COVID19 V’s Travel Plans
Writing about travelling and travel plans changes seems trivial when the world is facing a “health war” against an invisible enemy. The impact of this worldwide coronavirus pandemic on our little travel plans pales into insignificance when every news headline tells a tale of disruption, significant increase in associated mortality rates, and a disaster for the world economy. The travel industry as a whole has been badly affected, and for us as individuals being a traveller is fast becoming a very hazardous if not an impossible activity.
Countries are closing their borders, amid fears of a virus that is invisibly carried around by people and passed on to the next person with an alarming contamination rate causing the COVID-19 respiratory illness that although not usually a fatal disease, can became serious enough to cause death in some more vulnerable people. The death toll is rising across the world and most importantly national health systems may not cope with the potentially vast number of seriously ill people. We hear words such as “flattening the curve” by health experts and world leaders, who are frantically trying to come up with solutions.
Backpacking in South East Asia
Back in early January 2020, when we set off on a 10 week backpacking trip in SE Asia, we read a few reports of a certain coronavirus that was causing a respiratory illness in a certain Chinese town. As our trip progressed we met travellers who had been teaching English in China and who were concerned about returning to the country after their holiday. Friends and family expressed some concern about our travels, and urged us to keep an eye on the news and perhaps even change our travel plans. But since we were not going to visit China on this trip, we felt there was no need to make any travel plan changes.
Enjoying the freedom and ease of backpacking in SE Asia.
Fast forward a few weeks later and we noticed a huge change in the numbers of tourists travelling in SE Asia, most notably the Chinese and South Koreans were no longer travelling and many places were banning Chinese tourists altogether. We reached Vietnam in early March, the last country we would be exploring before returning home, and it soon became clear to us that things would take a turn for the worse, as far as the coronavirus risks were concerned and travelling would became a very tricky and undesirable activity.
Travelling in Vietnam
In Ho Chi Minh City, life was going on as normal, although tourist numbers were starting to decline. We enjoyed our stay and managed to visit most of the main attractions without any issues. We moved on to Hoi An and enjoyed 5 nights in the charming, lantern-illuminated town of Central Vietnam. Here we met up with blogging friends Ben and Peta (www.greenglobaltrek.com) who took us on a wonderful street food crawl experience that was a huge highlight of our travels in this region.
Fabulous food crawl in Hoi An, with travel blog friends Peta and Ben (www.greenglobaltrek.com)
Moving on to Hue and concerns about coronavirus contamination started to grow, we noticed the continuing decline in tourist numbers.
A few days later, we arrived in the Province of Ninh Binh in Northern Vietnam amid rumours of closed guest houses, people being taken into quarantine, closed restaurants and closed attractions.
Wearing a face mask became the “new normal”.
Our temperature was monitored for the first time, before entering an attraction, and we were asked to wear our face masks all the time now. The town was fast becoming more like a ghost town than a tourist destination.
On our last evening in town, as we were having dinner at our guest house, new guests arrive. As they disembark their van, they march towards our dinning table shouting “we are NOT Chinese, we are from Taiwan”…we laughed it off, thinking how bizarre that they felt the need to tell us that.
Hanoi
We left for Hanoi and booked ourselves into a lovely hotel at the Old Quarter. At the hotel check in, there were some health forms to fill in (something that was never required beforehand), we also had to provide details of every hotel we have stayed at since entering Vietnam. Our temperature was taken again, and we both looked at each other anxiously and finally with great relief when we were told that it was all ok.
We made the most of our 3 nights stay in Hanoi, meeting up with some lovely friends from the Netherlands we had met in Ninh Binh and who were also staying in a hotel very near us.
Dinning with our friends from the Netherlands.
But it soon became clear to us that we needed a change of plan. All Hanoi attractions were now closed; restaurants were starting to close, or refusing to serve us foreigners. Our two night Halong Bay cruise had been cancelled since the Halong Bay Marina was now closed down by the Vietnamese Government. At first we thought we would just spend the last week in Hanoi, seeing the sights there, but soon found them all to be closed, so we had to think again. We needed to get out of Vietnam sooner rather than later, so we changed our flights and headed for Thailand, where we are still waiting for our flight home.
Changes of travel plans.
All over the world people are changing their travel plans. Our daughter was due to travel to Vietnam on March 20th, but her tour has now been cancelled. She is still waiting to hear about getting her money back.
