Glad you had a good and safe trip.
My wife had to fly U.S. to Europe for a week mid Feb to visit a dying relative. She said she was the only one wearing a mask on the flight out; she and 1 asian woman wore them coming back.
I have pulmonary issues and generally wear them on planes because I don’t need to breath the recycled air of everyone, plus people tend to leave me along.... (: >)
On one flight the strap on the mask broke and a guy behind me was wet-coughing incessantly. I “borrowed” a white napkin from first class and wore it as a bandanna, much to the bemusement of the flight attendants...
Like you, I have a fear of people coughing nearby, which is why I am avoiding air travel as much as possible. We are in Florida, and we drove to Seattle for daughters law college graduation and stopped in Phoenix on the way back! Longest drive possible in mainland USA! But we had dog with us which is main reason to drive.