It is amazing how the world around us changed in the last 90 days. Country borders have closed, flights cancelled and people are genuinely apprehensive about the future. As slow travelers it has also disrupted our plans and schedules until further notice. We thought we had plans for this Spring & Summer but now all that has changed. When we started traveling a year and a half ago we would never have imagined the world would be in such a state of upheaval.
It all started in December 2019 when we heard about this new Coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China. As we watch the world news about China and the spread of the virus 🦠 we couldn’t help but think this is another H1N1 scenario. Prior to this we were already making plans to visit China and Russia the Summer of 2020. We dreamed of taking the train from Vietnam up through China and Mongolia and then across Russia into Moscow and St. Petersburg. As it became the New Year, things continually got worse in China. We figured now we would not be able to go to China but maybe could still plan on Russia if the virus stayed contained in China.
Fast forward to January 2020. We have been in the Philippines since mid November and closely watching the news reports about China. Still trying to figure out where we will go this Spring & Summer now. So far virus has been contained to China but some of the surrounding countries are closing their borders to Chinese tourists. We will be staying here until January 21th then will be going on to Thailand for the next 2 months. We are looking forward to our Daughter and Son-in-law visiting us there the beginning of March. We discover that Russia is also off the table especially since we planned to transit through China. Now all of our plans to either China or Russia have been scraped for this year.
February 2020, boy were we wrong about the spread of the virus! It is now in Iran and Italy and growing in the number of cases daily. We knew it probably won’t be long before it would start spreading across Europe. We were scheduled to do a house sit in Chiang Mai for a couple from Switzerland the month of May. They were planning on spending time away in Switzerland and New Zealand to visit relatives and friends. By the end of the month they contacted us and told us they would be cancelling their holiday for the time being. So now our plans of spending May in Chiang Mai are over and we have to start planning all over again. Very few Asian tourists here in Thailand now but still quite a few Europeans that have not yet gone home.
It is now beginning of March 2020. The world is turning into a giant Petrie dish. Here in Thailand they only have 19 reported cases so far. Everywhere we go you see people wearing face masks 😷 and using hand sanitizer. We worry about our daughters visit since they will be flying through Incheon airport in S. Korea which has turned into a hotspot for COVID-19. We have asked them to take precautions on the plane like taking anti-bacterial wipes and wiping down the hand rests, tray table, light switch, shade, etc. on the plane. Also to wear masks in any public places they travel through and wash their hands frequently. Once they get here, this may be a safe place to visit for now. The number of cases worldwide are dramatically on the rise and it has spread to our home country the USA.
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| Our world is upside down
It is now the end of March 2020 in the capital city of Vientiane, Laos. You cannot enter a bank or grocery store without having your mask on, temperature taken and washing your hands first. Very few people on the street and fewer and fewer shops are open each day. We ended up here since we had originally planned to go to Cambodia on March 18th. When we arrived at the airport that afternoon we were told that the border was closed to US citizens the night before. It didn’t matter that we had not been in the US for over 18 months and were refused a boarding pass. The only country close to Thailand that we could fly to that day was Laos so we changed our plans and flew into Vientiane. The flight was pretty empty and we believe was the last flight from Bangkok to here for awhile because they closed the borders here the next day. Here we sit and we wait to see what the future brings since going back to the US was not an option for us.
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We are thankful for all the precautions taken everywhere around us at this time. We are blessed that we are both healthy and well. We found a nice apartment to stay at until we know how long we will have to be here and are practicing self-quarantine. Slow travel will take on a whole new meaning now since it will be much slower than we ever could have imagined. May the world recovery quickly and everyone be safe wherever you happen to be. 🌏🌍🌎