It was our intention to spend the Spring travelling around Europe, particularly Italy, by motorhome. But with most countries in Europe now in complete lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, this plan is no longer an option.
We also thought of touring around the UK with our motorhome, but as we listen to the news here in our hotel room in Thailand it is becoming very clear to us that even leaving our home to go for a walk in the park is likely to be a problem, never mind travelling around the country.
Our immediate plans now are simply to go home and same as everyone else hope that this crisis will be over sooner rather than later.
We feel very sad for all the people who have or will lose their lives and/or have been adversely affected by this pandemic. In particular, we really feel for all the lovely people we have met along the way in the tourism industry; taxi drivers, boat rowers, restaurant staff, and the many lovely families running small homestay hotels, who made us feel so welcome and could not do enough to make our stays so enjoyable.
You can’t help wondering what such a dramatic and prolonged plunge in their incomes could do to their futures. We have become accustomed in the Rich West to various social safety-nets to protect us in times of hardship, but there are few if any such backstops in these countries and some very lovely, very hard-working people are going to have a very tough time. That is hard to swallow. I don’t think anyone could have predicted the recent developments and/or how long it is going to last.
Meanwhile lets all keep practicing the new “social distance” recommendations, stop “panic buying” toilet paper, remembering “no touching our faces” and of course…washing our hands. I shall be sharing more about our 10 weeks’ travelling in SE Asia in the coming weeks, particularly since our self quarantine on return to the UK is likely to be VERY boring. Just as well I have not changed the name of this travel blog, since I have became once again a “traveller interrupted”, joking apart…STAY SAFE EVERYONE!
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Gilda and Brian, so sorry that your travel plans had to change. Looks like we’re all in the same boat! I have truly enjoyed all your Facebook updates over the weeks of your extensive travels. It’s great that you got to meet up with Peta and Ben. 🙂 Thanks for taking us along with you. Wishing you safe passage back home. All the best, Terri
Terri, we feel so grateful for all that we have managed to see and do in SE Asia. Meeting up with Peta and Ben was great, a highlight of our time in Hoi An. But now we just have to hunker down and keep ourselves and others as safe as possible. All travel plans are now postponed and no idea when things will change. Very sorry to hear of your travel plans cancelations also, we are all on the same boat indeed. Thank you for your good wishes and keep well xx
Glad you had the chance to catch up with Peta and Ben. We met them last year in Hoi An. We’ve cancelled/postposed three sets of travel plans, including a trip to Vietnam to see our daughter in Ho Chi Minh. Good luck with the self-quarantine.
Peggy, it really was so lovely to meet up with Peta and Ben. They are such lovely people and took us on a delicious street food crawl that we shall never forget. I think at the moment everyone we talk to are postponing all sorts of life events and plans. Travelling is certainly a no go for us all. We just have to hunker down and hope for a solution sooner, rather than later. Stay safe!!
I hope you get home sooner than later. It’s always better to watch things unravel from your own home. We had an adventure as well and had to make changes on the fly. So glad we got back. So far the quarantine hasn’t been so bad for us. We tend to be homebodies anyway when we are home. Be safe and it was great keeping up with your adventures on FB. Traveling agrees with you both. You look even younger in the pictures:-).
Kemkem, we are still in Thailand, but fingers crossed not for long. It is a bit of a waiting game at the moment and we are anxious to get home. I am glad that all is going well for you guys in Spain. We will be quarantining our selves once we get home. Netflix will became our best friend…lol. Thank you for your ongoing support and keep well 🙂
I think you are home again. I’m glad you got to see some of your southeast Asia destinations before having to return home. As you know we cancelled our trip to Portugal, France and Spain before the sh*t hit the fan and we’ve never been so happy/relieved to have cancelled a trip. Europe has been there for a long time and will be ready for everyone to return one day. Stay safe.
Patti, we are not home yet. Our flight leaves Bangkok this coming Saturday…fingers crossed. We are very glad we managed to see so much of what we had planned to see, even though these last few days have been filled with ups and downs. Your gut instinct to cancel your travels was spot on. Right now being home must feel very reassuring, we can’t wait to get home ourselves. Look after yourselves xx
An excellent read and a lovely overview of the situation. A week ago we arrived in Turkey and now will be here for at least a month.
The pace of this has been amazing and we will be struggling to find somewhere to stop for the month. So safe travels home be safe and keep well.
