I agree some of the romance has definitely been taken away by the pandemic. Sitting down in your hotel room to take the covid test to make sure your trip ends on time is far from romantic. Travel for me is more than escape. Getting off a long haul with the adrenaline pumping exciting about what you will see, learn and smell. It's also about personal growth and getting out of your comfort zone. Staying curious and looking for the good stuff.
Keep up the good work on Central Division. Happy Holidays.
My wife and I went on our (long-delayed) honeymoon in September to Scotland (with a couple days in London and a quick day-trip to Paris) and we really felt this. We had a really wonderful time, and even the hard things like the hundreds of dollars in COVID tests we paid and the difficulty in finding restaurants that would feed us didn’t detract from the time we spent together. I felt more bad for the restauranteurs and farmers who haven’t enough staff to work their businesses, which is part pandemic and part Brexit, but I couldn’t imagine trying to run my business on my own.
We have started to venture out…Exumas last May, lots of domestic stops since then. All was well and greatly enjoyed.
Our biggest issue with overseas travel is the constant fear of cancellation after months of anticipation.
Our 2020 England Wainwright Coast to Coast walk across the Lake District…delayed till 2021, now delayed again…indefinitely.
We have a trip to the Republic of Georgia in January that is now completely dependent on the weekly evolution of Omicron and the Georgian governments final requirements for testing and quarantine, plus any restrictions in the countries where we connect. As a result, it becomes difficult to invest too much into these trips due to the fear of having to pull the plug…again.
Some would say screw Covid, go anyway, but who wants the added complication of having to spend 10 days in a Georgian quarantine hotel, while flights out of the country dwindle to nothing as airlines draw down service. We caught the last flight out of Tbilisi in March 2020 and, take my word for it, that is something to avoid.
But is this the new norm? And just a part of our future with home for a return to a “before” just a pipe dream?
I've felt this on a smaller scale too -- went out to a nice dinner with a few friends last week and had to look at very large signs about mask-wearing as we walked in. This is at an old-school supper club kind of place where you want to dress up a little, but the presence of that signage subtracted from the experience and added to the background hum of anxiety about nearly everything we do when we leave the house. It's frustrating!
If your traveling for work or on a short two to three day trip. What bag are you using? I don’t want to check my luggage but hate the overhead battles.
Travel can be simple still. By car, in state or whatever. No need for tests and paperwork, just go. I'm headed not far from home in the next week for a Christmas weekend get-together with friends at a VRBO place in the country. It will be all about the experience, and not the effort to get there. Really enjoying these installments and the podcast with Michael. Keep it up!!
Suppose to be taking a family trip to England and France to give our kids exposure to international travel. Anxiety is the replacement for excitement.
I agree some of the romance has definitely been taken away by the pandemic. Sitting down in your hotel room to take the covid test to make sure your trip ends on time is far from romantic. Travel for me is more than escape. Getting off a long haul with the adrenaline pumping exciting about what you will see, learn and smell. It's also about personal growth and getting out of your comfort zone. Staying curious and looking for the good stuff.
Keep up the good work on Central Division. Happy Holidays.
My wife and I went on our (long-delayed) honeymoon in September to Scotland (with a couple days in London and a quick day-trip to Paris) and we really felt this. We had a really wonderful time, and even the hard things like the hundreds of dollars in COVID tests we paid and the difficulty in finding restaurants that would feed us didn’t detract from the time we spent together. I felt more bad for the restauranteurs and farmers who haven’t enough staff to work their businesses, which is part pandemic and part Brexit, but I couldn’t imagine trying to run my business on my own.
Happy holidays David, to you and yours.
We have started to venture out…Exumas last May, lots of domestic stops since then. All was well and greatly enjoyed.
Our biggest issue with overseas travel is the constant fear of cancellation after months of anticipation.
Our 2020 England Wainwright Coast to Coast walk across the Lake District…delayed till 2021, now delayed again…indefinitely.
We have a trip to the Republic of Georgia in January that is now completely dependent on the weekly evolution of Omicron and the Georgian governments final requirements for testing and quarantine, plus any restrictions in the countries where we connect. As a result, it becomes difficult to invest too much into these trips due to the fear of having to pull the plug…again.
Some would say screw Covid, go anyway, but who wants the added complication of having to spend 10 days in a Georgian quarantine hotel, while flights out of the country dwindle to nothing as airlines draw down service. We caught the last flight out of Tbilisi in March 2020 and, take my word for it, that is something to avoid.
But is this the new norm? And just a part of our future with home for a return to a “before” just a pipe dream?
Inshallah….this will all be over….eventually
I've felt this on a smaller scale too -- went out to a nice dinner with a few friends last week and had to look at very large signs about mask-wearing as we walked in. This is at an old-school supper club kind of place where you want to dress up a little, but the presence of that signage subtracted from the experience and added to the background hum of anxiety about nearly everything we do when we leave the house. It's frustrating!
If your traveling for work or on a short two to three day trip. What bag are you using? I don’t want to check my luggage but hate the overhead battles.
Travel can be simple still. By car, in state or whatever. No need for tests and paperwork, just go. I'm headed not far from home in the next week for a Christmas weekend get-together with friends at a VRBO place in the country. It will be all about the experience, and not the effort to get there. Really enjoying these installments and the podcast with Michael. Keep it up!!