What do you miss most about pre-COVID life? Is it eating out at restaurants? Going to the club to perrear? Or is it traveling? For many Americans, it seems like the number one answer would be traveling. In fact, a huge number of Americans miss traveling so much that they would be willing to give up sex just to be able to go on a trip right now. 

So just how many people are willing to give up sex for a trip right now?

According to an informal survey conducted by travel site Trivago, a whopping 38% of Americans say they’d give up sex for an entire year to go on a trip right now. And that’s a poll of 2,000 people! 

“After a year that changed everything, it’s clear that modern travel has been profoundly altered, perhaps forever. As the vaccine rollout continues and restrictions begin to lift in parts of the globe, eager travelers everywhere wait patiently for the clear signal to be able to get away and adventure once again,” Trivago shared in a statement alongside its survey results. “The results reveal significant desires to travel, including what consumers would give up, what they’d like to do and where they’d like to go, as well as why they’d like to get back on the road.”

But it wasn’t just sex…Americans are willing to give up a lot that they care about for a trip.

Beyond finding out that more than one-third of Americans would give up sex for a year, Trivago also found that one in five people would give up their partner to travel now, and one in four said they’d give up all their savings. Additionally, nearly 50% of respondents in the U.S. said they’d happily give up their job to hit the road again.

Why are people so willing to give it all up for a few vacations?

“More than 80% of those surveyed somewhat or strongly agree that travel is a part of a well-rounded life,” Trivago added. “The concept of travel as a form of self-care/wellness and to expand one’s perspective is one that continues to grow.”

It noted, in both the U.S. and the UK, a substantial majority of respondents said that being prevented from traveling freely is one of the worst aspects of the pandemic and that because of the pandemic this is the most they’ve ever felt like traveling.

But hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer. Although international travel is still largely discouraged by governments around the world, some level of travel is starting to return to normal. But until we have the COVID-19 pandemic under control, it’s important we do our part to keep everyone safe. Things like staycations, domestic trips, and even taking a virtual vacation. While it may not be entirely the same thing, at least you won’t have to give up all the good parts of life to get it.

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Photo via George W. Davis, Public Domain

Today, March 22nd marks Día de la Abolición de Esclavitud in Puerto Rico–the date that marks the emancipation of slaves in Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, enslaved peoples were emancipated in 1873–a full decade after the U.S. officially abolished slavery. But unlike the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico celebrates today as an official holiday, where many businesses are closed.

The emancipation of Puerto Rican slaves was a very different process than the United States’. For one, the emancipation was gradual and over three years.

When the Spanish government abolished slavery in Puerto Rico 1873, enslaved men and women had to buy their freedom. The price was set by their “owners”. The way the emancipated slaves bought their freedom was through a process that was very similar to sharecropping in the post-war American south. Emancipated slaves farmed, sold goods, and worked in different trades to “buy” their freedom.

In the same Spanish edict that abolished slavery, slaves over the age of 60 were automatically freed. Enslaved children who were 5-years-old and under were also automatically freed.

Today, Black and mixed-race Puerto Ricans of Black descent make up a large part of Puerto Rico’s population.

The legacy of enslaved Black Puerto Ricans is a strong one. Unlike the United States, Puerto Rico doesn’t classify race in such black-and-white terms. Puerto Ricans are taught that everyone is a mixture of three groups of people: white Spanish colonizers, Black African slaves, and the indigenous Taíno population.

African influences on Puerto Rican culture is ubiquitous and is present in Puerto Rican music, cuisine, and even in the way that the island’s language evolved. And although experts estimate that up to 60% of Puerto Ricans have significant African ancestry, almost 76% of Puerto Ricans identified as white only in the latest census poll–a phenomenon that many sociologists have blamed on anti-blackness.

On Puerto Rico’s Día de la Abolición de Esclavitud, many people can’t help but notice that the island celebrates a day of freedom and independence when they are not really free themselves.

Independence is the only option for decolonization. Puerto Rico has been a colony long enough. The US Territories have been colonies long enough.

— MARR (@Anitaishere) March 22, 2021

As the fight for Puerto Rican decolonization rages on, there is a bit of irony in the fact that Puerto Rico is one of the only American territories that officially celebrates the emancipation of slaves, when Puerto Rico is not emancipated from the United States. Yes, many Black Americans recognize Juneteenth (June 19th) as the official day to celebrate emancipation from slavery, but it is not an official government holiday.

Perhaps, Puerto Rico celebrates this historical day of freedom because they understand how important the freedom and independence is on a different level than mainland Americans do.

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