Previous generations liked to play it safe – buy a car, have some kids, and buy a house. Millennials on the other hand have a kamikaze side to them, and why shouldn’t they? Glaciers are melting, bees are dying, and governments are turning into dictatorships.
Thanks to the onset of coronavirus, ‘Carpe Diem‘ seems to be the motto of the moment, with millennials taking advantage of the ridiculously low flight prices.
You really think Coronavirus is gonna stop me booking a holiday and catching a flight? pic.twitter.com/1uAqkealWu
— Jack (@J4CKMULL) March 9, 2020
Lowering the price of flights to almost nothing and warning millennials travelling might kill us is just asking for trouble. $200 international flight and I could die? Sign me tf up
— Rufus (@Itsrufusbitch) March 10, 2020
The coronavirus affects senior citizens and kids the most, so those in the middle are saying ‘Fuck it’, and using the opportunity to travel in ways they usually couldn’t afford.
NBC News spoke to some of these do-or-die travellers, highlighting the case of one Ashley Henkel, who said,
I feel like if the coronavirus would get even more serious and like wipe out a large amount of people, I might as well be somewhere having fun.
Henkel will be holidaying in 3 cities, and has saved around $200 in air fare.
Air fares have been slashed so much, it’s seeing a massive response from people in their 20s who might never actually get to see the world. It’s high risk, but they don’t seem to care.
Millennials just travelling amidst the Corona virus panic is my favourite Twitter genre.
— Love Assassin 💖 (@ItsJust_Lynn) March 12, 2020
Some people are highlighting the irony that it’s the only time millennials can afford to travel, pointing to a broken system.
Y’all keep joking about millennials travelling but missing the point that this is the first time most millennials can actually afford to travel… and it took a whole pandemic to make it happen…
— Elle Woods💅🏼 (@Lexis_Marieee16) March 12, 2020
It’s really funny that in 10 years there’s gonna be so many stories from millennials that are just like “and so yeah I was travelling through Europe, coz u know, Corona, and I just got stuck in Denmark and just had to live there, so that’s when I met Jans…”
— The Jellicle King (@HarrisonVevo) March 12, 2020
Millennials and gen z: we’re really out here thinking of travelling and seeing the world now that this epidemic has made flights so cheap. Travel has become less of a luxury than HEALTHCARE.
— Barbara (@barbarapetek1) March 11, 2020
Others are implying that the entire virus itself is a big conspiracy to make travel cheaper and easier.
Plot twist: the coronavirus is just a travelling scheme that Millennials and Gen Z started to get dirt cheap flights and keep Boomers out of vacation spots during spring break.
— Your Daydream (@GracieEliseY) March 10, 2020
Lol I’m not lying when I say I see so many millennials travelling right now, no one is scared of the virus
— kiki🌻 (@kali_galbraith) March 9, 2020
And yet others are pointing out just how cheap travel has become.
Coronavirus got Boomers stocking their doomsday bunkers… meanwhile millennials are online shopping for bathing suits for the five island trip they just booked on Spirit for $130.
— Kevin Harden, Jr. (@KHJ_Esq) March 7, 2020
Millennials be trippin’ – literally! These guys don’t give a single fuck – I blame it on the memes. In all honestly though, it’s of extreme importance that you stay safe and sanitized. The WHO has suggested that you don’t travel unless absolutely necessary, so as to stem the spread of the virus, and we’d do well to listen.