The London-Faringdon Coach passing Buckland House, Berkshire James Pollard, 1835
source
I was recently asked the following question:
When the pandemic is over, what’s the first country you will travel to?
If I’m being honest, I am anxious and hesitate to get back on the traveling horse even though I am dying to do so, and I wonder if others are also. But as my father the cowboy would say after falling off, “Check your gear, get back on straight away, or you’ll be scared forever.” He is wise; we can’t let fear drive us away from our passions or our opportunities to learn, and safety and security is always apropos.
I’ve been deadly ill before due to one of my military deployments – I caught tuberculous on one continent and it wasn’t diagnosed until I was on another (after a couple of misdiagnoses). I wasn’t allowed back in the US for six months past my remote assignment because I had to complete treatment first. After I returned home, I didn’t leave for a long time. I missed out on a lot of unique opportunities because of my fear. I won’t let that happen again.
This is a great time to be alive and have the resources to travel globally. The world is getting smaller and there’s never been a better time to see the world and be able to predict safety and security measures (due to Globalization 3.0, the Information Age, and Social Age – thus the speed of pertinent information).
I have decided to not travel to countries that did not do well with the pandemic for the rest of the year 2020. I was going to London this summer and I was going to go to Disneyland (I know, not overseas) for my 40th birthday. But now, I can’t imagine going to any large city like London or Las Angeles to place my life and others’ lives at risk until they have properly recovered. It isn’t fair to them either – to add another person to the mix before their resources are back online seems reckless. I can’t imagine going to a theme park either. It absolutely blew my mind that Disneyworld wanted to open back up not long after all this started.
Perhaps I am being too cautious, but many have been infected and have died. And you know, maybe another country is actually safer (I’m looking at you New Zealand – great job!). And, I do have all that credit from canceling my plane tickets, have access to important information, and know how to protect myself. Perhaps I can travel safely in the fall (but I don’t see this clearing up completely), but I have to get back on that horse in 2021!
So where do you plan to go next?
I would love to know!
Please comment below; thank you!
Jacqueline F. Casey. Gaming and Life Lessons. 