March 31, 2020 - Pandemic

Our travels were interrupted by the Coronavirus, as were normal lives of  everyone else, traveling or not.  We think we are luckier than probably most - we are retired, so no jobs to lose, no jobs that require a presence.  We do not have a home, and are not going to quarantine with our children, so we are staying at a hotel.  Since hotels are what we stay in almost all the time, this is something we can handle, although not being able to go out except for walks or to get food is discouraging.  On the other hand, we have lots of photo and blog work to do on past trips, so we can keep busy, and perhaps catch up a bit.

We had two months of our long 7 month trip canceled.  Most suppliers are giving credits, not refunds, so we are in the process of rescheduling what we had planned for the next year or so, to take the trips that were canceled this year in order to not lose the credits.  And working them around trips we already have planned into 2023.  And we assume that out summer trips will be canceled as well, though they have not been yet, and we will need to reschedule those.  And possibly the fall trips as well.  Which means that future trips planned but not booked will be delayed by a year or two.  However, if that is the worst we have to do, we will be very lucky.  We are much better off than most people in that regard, as many people are dealing with lost jobs, lost pay checks, the infection, and lost loved ones.

We hope for a reasonably quick end to the virus threat, and recovery of jobs and the economy.  

And as a final thought, we would like to thank all the workers who are still out there doing their jobs that are keeping us safe, fed, and generally okay.  Thank you nurses, doctors, healthcare workers, janitors, farmers, field workers, food distributors, delivery people, sales clerks, teachers, restaurant workers, truck drivers, sanitation workers, first responders, letter carriers, and many other people working critical jobs.