Americans ditch face masks, plan more travel than ever: poll

Americans are on the move.

COVID isn’t keeping people cooped at home any longer, with stir-crazy citizens ditching face masks and test kits, and making more plans to travel than ever before.

The surprise findings were obtained from a new survey of 3,000 US adults conducted by OnePoll on behalf of AT&T, with 37% of respondents saying they are already traveling more now than they were pre-pandemic.

A third of those polled said they traveled to other parts of North America this summer, while almost a quarter (24%) jetted off to Europe. According to the survey, 18% of respondents also enjoyed a vacation in the Caribbean or Bahamas.

Of those already taking more trips, 44% revealed they have more free time and 44% said that the lifting of pandemic-related travel restrictions were a contributing factor.

Meanwhile, a majority of Americans don’t think face masks, sanitizer or COVID tests are crucial tools for travel.

A smartphone or tablet was considered the most essential travel must-have for US travelers, ahead of sanitizer (37%), face masks (36%) and at-home COVID tests (27%).

Additionally, countries or territories still imposing pandemic restrictions are likely to be avoided by millions of Americans suffering from COVID fatigue.

A significant 35% of respondents said too many pandemic regulations — such as testing and mandatory mask-wearing — would be deal-breakers for traveling abroad.

Meanwhile, the survey also examined the different communication styles used by Americans while traveling.

Unsurprising, Gen Z respondents favored texting (54%), while Gen X preferred to communicate through phone calls.

Regardless of age, however, 60% would be completely lost if their phone were lost or stolen when traveling.

A large number of Americans said they completed depended on their phones while on the move, accessing map apps (37%), Google Translate (28%), airline apps (27%), and booking apps (26%). Meanwhile, more than a third (36%) of respondents are hooked on social media, saying they don’t feel like they’ve had a real vacation unless they’ve posted about it online.