contrary, they all try to pass as soon as possible, or even miss a queue.

Another unpleasant downside is that there are no fitting rooms left in many duty-free stores. If you want perfume, cream, or anything else sold there, you will have to shop based on the style or descriptions. That is why many conflicts arise, and some travelers rush to open perfume boxes and take them out to check if they like it. Seeing this, the sellers attack them by screaming and then tell them to pay for the stolen item. I saw such a barn with my own eyes. The traveler cursed, shook his hand, and left.

There is also a great shortage of people at airports who came on trips to accompany their loved ones. No more kisses, no worries, all that romance and excitement. I don’t know how it relates, but I haven’t noticed the corporate Christmas tables set to go on vacation all summer. In the past, before any flight, companies of friends leaving for the trip would shoot a bottle of champagne or break beer mugs. This joy is much less now, at least not heard or seen, perhaps by people who do it secretly, in silence.

Even on airplanes there are fewer drunkards. On the flight from London to Vilnius, I only saw a company of men coming home from work. They drank something cool and continued to get angry at the flight attendants who urged the men to behave more calmly and not walk around the plane without masks. Braking was not easy, not everyone succeeded.
Flight attendants from the low-cost airline told me that mask conflicts now occur on almost every trip. There are people of principle who begin to explain that the rule of wearing a mask violates human rights, some begin to say that the mask suffocates or even begins to feel claustrophobic. Anyone can negotiate like this, but flight attendants follow the rules and make sure there are no uninvited people on the plane.

Not only me, but also airport staff and flight crew noticed that since the day the flights were returned after quarantine, travelers had taken far fewer photos. In the past, it was popular to make personalities during boarding, which even caused queues, encouraging people to move faster. Now there is no need, because those who fly simply do not want to take pictures. Fly, fly to the plane and fly. Quieter and quieter than before. There were also many people in the airports themselves photographing airplanes through the windows; now they are hardly visible either. I personally have not seen any of that, but I use the word ‘almost’ because I guarantee that there will be those who will say ‘and I photographed it’.

Only in August I had to fly six times and on airplanes I met many Lithuanians who confessed directly and clearly: “I travel, but calmly, so that my grandmothers do not change and my colleagues do not condemn me.” People have been intimidated by the reactions of the public, since for almost half a year many travelers have been cursing and blaming all the problems in the world. There are even activists and activists who specifically try to track down and catch those who have left but have not appeared in public. Many famous Lithuanians have already experienced what this means. “Agnė Jagelavičiūtė on a plane flying to Greece!” A week ago such a message circulated in the country’s press. “Informatorė” felt superficial and wanted the star to be ready to go on vacation in public, because he was afraid that Agnė herself would not inform the public about this trip. As if this were a current issue.

If you are actively browsing social media, you have certainly been able to see more than one vacation photo with angry comments. For example, a person happily writes: “Finally, a trip again”, and a friend comments: “Through you, we will all get sick again”, or something like that.

Some, frightened by such comments, even come up with all kinds of strategies to prevent someone from suspecting something, such as posting older photos of their home or countryside while traveling. Pretending to be sitting there right now. It may sound ridiculous, but it is not prohibited to do so. Don’t brag on Facebook or Instagram that you left; It is not a crime, everyone can decide for themselves what to post on their profiles and what not.

It is no secret that some of them still do not take photos of their trips because they want to avoid the self-isolation that now threatens them when they return from popular parts of the world. The list of those countries gradually grew and astute travelers tried not to get caught up in those who would have to close at home. At the airport, he lies where he returns from, or even specifically flies through another country so that no one is a suspect. And those around them can’t say anything because they just don’t know about the trip.

At foreign airports, you can meet a lot of people flying around your house. Last Friday I saw one at Milan Malpensa airport. Several men returned from Turkey, a boy with a girl from Switzerland. Italy was still on the list of “safe” countries, but those two countries are no longer. Guess what the returnees marked on their questionnaires that needed to be filled out? And also many.