33 Reasons to Wear Face Masks When You Travel – Mask Up to Protect Yourself and Others

We’ve got 33 reasons to wear face masks when you travel – whether travelling on holidays, taking a train to work, catching a bus to the shops, or taking a walk in your neighbourhood. Covid cases are rapidly escalating, the latest Covid-19 variants are incredibly contagious, and people are still dying. Now is not the time for complacency. The pandemic is not over. Mask-up to protect yourselves and others.

If you don’t yet have an arsenal of face masks, now is the time to stock up on disposable surgical masks for everyday use when you can social distance, N95 respirator masks for riskier situations when you can’t, and attractive, fun reusable cloth face masks to pop on top of the medical masks for added protection as much as to lift your mood and cheer up the people around you.

Why? Because the pandemic is far from over yet, latest variants of Covid-19 are incredibly contagious, and people are still dying. As if we needed any more reasons to wear a face mask than those three! But apparently millions of people bewilderingly aren’t wearing masks because of “their freedom” (?!), “mental health” (!), and their glasses fog up (see How to Wear a Face Mask Properly, below).

So we thought we’d do our bit to try to persuade more people to wear face masks, as well as get vaccinated, and we’ve got 33 reasons to wear face masks when you travel – and we mean travel anywhere, whether that’s going on holidays or going to the shops.

As far as we’re concerned, the 33 points below provide enough reasons to wear face masks, but let’s look at some heart-breaking statistics: at the time of publishing this today, Saturday 23 July 2022, there have been 6.38 million deaths from Covid-19 and 569 million cases of Covid-19 worldwide. Insane, right? Especially when so many could have been prevented if more people wore masks and more people got vaccinated.

And by the time you check that death toll the numbers will have increased exponentially, such is the nature of the highly contagious Covid-19 Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5. To understand what that means, read this.

When it comes to Covid-19 vaccinations, of the global population, 2.5 years into the pandemic, only 67% of people have had one dose and only 62% two doses. We consider ourselves lucky to be in Cambodia, one of the world’s most vaccinated countries, where we’ve had both doses and our first boosters and can get our second booster for free as soon as we’re eligible. Do your bit and get vaccinated and get boosters.

Based on those figures, the world is far from beating this pandemic with Omicron spreading like wildfire in many countries around the world, including Australia and the USA, and not enough people vaccinated, and nowhere near enough people wearing face masks.

While Omicron variants and sub-variants may seem less severe compared to earlier Covid-19 variants, they are not ‘mild’, as they’re incredibly contagious. Omicron is killing people, especially the unvaccinated, elderly, vulnerable, and, yes, even children.

And the massive scale of people getting sick, including vaccinated people, continues to overwhelm hospitals, cause critical staff shortages, and strangle already-stressed global supply chains. That’s why your pharmacy and supermarket shelves might be empty.

Plus, the long-term health effects aren’t yet fully known. Terence and I have both suffered from ‘long Covid’ and it’s changed our lives. Medical researchers also don’t know what health impacts multiple re-infections will have.

So now is not the time to be complacent, dear readers. Mask up, everyone!

Now, before I share our reasons to wear face masks, we have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you find this information helpful, please consider supporting Grantourismo. One way is to buy our fun reusable cloth face masks, above, designed with Terence’s images from our Grantourismo store on Society6. These reusable face masks are machine-washable, snug-fitting and dual-layered so you can insert disposable filters into them. Buying our masks supports the creation of guides such as this. We’ve also got lots of other cool stuff in the shop.

Other ways to support the site is by using our links to book accommodation, rent a car or campervan or motorhome, buy travel insurance, book a tour on Klook or Get Your Guide, or buy something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers or travel books to inspire wanderlust. We may earn a commission but you won’t pay extra. Or you could buy us a coffee or donate to our original Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon. Now let me share our reasons to wear face masks.

Reasons to Wear Face Masks When You Travel – For Starters, the Pandemic Is Not Over Yet

Below you’ll find our 33 reasons to wear face masks when you travel, whether that’s travelling on holidays or just to the shop. If you have some reasons to wear face masks that we’ve overlooked? Leave them in the comments at the end of the post and we’ll add them to the list. And below that, you’ll find some tips on how to wear a face mask properly.

