There have been plenty of uncertain times with outbreaks of civil unrest, war, terrorism, and even acts of nature such as tsunamis, hurricanes or cyclones, and earthquakes. Nothing, however, can compare to the worldwide impact of the current coronavirus pandemic and the impact that it is having on not just travel, but on how we interact with other people. Regardless of your opinion of whether governments are overreacting or not reacting with severe enough restrictions, every day is bringing a changing landscape in the world of travel.
We happen to have a trip to Turkey planned for mid-April and our attitude at the moment is more or less to wait and see what things are like and what restrictions are in place when the time comes. It doesn’t really matter if you plan to travel locally or someplace around the world, the reality is that popular locations might be closed as well as celebrations and sporting events cancelled. Any travel, regardless of distance or borders, is basically being discouraged at the moment. It is as if we woke up one day in some sort of alternate world that is completely foreign to the one that we’ve been living in for all of our lives.
Although we aren’t concerned about ourselves being infected as we are healthy and don’t have any underlying conditions that would put us at risk, we certainly don’t want to inadvertently spread the virus to others. Unfortunately, the current circumstances will likely lead to some long term impacts. Many businesses that rely on travel will not survive if the travel restrictions remain in effect too long, which is obviously sad to think about. It is hard to say what other changes may be in store when travel resumes and we are confident that we will come to some sort of new normal, hopefully in the not too distant future. Perhaps countries will leave some sort of health screenings in place for all arriving travelers or as part of some border check. Who knows if people will interact in the same way ever again, kisses on the cheek, handshakes, and hugs might become a thing of the past, although we hope not.
We will continue to share information from previous trips until we are able to resume our travels. If we learn any advice on how to navigate in the new world, we will certainly share that as well, but things are changing so fast that a crystal ball couldn’t predict what will happen next. We will continue to take one day at a time and hope for everyone’s sake that the restrictions serve their purpose and allow health officials to get the upper hand on the spread of the virus.