Twelve days before the pandemic was declared, I boarded a plane to India — excited, nervous, and unaware that the world was about to change.
Let’s start with some level setting
At the time, I did not do much business travel. I went on a domestic business trip maybe: once a year - most commonly for internal, company wide events.
Then in 2019, my boss suggested that we take a trip out of New Jersey, USA, to New Delhi, India, (Noida, to be specific) to continue to build rapport with the team of consultants that I was managing. We started to discuss the trip. But after a couple months, he concluded that he didn’t have the availability to go that winter. He suggested I take my first trip to India, or Asia for that matter, on my own before malaria season came around.
Around that time, my wife, a registered nurse, and I were tracking an illness in the news that was popping up in China and California, called COVID-19. Luckily it wasn’t reported around the NY Metropolitan area, or New Delhi, India… yet. But it was still a bit concerning.
I was finally able to book my departure flight for… February 29th, 2020 out of JFK International Airport, New York. Unfortunately none of my coworkers were able to join me.
Revisiting the dates of the pandemic, the flight was only 12 days before the WHO would declare a pandemic, after over 118,000 cases across 114 countries. My return flight on March 7th, was only 5 days before the declaration.
Preparing for Departure
On a Friday night, my coworker texted me. “Hey Joe, are you watching the news… Are you still going tomorrow [to India]”? I had been reading the news heavily. With regards to the USA, cases of COVID-19 were sprouting up, but mostly in California. To my knowledge, the east coast had no known cases, and neither did the region of New Delhi.
Some worries did pop into my head. What if I get sick in India? I don’t know what the health care is like there. Or the costs. What if I get stuck there for a while? I had never even been to Asia before!
But I continued to check Slack, my email, and text messages. I had zero messages from leadership. The flight alone cost thousands. Surely they had thought of me, and would let me know if they had any misgivings… right?
I didn’t want to appear weak, or wasteful with the company’s money. And I was excited to go. I love travel and foreign culture.
I responded to my coworker, “I’m excited for the trip… no messages from leadership to cancel. The virus is still 2,400 miles away. Seems like it’s a go. Wish me luck!!! 😬”
Early in the morning on February 29th, an Uber dropped me off at JFK.
I strolled up to the departure gate. When asked for my work visa, I handed over the print out. “I need the other email”, requested the agent.
Cringe. I realized my visa was on a work laptop I didn’t even bring—great start. With a stroke of luck, I was able to retrieve the email remotely, and boarded the flight.
I was strictly advised that on arrival - your driver’s name is so and so… Do not get in the car with anyone else.
I thought that I had the comfort of using my cell phone, with no changes, when I arrived in India. But I did have to contact T-Mobile support, after landing, to refresh the profile.
Moving through the busy NYC airports of JFK and New Delhi were a bit concerning with COVID-19 hitting the headlines more each and every day. New York City’s population is a measly 8 million people compared to the 22 million of New Delhi.
In addition to some exhaustion from Jetlag, I had a slight anxious sweat from being on the other side of the planet for the first time. My year round allergies continued to leave me with a slightly runny nose. Neither of those helped calm my fears of COVID-19 that week!
After arriving, the taxi driver took me to my hotel. Being February of 2020, I remember thinking to myself, “I guess he (the driver) doesn’t read the news. Masks aren’t advised”. Masks would later be mandated in the USA, and I would later felt ashamed of my earlier, ignorant position. Only later, to hear the masking efforts so heavily debated.
The consulting agency was amazingly hospitable, and it was a once in a lifetime experience!
There was an awkward moment where my Indian colleagues asked me, “The USA screened you before letting you on the plane, right?” In which I had to reply, “I don’t know what their screening process was before all of this. But to be honest, I don’t know if they did anything additional.” We looked at each other awkwardly, and continued on with our day.
At one point, they did walk me past the lobby of a nearby Samsung office. They informed me that the building had a special camera to screen the health of employees before they entered the office. We were not approached, and there were no noticeable alarms raised. I said to myself, “I guess I am ok? And my colleagues are as well”? 🤷
I was amazed to visit Swaminarayan Akshardham. I also had a completely new experience, walking barefoot in the temple Sri Harmandir Sahib. It was an interesting first for me - walking barefoot through a busy, public area, and the pandemic growing daily through the world.
Through the week, I spent time asking myself, “I wonder what services my health insurance covers being in India?” “What would it be like to be stranded here for some time?” “I wonder what the healthcare is like here”. “Will my wife, 3 and 5 year old children stay healthy back home?” “How much stress will it put on them if I am stranded here?” “Will I get them sick when I return?” “Will I bring illness here to India, or back home to the states?”
With my children being young, I had negotiated with my family to go for only 1 week, which was disappointing, because I have not made it back since. But it might have been a sign to head home before the illness spread even more. Thank goodness that, as far as my knowledge goes, I didn’t bring illness here or there.
Should I have asked leadership if I should have canceled my trip?
In hindsight, courage isn’t just about fulfilling your duty — it’s about caring enough to question the risks for everyone involved.
I had watched the news. Ogled at the maps of the spread. Read the articles. Calculated the risks.
As a manager, I wanted to be strong and confident about my trip. It was my first solo business trip. First international business trip. First trip to India. It was a lot of firsts.
I did not want to waste thousands of the company’s dollars by cancelling the trip.
To ask the question to leadership would show weakness.
In hindsight, I believe that the best approach would have been to start the discussion with my leadership by showing concern for the welfare of the consultants in India. The welfare of the consulting agency and its employees was important!
It would have also deflected the conversation from my willingness to go by framing the conversation around a different important topic.
Were the consultants concerned that I would bring the virus with me? Did any of them have health risks, which would cause the exposure to be extra concerning?
Given the opportunity again, this is the more selfless approach that I would have used to start the conversation, for their welfare and my own self interests.
On February 29th, 2020, No one knew how the pandemic would explode into a multi-year tragedy.
I am forever grateful to have had this opportunity of a lifetime. I am not aware of anyone directly falling ill around the time of my trip, and sincerely hope that that is the case.
If any of my colleagues in India do read this, I apologize for putting you all at risk. Thank you for being such great hosts!
Hindsight is… 2020.
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