Coronavirus and Its Effect on Travel

Its Effect on

Travel By Lori Sweet

Is the trip still on? Are you still planning on traveling? These are the questions I have been asked and am asking of others.

My husband is an airline pilot who is at a major North American airport several times each week. He has noticed a significant reduction in people in the terminal and people on the flights. Even flights from one province to another in Canada have light loads compared to just a few weeks ago. At the airport, only a handful of people wear masks. From everything we have read, it should only be the people who have a cough or cold that should be wearing them.

People who buy masks unnecessarily have caused a problem for a family member of mine who is in the medical field. She needs an N95 mask for her job as a nurse. Unfortunately, they are backordered because people who don’t need them are buying them. Without a mask, she can have limited patient contact only.

I was on a flight within Canada last week. I only saw one person with a mask, and I was the only one around me who used wipes to clean the tray and armrests. Cleaning the tray and armrests is a simple step to take to protect ourselves, yet few do it.

I was planning a trip to California in early April to visit some wineries. That is still tentative. I have a big trip at the end of April to Europe with a large group of high school students. We are to visit Paris, London, and Amsterdam. At this point, most of the school boards have cancelled trips abroad. Our trip has not been cancelled officially…yet. If the school board cancels it, then the students can apply for a refund through insurance. Unfortunately, the travel company will not refund the money. There are a large number of students who graduate this year and would not be able to use travel vouchers or go on the trip if postponed until next year.

I know of several people who had cruises booked with departures in the next couple of weeks. One was with Princess Cruise Lines and the other with Norwegian. Neither party wanted to cancel and lose their money. As of this writing, Princess Cruise Lines has cancelled all sailings for the next 60 days and has offered a generous package for future travel or a refund to those booked with them. Norwegian has offered credit towards another cruise in the future to my f riends who booked with them. While disappointed that their trip is cancelled, both groups are happy that the companies chose for them.

I do have friends and family that did choose to travel to Europe last week. My friend Vicky from www.journeysjauntsandjunkets.com travelled to Italy for a conference that is now cancelled. She is stuck in Rome trying to get home to the U.S. My in-laws are in Portugal still enjoying a wonderful holiday.

Here in Canada, we are lucky to have a universal health care system. If you are sick, you will receive treatment. The same health precautions advised around the world are also recommended here in Canada. The number of people in Canada who have been diagnosed with Coronavirus is low.

Things can and do change quickly. Hopefully, people will take this time to enjoy their hometowns and plan a trip elsewhere while waiting for this to settle down. As my grandmother would say, “This too shall pass.” I just hope it is sooner rather than later.

Photo: Walkway at Toronto Pearson International Airport—©voyagewriters

Coronavirus: Face the Challenge

By Scott Kendall

©Chris Cutler

Disneyland is closing this weekend.

All public museums in Washington, DC will close.

Italy is closed to all travel.

Travel to and from the United States and most of Europe is canceled.

The NBA, MLB, and the NHL have suspended all play until further notice.

No, these are not headlines from the newest Hollywood disaster movie. They are real headlines on news of the day on March 12, 2020.

As the Coronavirus hits pandemic proportions, the whole world has been hit hard. The travel sector has been hit especially hard. Countries have closed borders; airlines have canceled flights; quarantines have become the norm; and no one really knows what tomorrow may bring.

As a travel writer who often plans months, and even years, in advance, I have recently had to make some tough decisions about my future travels. Some decisions have been made for me. And probably most frustrating, I am in limbo in several situations where it’s impossible to make intelligent decisions with so much uncertainty about the direction and magnitude of this obviously dangerous health threat.

In particular, I have several big upcoming trips that most likely will not happen.

One is a trip to Colorado. My wife was scheduled to have graduation ceremonies for her doctorate in nursing in June. I have made many plans, not only to attend the graduation, but also to arrange individual

press trips in Denver, Colorado Springs, Canon City, Santa Fe, Big Bend, and other destinations in the area. Just this week, the college canceled the graduation ceremonies because of Coronavirus. POOF! No graduation ceremony.

We also planned to return to Paris in June for 11 days. I’ve made arrangements to be hosted for a tour of Versailles, a Food Tour in Marais, a street art tour, and am working on other arrangements to fill out my Paris itinerary. I also have two plane tickets from Houston to Paris, and a hotel room in the 2 nd Arrondisement for 11 days. At this point, I don’t know if the airline will cancel my flights. But with the trip just three months away, it’s not looking good at this time. What do I do?

So what am I doing in this confusing, frustrating, and, yes—scary—time? Here are the things I’m focusing on.

Keep things in perspective. Actions being taken are to save lives and stop the spread of a deadly virus. Whatever inconveniences you and I face are minor in comparison. Rescheduling a trip, cancelling some reservations, or telling your editor you can’t write a story because you can’t visit a destination are not the end of the world.

Focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t do. So I can’t go to Italy or France. Where can I go? I can still travel to many places within the United States and to other destinations. I can stay local. Or, I can use some of the time I was planning on traveling to catch up on that long list of To Do items I haven’t had time to do – because I’m always traveling or writing about my travels.

©Scott Kendall

Use this time as a learning experience In the future, you will undoubtedly run into more situations that you couldn’t foresee. The strength, flexibility, wisdom, and perseverance you used to get you through this Coronavirus crisis will help you get through the next crisis. Always have a Plan B and a Plan C when your original plans don’t materialize.

By no means am I minimizing the seriousness of the Coronavirus and the obstacles it puts in our way. This pandemic will test our patience, and some bad things will happen. People are dying and will continue to suffer and die. We must pull together and work together for a solution.

We can choose how we respond to this crisis. Our choices are to face the challenge and make the best of it, or retreat in panic and fear and become paralyzed into inaction.

I’ll choose to face the challenge and make the best of it every time.

©Scott Kendall