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Tags: Open Threads / Swine Flu / Travel Health / H1N1 / → All Tags

Have You Encountered Swine Flu In Your Travels This Year?

'Tis the year of the Swine Flu and things just haven't died down like we'd hoped they would. Now that the intense and occasionally fatal flu has affected everyone from D-List celebs to former All-You-Can-Jetters, it's apparent that it's not going anywhere anytime soon—or rather, it's going everywhere.

So we want to know: what's been your experience with Swine Flu this year? Have you taken to wearing face masks on flights and in subways or do you scrunch up your nose at those who do? Have you gotten and survived Swine Flu? Has anyone you know been under the weather with it, and if so, where do you think they go it? We're just wondering exactly how prevalent it is in places of travel, versus say at restaurants and in your local bowling alley. Or has your bowling alley had its balls sanitized? Hmm??

Let us know your travel Swine Flu experience in the comments!

Related Stories:
· Swine Fly Now Attacking D-List Celebs In Addition To Air Travelers [Jaunted]
· Is Swine Fly Hysteria A US Tourism Conspiracy? [Jaunted]
· Swine Fly Has A Grip On Every Country Except Antarctica [Jaunted]
· Travel Health coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: OhLaLa Mag]

Tags: Swine Flu / Travel Health / H1N1 / Celeb Travel / → All Tags

Swine Flu Now Attacking D-List Celebs In Addition To Air Travelers

The silent menace is still out there, and it's attacking our celebrities; it's Swine Flu, and so far it's stuck with D-list celebs like Lisa Rinna, Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley of Harry Potter fame), and now Marilyn Manson.

The announcement from the rocker came via his MySpace blog, and here is all of it, short and sweet:

So I have officially been diagnosed, by a real doctor, with THE SWINE FLU. I know everyone will suggest that f***ing a pig is how this disease was obtained. However, the doctor said, my past choices in women have, in 'no way' contributed to... me acquiring this mysterious sickness. Unfortunately, I am going to survive.

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Tags: Swine Flu / Travel Health / France Travel / Romance Travel / Travel News / H1N1 / Germ Travel / → All Tags

French Discourage Kissing In Order To Curb Swine Flu Spread

We were going to use a photo of people kissing cheeks, but come on; kitties!

Just when we were coming around to the idea of being rude by not returning handshakes and thereby steering clear of Swine Flu, the French had to go and ruin all our fun. You see, they've reminded us that the traditional double-cheek-kiss—called la bise—is also pretty unsanitary if you don't want to catch the H1N1 virus, especially if you're greeting someone who has just traveled and may be exposed.

We can't shake hands and we can't cheek-kiss; what will we will do? Thank heavens there's still the good old rump-pat, and the "hey-yo" wave. We do feel badly for the Frenchies though:

In schools, teachers are telling their young charges to forgo the bise, and instead capture their displays of affection in heart-shaped greetings to slip into 'bise boxes.' It is restraint that is easier to sell to young students than their older brothers and sisters. Some things, however, are finding an accepting audience: masks—which do a pretty good job of discouraging just about any sort of kissing.

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Business Travelers Not All That Worried About Swine Flu, Actually

While the rest of the world prepares for another season of hysteria, some business travelers seem to be keeping a level-headed perspective about Swine Flu. A recent survey conducted by the National Roads and Motorists' Association concluded that H1N1 just isn't a consideration for many travelers, and that it ranks way below other factors like the recession (or getting a refill on that in-flight cocktail).

This will undoubtedly be welcome news for the airline and tourism industries, both of which got hit badly the last time swine flu went around. In a way it's also news that makes sense. Last season's full-blown panic mostly fizzled out into a few runny noses, so people are already a little immune—no pun intended—from freaking out. Travelers seem unwilling to be thrown off their schedules again, though all that could change if the impending outbreak gets nasty.

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Tags: Swine Flu / Travel Health / Travel News / Mexico Travel / → All Tags

Swine Flu Has A Grip On Every Country Except Antarctica

At this point in the Swine Flu game, you have to worry more about the situation in your destination than the flu itself; some countries are still quarantining travelers showing flu-like symptoms. These include Singapore, India, Egypt and China, which detained 1,800 Americans this summer although only 200 of whom were sick. Cancel your Mecca pilgrimage plans as well since Saudi Arabia is on the verge of requiring certificate proof of flu shot, and Iran has banned all trips to Mecca.

