Right now I should be somewhere over the Atlantic ocean in Turkish Air’s brand new 787-900 business class. Instead, I’m in a Vancouver park being socially distance and awkward.
This life in isolation has affected everyone. Like the rest of the world, my 2020 travel plans have been shot. Shame as my big trip this year was going to be BIG. Before the Turkish Air flight, I would have already spent a day exploring San Salvador, I would have checked out the Panama Canal for the first time, and spent my first night in Bogotá Columbia.
Now? Not.
The situation though isn’t all bad. This downtime has allowed me to push the stop button on this blog, step back, and observe. After two months off I have some thoughts. In no particular order, here are a few.
In This Post...
On Future Travel
As noted in my post on what the future of travel is going to look like, I’m not overly excited to fly anytime soon. That said, there are also some positives to come out of this.
As such, instead of outright cancelling my epic around the world trip, I have delayed it and scaled it back. The main reason for this is the fact that I could still rebook under Aeroplan’s old rules of allowing for two stopovers. The catch is I can only push it back one year out from the time of booking. This means I will now be departing August 30. Fingers crossed.
Instead of 12 stops covering five continents, I will be only making three stops. Still, they are three places I’ve never been to.
I knew I would have to cancel this trip eventually but put it off as I had heard horror stories about trying to get through to the Aeroplan call centre. To my surprise, when I called in there was little to no delay. I guess my procrastination was worthwhile. I am not confident Central and South America will be in good shape anytime soon and I am also am planning a return to Africa next year so removed a good portion of the trip. So that said, my new itinerary includes four days in Tel Aviv, three days in Addis Ababa, 24 hours in Istanbul, and two days in Taipei.
Will I Actually go Through With it?
Now that said, I am not confident this world (or I) will be in shape to allow a trip like this happen. None of it is essential. On top of that, it doesn’t excite me. So why go?
Maybe things will improve. Maybe I will have a change of heart. As of now though, this is very much plan Z. Airports might be packed with anxiety-inducing measures, lounges may not be open, and I don’t want to wear a mask in business class for 12-hours straight. I know how that sounds but it is what it is. Even though I rely on these trips for content and to keep my side business alive, it’s just not worth it. I will most likely cancel this trip unless something drastically improves.
I’m curious if any of you have done the same – pushback travel instead of cancelling altogether? If so, for how long? What would make you comfortable enough to fly again? Let me know!
Travel Beyond 2020
At this point, I don’t think it will be comfortable to travel until 2021. This life in isolation has made me a touch-sensitive towards world travel. No new reports of COVID-19 would help. A vaccine would be great. As such, I am looking ahead and planning an epic trip back to Kenya and South Africa in 2021! We are all going to need a vacation after this so I am swinging for the fences. Stay tuned on that.
On This Blog
Within days of boarders shutting and planes being grounded, the traffic to my site completely dried up. So did the sponsorships and any sort of revenue that comes along with it. Understandable but weird.
After getting back from touring full-time in 2016, my life became a regimented mix of working my ass off at my day job and spending my evenings and weekends in coffee shops working on this site. With no real plan, this became my normal for three years. I got a promotion at work and was in line for another so thought, I had my fun but it’s time to do some work.
Then my normal changed.
Things did not pan out as planned at work and I was making little gains on this site. So when the pandemic happened, I was ready for a break. And a break I did take. Work at my day job dried up as well and I’m at a point where I am waiting for a new role. Instead of taking the time to figure out what to do next, this life in isolation caused me to revert to being a teenager. I played the guitar and video games for two months…and it was great.
It wasn’t as slack as it sounds. I ended up reconnecting with old friends online (funny how isolation brings people together) and recorded some songs for a good cause.
For #Bobcaygeon ❤️#BobcaygeonStrong #Courage4Canada @bobcaygeonstrng pic.twitter.com/I5tbVFzBuB
— This Life In Trips (@ThisLifeinTrips) April 5, 2020
Sending love from Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton this time! #Courage4Canada #selficamjam #abac pic.twitter.com/Oixtr5VEzo
— This Life In Trips (@ThisLifeinTrips) April 2, 2020
On my site, I didn’t post anything for weeks. Despite that, my traffic did not change. This gave me the thought of posting less and only on what I really want to share. Good thing, because there isn’t going to be a lot of travel content in the near future.
As such, I have oddly posted more the last couple weeks than normal and actually enjoyed doing it. Maybe this trend will continue…
On This Site and Travel
The travel content that I will be sharing will most likely be local stories showcasing Vancouver. I have already started by sharing some of my favourite restaurants in Vancouver as well as sharing the eerily beautiful street art that popped up recently.
On top of that, I will be focusing on road trips you can do from Vancouver. I mean, we are probably all going to be staying close to home for a while.
On My Next Project
Speaking of road trips, this life in isolation has allowed me to focus on side projects. I am working on starting a new blog about electric vehicles and road trips you can take with them. I had put it off because I felt like I didn’t have the time to maintain this site, let alone start a new one. Then Covid happened.
I’m slowly working out the framework but I do have a domain name – myevtrips.com
I’m looking to offer a place for EV vehicle owners to share their road trip ideas and experiences from their hometown. On top of that, the “MY” in myevtrips.com also stands for Model Y, the Tesla I currently have on order. That said, I’m not sure a recession is a great time to be buying an expensive car, but that is the plan as of today.
Stay tuned!
