Snow Birds ??

[Rwake901]

To all the snow birds who go to Florida, Texas etc. for the winter are you still planning on going with this COVID-19 thing going on? My wife and I finally retired this spring and were excited about spending the winter in Florida in our new 5th wheel. Now we are not sure what to do. We already went down last year and picked out a place to stay but we are holding off making reservations to see what’s going to happen with this virus. Just wanted to see what everyone else is doing. Thanks

[Tequila]

pianotuna wrote:

RckyMtnVia wrote:
In this topic and other Snowbird topics, the Canadians are generally trashing the USA. If you don't like our country why do you come here every winter? I could comment about Canada, but that would be political and that is not allowed on this forum. If you don't like the USA, just stay in Canada.

We are not trashing USA. Canada has by no means had a "perfect" response to covid 19. We are concerned for our USA neighbors, and not a little frightened at how close things are to being totally out of control. USA on 2020 07 07 probably will have 50,000 new cases. It also has over 1/4 of the worlds cases. We share the longest undefended border in the world with USA. The virus does not recognize that border.

BTW I would welcome your comments about Canada. If you feel they are not appropriate to the thread, please send them in a private message.

In spite of the Floyd death, there were 151 deaths by cop in June of 2020, 150 in 2019, 153 in 2018. Canada is NOT exempt from death by cop either.

Toronto, our largest city, has implemented mandatory mask wearing inside all public access buildings with few exceptions. The Canadian lunatic fringe is reacting badly to this attempt to keep them safe. The difference is that few Canadians have access to guns--so the protests are not so violent as those similar ones in USA.

As I said, in my first post to this thread, "we are all in this together". By that, I did not mean just USA and Canada, but rather the entire world.

Will I be driving down to my winter haunts in USA this year? Hardly likely as I'd be traveling through many States and at least one of them has done NADA to attempt to curtail covid.

Will I be flying down? That is possible--but only if the number of new cases starts to reduce, in the State I plan on visiting. I'm at high risk age wise. I'd rather be a live chicken than a dead duck.

My own personal belief is that Pandora is out of the box. I doubt I'll be traveling south this fall.

At least I am in BC. Winter in Regina is a frightening prospect. Bad enough here. But as you said most of us are in the higher risk group. I do wonder if this is going to spread so fast and wide, it may die down to a minimal level just because so many people will no longer be vectors (assuming those who have had it can't spread it). Sort of a semi herd immunity. Hate to say that is wishful thinking as the consequences to get there are dire.

[Tequila]

I don't have a flight to Mexico until November. Westjet had an offer til the end of June where you could cancel and use the money in the following 3 years with no penalty so it was not a big risk. I will assess then. It would be interesting to see if they would let me across the land border into the US with a Mexican residency card claiming I was in transit, but why take the risk. I am guessing the chance of the Canada/US border being open before 2021 at about 25%. Both my partner and several friends in Mexico, (Santa Ana, Melaque & CDMX) so I am getting regular reports on how things are down there. Melaque, where I spend 6-7 months a year, seems Covid free at present, Mexico city is a mess. My partner is still planning on running caravans next season, I am trying to bring him down to earth, I don't think it will be possible, but a lot can happen in 6 months..

[moisheh]

I think Medipac is covered by Manulife so be cautious. Remember that you only have coverage if your Provincial health plan is active. If Canada says you should not travel to to a certain area you would have zero coverage. I really doubt the border would be open. Most other insurers would not cover Covid. Rocky Mountain> I dont think anyone means to offend you but compared to how Canada is handling the Virus some of those states are lacking. I certainly would not travel to Arizona right now. And Mexico is even worse. Tequila might think twice about travelling in Mexico. The Virus is getting worse and the published data is really doctored. The Gov. has no money and people are starving. Crime will become even worse. Medical coverage is worthless if there is a lack of beds and Drs. Flying is an option but with no social distancing is risky.

[pianotuna]

RckyMtnVia wrote:
In this topic and other Snowbird topics, the Canadians are generally trashing the USA. If you don't like our country why do you come here every winter? I could comment about Canada, but that would be political and that is not allowed on this forum. If you don't like the USA, just stay in Canada.

We are not trashing USA. Canada has by no means had a "perfect" response to covid 19. We are concerned for our USA neighbors, and not a little frightened at how close things are to being totally out of control. USA on 2020 07 07 probably will have 50,000 new cases. It also has over 1/4 of the worlds cases. We share the longest undefended border in the world with USA. The virus does not recognize that border.

BTW I would welcome your comments about Canada. If you feel they are not appropriate to the thread, please send them in a private message.

