Travel in a time of uncertainty-Should you?

All times are uncertain, so in a sense, I really hate the title of this post.

Perhaps it is more about traveling when there is nothing to do and nowhere to go. But even that is not entirely true. There is the outside. And a lot more people are rediscovering it.

I’ll have to admit I have mixed feelings about it. There is a part of me that loves to explore and learn. But then there is the part of me that says it is the socially responsible thing to do to stay home.

There is also the reality that many of many things are still closed. What is open seems to require reservations and has some kind of timed entry. That puts quite the damper on spontaneous traveling.

This has really turned out to be the year of the local, and the road trip.

Time to look back, and ahead

How we need to look at all this is a reset. Maybe it is time that we all reflected on what we really value. Maybe more of us will become travelers rather than tourists. Stay in places longer and learn more. Slow travel is becoming something that more people are thinking about when we get back to traveling.

But we can’t ignore that this has been a hard reset for a lot of people in the travel industry. More jobs have been lost, and more businesses in travel and hospitality are going to close. They need our support, now and when we get back to traveling.

Thinking and planning how we want to go forth and travel after might be all we can do right now. But planning now gives us hope for the future. Planning also can help us as travelers frame how we want to see travel and exploration going forward.

Travel now or later?

When it comes down to it, the choice to travel now is all up to you. No blog post or article will really convince you otherwise. It seems that most people have made a choice one way or another already. (Like a lot of choices that we have made this year.)

Options are going to limit you anyways. Transportation options are limited. Many restaurants and museums are closed or have limited service.

But now might be a good time to work on those travel skills. Packing bags for the fun of it. Sharpening up the photo and video skills. Maybe even writing about past trips.

Build up those skills and when you do get back on the road, you will be better set to enjoy and document the journey.

Plan and keep the wanderlust embers burning.