NomadicVibe

Will stay within the county as well till i am vaccinated.

At least US is big enough to do a drive and do state visits. Pretty cool imo. A lot of these "travel influencers" are doing so and gotta say the US is very different in each state.

I'll be traveling between from refrigerator to the couch and back to the refrigerator hoping something new magically appeared until I'm fully vaccinated. After that all bets are off! I got a year of no sex to catch up on. 

Every NYE,  I see people at parties enjoying themselves, or intimate time with friends and loved ones; while sitting at home watching through social media.    Of course I can live it up in a destination city or event, but why alone and not invited.  Despite it all, I’m Thankful for a great 2020 and excited about the possibility’s of 2021.  I’m thankful for a healthy mind, body, spirit, and this new community.  I will give more, love more, and promise to be a little selfish sometimes.  I will explore the World and learn to be my own best friend.  
 
Happy New Year to All and my fellow loners out there.   Love you guys! 

#Brazil, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Thailand, Colombia, 

https://www.smartertravel.com/all-the-countries-americans-can-visit-right-now/ 
Check this article out guys.  Anyone traveling anytime soon with the COVID surge? 

Every NYE,  I see people at parties enjoying themselves, or intimate time with friends and loved ones; while sitting at home watching through social media.    Of course I can live it up in a destination city or event, but why alone and not invited.  Despite it all, I’m Thankful for a great 2020 and excited about the possibility’s of 2021.  I’m thankful for a healthy mind, body, spirit, and this new community.  I will give more, love more, and promise to be a little selfish sometimes.  I will explore the World and learn to be my own best friend.  
 
Happy New Year to All and my fellow loners out there.   Love you guys! 

#Brazil, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Thailand, Colombia, 

Nomatic,
Yeah, usually I have a couple of friends over. but this year that was illegal.
First new years eve I can remember being on my own.
but with Sabrina and Queen of the South and some vodka tonics it ended up being ok.

Well, you must not be doing too badly if you think 2020 was GREAT, and are thankful for it.   Most people around the world feel 2020 was the worst year of their lives.  So continue to be thankful, and embrace the fact that you dodged a bullet in 2020.  While others are together and SEEM happy,   are they REALLY ?   

It seems to me that this revised curfew plan  will shift ‘essential’ goods/supplies shopping from what is often early weekday evening and weekend daytime (Saturday in particular) to weekend morning(s?), thereby compressing greater numbers of rushed and pressured people into retail spaces, notwithstanding distancing, etc, as opposed to spreading out this activity more sensibly. With barely any advanced notice to try to stock up ahead of time. 
My point applies to the extent that the country leans towards a 9:00-17:00 economy. In my northern city this kind of mitigation structure would be seen to exacerbate community transmission risk, even given lack of public pushback. 
The idea of bringing down the hammer for 10 days, attempting to wash out the typical contagion period factor of the same duration, while ensuring the infection reproduction number stays no greater than 1.0 and the approximate 2-month new case incidence doubling does not shorten, is good in principle. However, I thought that curfews were most intended and useful to dissuade gatherings that tend to uptick later in the day. 
The impact on transmission will likely be discernible by the weekend of Jan 16-17. Testing rates may drop during the stricter curfew, so it may be difficult to make an assessment at the point a decision needs to be made about the exigency of extending it beyond the point in question.
The health authorities also asserted that a recent testing blitz in shopping malls yielded a 17% rate of current CoV positivity. That would put the true point prevalence at 165 or more times the reality suggested by reported incidence metrics for the country. Something is not adding up there.

Confused enough yet?

https://www.smartertravel.com/all-the-countries-americans-can-visit-right-now/ 
Check this article out guys.  Anyone traveling anytime soon with the COVID surge? 

Apparently, curfew hours are 2 hours earlier during the week.  Thanks to @SolaceSoulfor the heads up. (See below).  Should I make it work or are there suitable alternative destinations?  Having to be inside before 7pm for 9 days seems unbearable; and staying home isn’t an option for me.  
 
Please see my post and response below from a different board.   
I was considering ensuring I stay at a hotel with adequate amenities.   Cine Lido appears to be a fail on weekends as opening at 6 pm leaves very little time to explore the place.  

