Here's the thing. Let it go.

Life goes on, whether we do or not.

You planned these vacations, you went on first one, and managed the challenges.

Take the one to England, go for the adventure! You'll find you'll have some wonderful memories to last a lifetime. If you don't go, you'll regret "not taking the time" for it.

i'm a seasoned, intercontinental traveler and your worry about travel illness sounds downright rational to me, brockster. i still believe that covid is not the meanest pathogen in the traveling petri dish. i take extra precautions when i travel, such as boosting my immune system before i travel, getting the extra shots recommended by the state department and paying extra attention to personal hygiene and self-care while i'm on the road. i consider it a natural fact that far off lands have diseases i have no immunity to. precautions advised. being laid flat by exotic germs is not my idea of a good time.

my stomach is now churning from the reminder of being hit by "Atahualpa's revenge" in bolivia. i didn't see a doctor about it, but i believe it was a bacterial infection. clean water is still hard to come by in bolivia.

oh bother. . .

I've done my share of international travel and had some "unpleasantness" along the way... Food poisoning, foreign colds... This is just me being reactionary and thinking if I've got to navigate trains or the tube or, God forbid, Heathrow, while feeling like this that's some first class suckage.

But yeah, I expect I'll be fine, or at least mostly fine, by the end of the week and ready to go. It does have me thinking that bringing a bunch of masks seems like a sound precaution.

an immune booster i like to use when it is available is honey local to the area i will be visiting. emphasis on "local to the area you will be visiting." as the bees harvest their pollen and nectar, they are building a gentle dose of the local allergens. a daily spoonful of heathrow honey can help boost your immunity to heathrow allergens before the big transition.

i'm glad the mask option is now available for those who have faith in it. disposable gloves, too. sani-wipes are still enough for me. those come in handy at the most inconvenient of times.

I do the local honey here. Unfortunately I don't know that local honey is a thing in London... Too metropolitan for flowers and bees and whatnot. I think the best defense against London is probably masks and sanitizer and to avoid licking people as much as possible. ; )

this is probably my favorite thing about the internet. from the heart of prideful london.

https://localhoneyman.co.uk/

for what it's worth
we keep bees and our city bees are outperforming the country bees by a pretty wide margin. urban awareness of bee safety has grown tremendously and the landscapers us a wide range of bee food. the countryside is full of monocultures (crops) and toxic chemical users.

another FWIW
urban agriculture has gained enough strength to be on wall street. those prideful londoners are no lightweights on that scene.

https://www.londonenvironment.net/urban_agriculture

Thanks arfie! I never would have guessed. Those are some great resources.