I’ve thought long and hard about how best to serve  travel lovers at this time. It doesn’t help that the information we have is changing by the minute.

I don’t think there’s any use in adding my non-medical voice to the noise that is leading to confusion, guilt, shame, worry and panic.

Travel is and has always been a personal decision. It has also always been a decision that had the potential to affect the lives and livelihoods of people around the world. My heart breaks for the people whose lives have been  dramatically disrupted and the families who have lost loved ones or are sick with worry at that potential.  Years of travel around the world means that my friends are global and I know and feel their pain.

The Road Forward - COVID-19

The Road Forward is the only option.

I have no advice to offer, except this: Tune out the noise as best you can. The people to listen to are the infectious disease medical professionals trained in this area, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. My hope is that with reason and patience, we can get through this trying time.

I’ll be sharing information from trusted sources on my social media channels when I can. I’ll also continue to share stories about the places in this world that I can’t wait for you to see.

Please don’t mistake hope for insensitivity.

One of the things that I do think can come out of this is a greater appreciation for what is at stake when we don’t get out and see the world.

One day we will be Covid19 free and I hope we will look back on it as a time that reminded us of our humanity, of the importance of human connection and touch and of the effect that one side of the planet can have on the other. I hope this time reminds us to be kind and compassionate, to appreciate the world and to never take for granted the incredible privilege of seeing it.

One day, in the near future I hope,  it will be the catalyst for bucket lists being obliterated and vacation time being taken.

And then, it will serve as a reminder to all of us that when we have the opportunity to do so, we must live our lives as fully, kindly and widely as possible.

Stay safe friends,
Heather