I went on vacation to Hawaii last week and experienced the travelling limitations during Covid-19.

As I entered the Salt Lake City airport, I could feel the difference that Covid-19 has made. The terminals and gates felt full capacity, yet there were less people in the airport itself than before Covid-19.

The shuttles could only hold six adults which created small crowds. The airport gates had taped off every other seat to allow social distancing, which meant that some people had to either sit on the ground or stand because there ended up being more people than available seats.

Boarding was much faster than usual due to less people and when we boarded, the seats were taped off once again. This was a good thing because it provided more space since there was no one in the seat next to you.

After a 7-hour flight, we landed in Honolulu. As we walked through the terminal to the baggage-claim, it felt like we were the only plane that had landed there within the last few hours. The Honolulu Airport was almost completely empty and all of the restaurants were closed and seemed like they hadn’t been open for a very long time due to Covid-19.

We got our rental car and started driving to our hotel. Honolulu is built on small businesses that are locally owned, but almost every single store that we drove past was closed. Throughout our entire trip we couldn’t find any stores that were open. This is the toll that Covid-19 has taken on areas that rely on tourism to thrive. I’ve been to Hawaii before, and this felt like a ghost town.

Our flight back was almost the exact same; the Honolulu Airport was almost empty and the Salt Lake Airport had too many people for the seats that it could hold while following Covid-19 guidelines.

Overall the entire trip gave me an insight into what Covid-19 has done to all aspects of traveling and going on a vacation. Vacations just aren’t the same as they were before we were hit with the virus.