The Ottawa Citizen makes a valid point in favor of giving up on worrying about Swine Flu:

Another reason not to avoid travel: The virus has spread into practically every part of the world already (though not Antarctica.) You can't avoid it by staying home, and you won't contaminate a foreign country by going there.

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Tags: Celeb Travel / Swine Flu / Jack Nicholson / French Riviera / France Travel / Monoco / Cap d'Ail / → All Tags

Jack Nicholson Lets It All Hang Out in the French Riviera

Nothing stops Jack Nicholson from having a good time, not his age, his moobs or even the swine flu. Jack is continuing his French getaway this week in Cap d'Ail, outside of Monaco, where he was spotted snorkeling, slathering on sunscreen and jumping off of a boat with his kids yesterday. All that fun must have tuckered the old guy out though because he was also caught sleeping on a random plot of sidewalk grass. Hey, everyone needs a good power nap now and then.

Hopefully his sudden sleepiness wasn't an early symptom of the Swine Flu. Last week, 64 cases of the flu were confirmed at the Centre Mediterranean Language School in Cap d'Ail though most of the students were sent home and weren't considered to be in any serious danger.

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Tags: Swine Flu / Cruises / France Travel / Royal Caribbean / → All Tags

60 Sick On Swine Flu Cruise Off The French Riviera

Just when you thought it was safe to resume traveling to Mexico and taking cruises comes a story about another outbreak of the summer's biggest vacation-ruiner: Swine Flu.

Right now, off the coast of the French Riviera, the Voyager of the Seas from Royal Caribbean is experiencing an explosion of the sickness among 60 of their crew members, with another 70 showing symptoms of swine flu. The first 60 have been confined to their cabins—although it's common knowledge that cruise crew share cabins—while the ship's 3,600 passengers head ashore to party in Nice and Monaco.

Although it's not known if the passengers are aware of the news of their sick ship, the loss of so many crew members from their posts is no doubt hurting the ship's service. We just hope that the virus doesn't use the rest of its vacation at sea to infect the rest of the crew and spread its way onto passengers. Apparently the crew began showing signs of swine flu after the cruise depart Barcelona earlier in the week; so now it's the Mexican/Spanish Swine Flu?

Related Stories:
· 60 crew have swine flu on cruise ship off France [USA Today]
· Will Flu-Free Guarantees Lure Travelers Back to Mexico? [Jaunted]
· Cruise Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eric Gaillard, Reuters]

Tags: Swine Flu / Memorial Day Travel / Mexico / Cancun / Riviera Maya / Airfare Sales / → All Tags

Will Flu-Free Guarantees Lure Travelers Back to Mexico?

We're already well acquainted with good weather vacation guarantees, but now it seems that desperate destinations are jumping aboard the no flu guarantee bandwagon.

Desperate to get travelers to again view Mexico as a safe tourism destination, twenty coastal resorts have launched a "flu-free guarantee." All you need do is book an upcoming trip to any of the resorts, which are mostly in Cancun or the Riviera Maya, and if you do happen to get swine flu (and have the bloodwork to prove it), the consortium will pay for the entirety of your next three vacations.

The CDC lifted their travel ban to Mexico last week, and most countries have now resumed flights to the country, although travelers are still understandably hesitant to return south of the border.

So is Memorial Day weekend the time to return to Mexico? The prices say yes. Unlike just about anywhere else in the world, you can book a plane ticket to Mexico right now and still get a cheap fare for this weekend. Searching on Kayak, we found Friday-to-Monday roundtrip flights to Cancun for $281 from New York, $316 from Chicago, and $363 from LA. Get to clicking, and leave those flu masks at home.

Related Stories:
· Mexico resorts offer 'flu-free' deal [USA Today]
· CDC downgrades Mexico travel warning [USA Today]
· Swine Flu Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: ramonbaile]

Tags: Swine Flu / Australia Travel / → All Tags

Swine Flu Takes Advantage of Cheap Flights to Australia

Although we travelers and city dwellers here at Jaunted haven't yet fallen ill with any suspicious coughing, we do like to keep a respectful eye on where the Swine Flu monster is making landfall, despite the overhype.

Since it seems like everyone has been daydreaming about grabbing a cheap flight to Australia lately, hearing that swine flu has arrived in the the land of kangaroos didn't shock us much. Over the weekend, the first confirmed case of swine flu was reported in Australia, when a woman who flew from Los Angeles to Brisbane gave a "weak positive" response to the virus test.