33 Reasons to Wear Face Masks When You Travel

1. 1. Wearing a mask is the right thing to do. You need a reason why? We have 32 of them below!
   2. The pandemic is not over yet – Covid cases are rapidly escalating, deaths are on the rise again in many countries, new Covid variants are appearing all the time, and they are incredibly contagious.
   3. Wearing a mask reduces the spread of Covid – the virus is airborne and travels in airborne droplets.
   4. Wearing a mask will help end the pandemic – the more people who wear masks, the less the virus spreads, and fewer people get Covid.
   5. The science is clear: masks reduce the chances of COVID-19 infection by more than 80 percent. (There are countless studies; I’ll link to some below).
   6. Vaccines don’t eliminate the need to wear masks – vaccines protect you by reducing the chance of serious illness or death; they don’t protect other people, masks do.
   7. To protect other people from getting sick – see #2 because Covid is airborne.
   8. To save people’s lives – most Covid deaths could have been prevented if everyone wore masks.
   9. Just because you don’t have Covid symptoms does not mean you don’t have Covid – 50% of transmission happens before people develop symptoms, that is when they’re asymptomatic i.e. do not have symptoms.
   10. You might kill someone’s grandma or grandpa – frail elderly people have a greater chance of dying of Covid than healthy young people.
   11. You might kill an immunocompromised person – the masked stranger standing in front of you in the shop check-out queue may be recovering from cancer or another disease, have a weakened immune system and are therefore more at-risk.
   12. You might kill someone’s children – children are just as at risk as anyone else of dying of Covid.
   13. Wearing a mask is an act of altruism – it demonstrates a selfless concern for the health and well-being of others.
   14. Wearing a mask is an act of empathy – it shows that you care about what other people might be experiencing, whether that’s health or financial challenges or a fear of getting sick.
   15. Wearing a mask shows you care about hospital staff, health workers and first responders who have sacrificed their lives, health, mental health, well-being, and social life to work long hours to save the rest of us for 2.5 years – so far!
   16. Covid is much more serious than a cold, people!
   17. Wearing a mask is hygienic – there’s a reason doctors, dentists, nurses, and surgeons wear masks and wash their hands. It’s hygienic and stops the spread of germs.
   18. For many cultures, it’s normal to wear masks if sick – there’s no need to be embarrassed, nobody is going to think you look silly in a mask, as it’s completely normal to wear masks.
   19. Wearing a mask is respectful of other cultures – in many countries, such as Asian countries, it’s expected that people wear masks when they’re sick, so people will think you’re disrespectful of them and their culture if you don’t.
   20. Wear a mask so people don’t think you’re a jerk.
   21. Wear a mask to protect people’s livelihoods – that person you give Covid to will need to take time off work and stay at home and if they’re a casual/freelance worker they could be losing valuable income.
   22. Wear a mask to help people keep feeding their families – that person you give Covid to on holidays may be living on the poverty-line, and their inability to work may mean they can’t feed their families.
   23. Wear a mask to protect the economy, and not only your own – the more people who get Covid, the more people off work, which affects staffing and the operation of businesses, which impacts economies.
   24. Make a political statement – stencil, paint or sew a political statement on to your mask. It’s easier than waving a flag and has more impact than a button or sticker.
   25. Support a cause – charities and NGOs sell masks to raise funds and promote their cause. Do the right thing.
   26. Masks are mandated in many countries – that means you must wear a mask, it’s illegal not to and you’ll be breaking the law if you don’t. Do your research before travelling.
   27. Wear a mask so you don’t risk being fined – see #25; if you don’t care about other people, you probably care about your wallet, right?
   28. Make a fashion statement – buy some stylish masks that match your wardrobe or design your own masks and have them made. but do double-mask as cloth masks aren’t as effective on their own.
   29. To express your creativity – turn your mask into a work of art.
   30. Make someone laugh – have you seen those masks with clown smiles?! Kids love those.
   31. Make someone hungry – foodies should seriously click through to Society 6 and check out our street food masks.
   32. Support your sports team – easy, just wear your team’s colours.
   33. Masks are sexy – go for black.

How to Wear a Face Mask Properly

Having worn face masks since the pandemic began in early 2020 – we never leave home without a few masks –  we’ve compiled our tips on how to wear a face mask properly and why you should consider double masking to protect yourself, loved-ones and your community against Omicron.

• Wear N95 masks for best protection, especially in crowded places, when you can’t social distance.
• If you only have surgical masks, then double-mask; put the surgical mask on first and wear a stylish or fun cloth mask over it.
• Stop wearing your mask beneath your chin.
• Stop wearing your mask beneath your nose.
• Definitely don’t dangle your mask from your damn elbow.
• Do pull your face mask up tightly over the bridge of your nose.
• Make sure you’re wearing a face mask with a fine wire and press the wire around your nose to make sure that the mask fits snugly to the contours of your face.
• The tighter your face mask fits, the less your glasses will fog!
• Wash your cloth face masks after every use.
• If you must re-wear surgical masks, initial them with letters representing the days of the week and hang them up to air out in between use.

If you have any more reasons to wear face masks that we haven’t covered, or more tips to how to wear a face mask properly, pop them in the comments below and we’ll add them to this list.