Can anyone provide any tips to maximize experience with curfews in DR for individuals staying at least a week?  
—————————————————————-
 

Response from @SolaceSoul
This would be better suited for the LATAM board. I rarely, if ever, view this particular forum. Someone directed me to this post. So I’ll answer your question.
The curfew is now 7pm everyday. It was changed sometime in December. The U.S. State Department should give you updates on any curfew changes if you sign up for their SMART Traveler Program, if you’re a US Citizen or resident. 
All business, including stores, bars and restaurants are shut down for customers at 7, and they stop serving at 6. You can be transitioning to your hike or hotel until 9 pm without getting arrested (yes, they are serious). So you needs to plan accordingly. Uber Eats stil delivers for some  restaurants until a little after 9. Uber stops picking up customers after 9 pm. There are some authorized drivers who have passes on their windshields and are allowed to pick passengers up to take them home, to hotels or to airports. If you’re staying at a hotel, they should be able to help you with this.
if you want a dare to come over or leave after 9 pm, you’re going to need a hookup with one of those drivers, if the guy doesn’t have one already. Or else it’ll have to be an overnight until 6 am, when curfew lifts.
I can’t help you with the adult theatre Cine Lido. Not my cup of tea, and I don’t even think they’re open anyway. But if they are, like everything else, they would have to be shut by 7pm or risk going to Dominican jail. 

 
 

Thank you.  I reposted in the LÁTAM board, copying your response. 

Apparently, curfew hours are 2 hours earlier during the week.  Thanks to @SolaceSoulfor the heads up. (See below).  Should I make it work or are there suitable alternative destinations?  Having to be inside before 7pm for 9 days seems unbearable; and staying home isn’t an option for me.  
 
Please see my post and response below from a different board.   
I was considering ensuring I stay at a hotel with adequate amenities.   Cine Lido appears to be a fail on weekends as opening at 6 pm leaves very little time to explore the place.  

Can anyone provide any tips to maximize experience with curfews in DR for individuals staying at least a week?  
—————————————————————-
 

Response from @SolaceSoul
This would be better suited for the LATAM board. I rarely, if ever, view this particular forum. Someone directed me to this post. So I’ll answer your question.
The curfew is now 7pm everyday. It was changed sometime in December. The U.S. State Department should give you updates on any curfew changes if you sign up for their SMART Traveler Program, if you’re a US Citizen or resident. 
All business, including stores, bars and restaurants are shut down for customers at 7, and they stop serving at 6. You can be transitioning to your hike or hotel until 9 pm without getting arrested (yes, they are serious). So you needs to plan accordingly. Uber Eats stil delivers for some  restaurants until a little after 9. Uber stops picking up customers after 9 pm. There are some authorized drivers who have passes on their windshields and are allowed to pick passengers up to take them home, to hotels or to airports. If you’re staying at a hotel, they should be able to help you with this.
if you want a dare to come over or leave after 9 pm, you’re going to need a hookup with one of those drivers, if the guy doesn’t have one already. Or else it’ll have to be an overnight until 6 am, when curfew lifts.
I can’t help you with the adult theatre Cine Lido. Not my cup of tea, and I don’t even think they’re open anyway. But if they are, like everything else, they would have to be shut by 7pm or risk going to Dominican jail. 

 
 

Very thoughtful posts @SolaceSoul. I congratulate you as I think others might not have been so considerate of the newbie’s plans. 

It’s not even a river. It’s more like a creek. It’s on the outskirts of Santo Domingo, about 30 minute drive. I don’t remember the name. Maybe you can ask Freddy to be direct with you.
I said above that it’s similar to going to a picnic or a barbecue in the States. Would you just show up to one of those, uninvited, without a familiar guest? It’s the same with “the river”. Almost everyone who goes there knows each other from the area neighborhood, and probably won’t take too kindly to tourists treating their day of relaxation as a zoo or safari project. If you do choose to go, you’d be wise to be accompanied by a guide who can vouch for you, introduce you, and show you around. Especially since you’ve already stated your more prurient intentions. 

“The river” is a nice getaway day trip outside of Santo Domingo where you’ll see many locals having more rural, down home time, and there will be some attractive Dominicans there — similar to a picnic or barbecue in the park in the States. It would be a nice, pleasant enjoyable getaway... with an outside possibility of meeting some available guys. 
However, Freddy has always had a very active imagination, and likes to use it on new, less suspecting clients — to put it mildly. There is a lot of sunlight between your description of “the river” and the reality of it.

Noted.  Thank you again.  Great information for me and any other member considering as an option!