In spite of the Floyd death, there were 151 deaths by cop in June of 2020, 150 in 2019, 153 in 2018. Canada is NOT exempt from death by cop either.

Toronto, our largest city, has implemented mandatory mask wearing inside all public access buildings with few exceptions. The Canadian lunatic fringe is reacting badly to this attempt to keep them safe. The difference is that few Canadians have access to guns--so the protests are not so violent as those similar ones in USA.

As I said, in my first post to this thread, "we are all in this together". By that, I did not mean just USA and Canada, but rather the entire world.

Will I be driving down to my winter haunts in USA this year? Hardly likely as I'd be traveling through many States and at least one of them has done NADA to attempt to curtail covid.

Will I be flying down? That is possible--but only if the number of new cases starts to reduce, in the State I plan on visiting. I'm at high risk age wise. I'd rather be a live chicken than a dead duck.

My own personal belief is that Pandora is out of the box. I doubt I'll be traveling south this fall.

[Tequila]

The fact is this is hitting the us hard. It's a disease not a political system. It is what it is. If the US has made poor decisions on handling it, we can only hope it's lessons learned. We all want this to be pver

[Naio]

I was born, and have lived all my life in the US. I agree that the vibe I get from Canadians in this thread is of kindness and concern. They seem to be feeling what any of us would feel if we saw a neighbor caught up in a situation that was unhealthy and dangerous for them and others. A mix of wanting to help but not wanting to butt in.

I am grateful for the good wishes.

[Tequila]

I suspect quartzite will be popular. Mind you sitting in the desert self isolating is not my thing.

[MarcoPolo8]

Did last fall and winter at Imperial Dam LTVA in my FWC popup truck camper. South Mesa. BLM site says no more facilities provided there now. Contract for services is over. Find your own dump and water. No toilets or water fill or dumps at South Mesa any longer. Don't know what I'll do now. Was a perfect place to avoid Covid and take it easy.

[camper19709]

Making reservations. "we" will see.

[Tequila]

Reisender wrote:

Tequila wrote:
That surprised me I spent some time on their website looking it. I ma not sure if they are only covering expenses if you have to cancel. It would be handy if you can confirm by calling them and confirm what is covered and post it here.

https://www.medipac.com/UserFiles/files/MedipacGuide.pdf

I hear ya. I’ll try and give them a call tomorrow. But here is the thing Tequila. Even if we get insurance, things will have to get a LOT better next door. And at least in the short term I don’t see that happening. There is a leadership vacuum down there right now and the virus has been turned into a political weapon. We are concerned about family and friends that live there as well as the American public in general. We like the rest of the are stunned by what’s happening there. It’s like watching a slow motion train wreck. Simply a disaster.

I actually also sent them an email. They also will sell one way US transit insurance northbound if you RV in Mexico and are covered down there under Mexican medicare which is the case if you have a resident card (I do). This is obviously a lot cheaper than buying travel insurance for 5-6 months, premiums of which reflect the cost in the US, not Mexico. Many of us in this position just buy travel insurance for US Transit and often sign up for Skymed as well. Medipac is the only company I have ever found who will do this with proof of Mexican coverage.

As for the train wreck in the US, I concur. I don't think the situation in Mexico is any better. I am in BC and its obvious we did something right. Keeping politics out of it is the key, I think.

[Reisender]

Tequila wrote:
That surprised me I spent some time on their website looking it. I ma not sure if they are only covering expenses if you have to cancel. It would be handy if you can confirm by calling them and confirm what is covered and post it here.

https://www.medipac.com/UserFiles/files/MedipacGuide.pdf

I hear ya. I’ll try and give them a call tomorrow. But here is the thing Tequila. Even if we get insurance, things will have to get a LOT better next door. And at least in the short term I don’t see that happening. There is a leadership vacuum down there right now and the virus has been turned into a political weapon. We are concerned about family and friends that live there as well as the American public in general. We like the rest of the world are stunned by what’s happening there. It’s like watching a slow motion train wreck. Simply a disaster.

[Tequila]

That surprised me I spent some time on their website looking it. I ma not sure if they are only covering expenses if you have to cancel. It would be handy if you can confirm by calling them and confirm what is covered and post it here.

https://www.medipac.com/UserFiles/files/MedipacGuide.pdf

[Reisender]

For what it’s worth, Medipac just sent us an email saying it is business as usual and we are covered for Covid. Now to see if the US let’s us in come October/November ish.

[pianotuna]

Naio wrote:
it's really hard to know how to make any future plans right now

Given what is happening in USA, and the location I would wish to visit, it is getting less hard. Unless there is a fairly dramatic change, I won't be risking going south.

Your information about Florida is pretty serious. I certainly appreciate you posting it.