On the up side, authorities don't believe that the woman was contagious while she was on the flight, so although they are contacting fellow passengers, this single case doesn't appear to be the beginning of an Aussie pandemic.

As in other airports around the world, screening and testing procedures are in place at Australia's main hubs for flights that could carry passengers infected with the swine flu, and as a result the locals aren't all that concerned. In any case, H1N1 has got to be a pretty hearty virus if it wants to survive those ridiculously long flights all the way Down Under.

Related Stories:
· Passengers From Swine Flu Flight Found [The Age]
· Is Swine Flu Hysteria a US Tourism Conspiracy? [Jaunted]
· Swine Flu Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jnxyz]

Tags: Swine Flu / Handshaking / Dangerous Travel / Elbow Bump / → All Tags

The Handshake: Travel's Newest Enemy

Thanks to an over-caffeinated media, travelers were pretty freaked out about the swine flu for a while there. Now that it no longer looks like the end of the world, though, everyone's mellowed out a bit, and the story is gradually falling off newspaper front pages. While it's never a good idea to panic, the H1N1 hysteria does leave one positive development in its wake: hand shaking is no longer a required greeting. In fact, it's frowned upon in many situations, which comes as a relief to people like me, who've always found the forced physical contact a little skeevy, especially during runny-nose season.

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Tags: Dangerous Travel / Swine Flu / → All Tags

Swine Flu Has CNN Reconsidering Travel to Somalia

Would you trade a week of hitting the museums of Moscow for Somalia if you could save beaucoup dollars on a hotel? What about heading to volunteer in a Rwandan refugee camp or hitting up Mexico City during this swine flu panic, all in the name of budget travel? According to CNN, these are the decisions we must make during a down economy and international crises.

Speaking with author and danger travel enthusiast Robert Young Pelton, famous for his semi-guidebook The World's Most Dangerous Places, CNN seems to advocate risky trips for two reasons: saving money ("Somalia has hotels for 40 bucks a night") and gaining first-hand understanding {"U.S. news stories about foreign countries tend to focus on crime and terrorism and not what life is actually like for people"}.

We think CNN, despite their copious quoting of other adventurers, is trying to tell us something. And that something is that the swine flu travel issues are overhyped. Here they are saying, "it could be worse; you could be hoping not to get shot while visiting temples in Cambodia or avoiding kidnappers in Tijuana." And they're right that it can be worse, mainly for those ignorant of any risks at hand.

If you're planning on any dangerous travel, and this still goes for Mexico right now, we like what Todd Sotkiewicz, president of Lonely Planet in the Americas, said of his class' trip to Tijuana: "We went down there and we took the appropriate precautions like we all should."

Related Stories:
· Despite warnings, some travel to potential danger zones [CNN]
· Is Swine Fly Hysteria a US Tourism Conspiracy? [Jaunted]
· Dangerous Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: infidelic]

Tags: Cinco De Mayo / Drinking Travel / Swine Flu / Events / → All Tags

Some Cinco De Mayo Celebrations Soldiering On

A jaunt to Cancun may be out of the question and weekend celebrations from Queens to Cali have sadly been canceled due to swine flu fears, but there's gotta be somewhere left to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, right? Worry not, my amigos. There are still a few great places to put on your ridiculously large sombreros, down a few buckets of Coronas and celebrate Mexican culture…er, we'll leave it at down a few buckets of Coronas.

In New York City, far-West Side club Hudson Terrace opens its giant new rooftop space just in time to throw a Cinco de Mayo party at one of the city's most impressive outdoor drinking spots. If only the weather clears up in time to shake maracas without an umbrella.

For a slightly more grown-up Cinco de Mayo, Chicago's Nacional 27 is hosting a swanky Tuesday night affair, where $27 gets you free food and all the margaritas you can stomach, which is hopefully more than $27-worth.

Down in the homeland, in Puebla, Mexico where the whole shindig started, it's being reported that while the gringos have fled town, remaining Mexican tourists aren't holding back and the partying is going on as planned. We'll raise our glasses and toast an "Ole" to that!

Related Stories:
· Hudson Terrace to Open Next Tuesday. Cinco de Mayo on the Roof! [NY Barfly]
· Cinco de Mayo Party [Nacional 27]
· Little swine flu concern in Cinco de Mayo city [NBC Around the World]
· This Has Gone Too Far: Swine Flu Hysteria Screwing Up Cinco de Mayo Celebrations [Jaunted]

[Photo: Springsun]