Why People Are Going on Holidays in the Midst of a Pandemic

On July 1, the number of COVID-19 cases in India crossed 600,000. On the same day, the west Indian state of Goa decided it would open its door for tourists (this time, not just the wealthy ones).

Even if Goa opening up isn’t alarming enough, considering Goa plans are notorious for not working out, the state that runs on tourism revenues isn’t the only one unsealing its borders.

Iconic monuments like the Taj Mahal in Agra and Delhi’s Red Fort are opening their gates from July 6, while luxury hotels that haven’t been designated as quarantine centres are curating packages that include heavy discounts, road transfers and doorstep pickups. India is officially open for the season.

Except, we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, one that is seemingly getting worse. India is currently the fourth worst-affected country in the world, and studies project that the number of cases will triple by July 15.

But if social media is anything to go by, some of us are hitting pause on the panic button, dusting off unused cars and brushing aside our newfound bread making skills to rejoice in the simple pleasures of the great outdoors. In most cases, people are wandering far from the city they live in, yet not far enough to cross state borders, and deal with the hassles and permissions that come with it. Many are doing this without even taking along the year’s hottest accessory: a face mask.

“After being locked in for three terribly lonely months in Mumbai, the first thing I did when the unlock was announced was plan a weekend getaway,” Shweta Kapoor*, a travel blogger, told VICE. Kapoor admits that while she was careful about not stepping out when news of coronavirus first began to spread, months of staying shut in had battered her usually enthusiastic energy, and pushed her to start going out, even if it meant risking infection.

“I’m usually a very positive person, but the lockdown took a heavy toll on my mental health. Now I’m just like fuck it, if it has to happen, it’ll happen and I’ll just get over it.”

With her reinvigorated courage, Kapoor decided to spend a weekend with friends at a hill station on the outskirts of Mumbai. “It was a fairly secluded area, so I didn’t have to wear a face mask. That one detail instantly evaporated months’ worth of pent-up frustration.”

Kapoor isn’t the only one bogged down by the weight of a face mask. After months of praying, hoping and wishing for a vaccine, it’s slowly sinking in that the ‘new normal’ is inevitably here to stay. We’ve watched all the sunsets and Netflix we can, and a sense of fatigue has now creeped in at a potentially dangerous level.

“I am definitely mourning the Before Coronavirus life—and travel was a big part of it for me,” says Saloni Shah*, a Mumbai-based writer. Shah states that travelling gave her life a sense of purpose, especially when caught up in the hustle of a capitalistic city life. “Travelling, even in the middle of a pandemic, is my way of living a life that used to exist, and getting away from the doom of domestic life.”

While getting tired of staring at ceilings seems to be a common reason for stepping out, for some, making short trips is a way to reclaim the agency that the lockdown took away from them.

“Everybody needs to take precautions for themselves, start living normally and not treat other humans as a threat by being weird about it,” says Aditya Arolkar, a student from Goa. Despite living close to a containment zone, Arolkar feels going out is warranted, as long as you do it in social bubbles.

“I make it a point to go out at least once a week, whether it's for a drive or a short trip with a small group of friends. My friends and I visited the island of Divar off the coast of Goa, which had no COVID-19 cases. Just being in nature, and feeling soft clay under my feet was therapeutic.”

While Arolkar has resigned to the belief that at this point, all precautions need to be taken at a personal level, he definitely carries the baggage and guilt of being a potential asymptomatic carrier of the virus while taking a trip. And so does Shah. “I am worried about being a carrier, and giving it to the villagers who live near the holiday home I have booked for a weekend getaway I’m planning,” she admits. “But everyone involved — them and us — know the risks involved in this.” Shah’s advice on ensuring you travel safely is to be totally transparent with your hosts in terms of what city or zone you’re coming from, and whether you’ve been personally in touch with people who might’ve tested positive.

Clearly, travelling in 2020 is people's way of saying “fuck you” to a global pandemic that has turned our lives upside down. But it also brings up the question of why, after several months of acknowledging that staying in was for the greater good, we’ve decided to ignore the moral and ethical warning signs of going out.

“It’s like children being let out in the recess after a day of classes,” Hvovi Bhagwagar, a clinical psychologist from Mumbai explained to VICE. “The excitement of tasting even the slightest freedom activates childlike reactions, especially for people who don’t take kindly to rules.”

Bhagwagar explains that the pandemic-triggered anxiety functions like a bell curve. “Some people experience too much anxiety, others too little. And one major way to mask the anxiety and stay optimistic in these unprecedented times is to downgrade the real danger of the situation.”

She points out that in risky situations, the scale of thinking goes from cognitive distortion (a biased way of thinking optimistically) to catastrophic, which is reiterating the worst case scenario in your mind. “By minimising the danger in this situation, people who are going out are experiencing cognitive distortion. It’s a coping mechanism for anxiety and fear.”

Bhagwagar says that while it was inevitable for people to stop fearing the virus as time went by and news of potential cures came up, they should also keep in mind that going out is worth it only if they’re experiencing healthy emotions. “Happiness is a healthy emotion, the excitement of taking a risk is not,” she stresses. “Approach it as a community health situation instead of rebelling against it as a law and order situation. Make sure you know the risks involved in going out, and understand how it will affect those around you.”

*Names changed to protect identities.

Follow Shamani Joshi on Instagram.