Best David and Karen
David and Karen, I have been thinking about you guys and really hope you are safe and well in Turkey. Like you mentioned the pace of change is astounding and it so hard for everyone. No one could have predicted it. Thank you for your good wishes and likewise stay safe.
I can feel your sadness for all the lovely people you met in your travels who will be greatly impacted by this pandemic. I pray that you will be home safe and sound next week.
Val, we met so many lovely people in our travels, who are totally dependent on tourism and I think they will really struggle. There are no safety nets for them. We can only hope that a solution will be found sooner rather than later. We are looking forward to going home, fingers crossed our flight will go ahead. Thank you for your good wishes xx
As you describe the changes over your time away it is absolutely true. Who could have imagined this? I hope you arrived home safely prior to any borders shutting down. I know you joked about the name of your blog but it is absolutely true. I am thinking of stopping posting for the foreseeable future until things settle out. I’m not sure what is the best thing to do these days. Just like millions of others making much harder decisions than mine.
Sue, the changes happened at such an alarming rate. From some whispers of a virus causing problems at a Chinese town, to a world pandemic. How could anyone have predicted it? I think we are all still feeling totally bewildered about the recent turn of events. Please don’t stop posting, even if just occasionally. I think there is a case for keeping things as close to normality as possible. Take care and stay safe.
It is indeed tough times for anyone, but particularly for those travelling or depending on the tourist industry. I hope you will able to stay safe. And thanks for trying to keep a positive attitude.
Otto, my heart goes out to all the people affected by this awful pandemic. I think the world will look quite different by the time this crisis is over, but perhaps (and we can only hope) that it will be some positives coming out of this whole situation. We are now safely home and have been under self quarantine as per recommendations. Thank you for your good wishes and likewise stay safe.
Hi Gilda, it looks like we had a similar escape from Vietnam, lucky to get a flight home at short notice. We also met some wonderful Vietnamese people who helped us through the last few difficult days there. And now all we can do is plan for our next travels so that we are ready to go as soon as this pandemic is over. We have so much still to see in Vietnam. Happy planning
Hi guys, like yourselves we just managed to get a flight home in time, before closed borders and cancelled flights became a big problem. We did manage to travel for the 10 weeks that we had originally planed for SE Asia, but all other travel plans are now cancelled. Such a shame you had to return home so early on in your journey, but like you have mentioned, once this pandemic is over you will be able to resume your travels. Lets all keep on planning and fingers crossed we will be travelling again soon.
Gilda, I have been thinking about you and Brian, and hoping you made it home alright. During your trip, you had a unique perspective on the evolution of the virus and its impacts on society. It is interesting to read how you first perceived as a respiratory illness in a small Chinese city, and gradually understood it to be a terrifying worldwide pandemic, requiring an “emergency” flight home.
We made it home from South America on 19 March, after a long, disjointed, and expensive set of flights. In Chile, the President gave us less than 48 hours notice that he was closing the borders. Until then, since the number of cases was relatively low, life seemed quite safe and normal. Now, we are self-isolating at home, and hoping for the best. Take good care, Joe
Joe, likewise I had been thinking of you and your family. I am so glad that (albeit expensive) you did manage to get home safely. Thoughts of home and a little bit of anxiety about the possibility of our flight being cancelled or closed borders started creeping in during our last days before our flight home. Therefore walking through our front door gave us both a great sense of relief. Like yourselves we are now self-isolating for 14 days as per recommendations. We have just today signed up for some volunteering work to help our National Health System, although first we need to get through these next few days and continue to stay in good health. Warm wishes to you and your family.
Hi Gilda & Brian
Hope you have managed to get back to the UK safely.
We like many others had to cut short our Italy/France trip and are glad be back in the UK before lockdown.
Regards
Lesley and Dave (from Peniscola)
Lesley and Dave, how lovely to hear from you guys. We have been catching up on your blog posts recently and following your adventures in Italy and France. No one could have predicted the recent turn of events that have made us all change our travel plans. We are glad to hear that you have made it back to the UK safely and in good time, before border closures. We just made it back in time, before flight cancellations and border closures. We are very happy to be home, and like everyone else, trying to stay positive. It is so sad to hear of all the people who have lost their lives and the many others that will die as a result of this pandemic. Keep well guys 🙂
Unless it is actually your livelihood I don’t think anyone should feel too aggrieved at the current restrictions. We’ve been so lucky in our freedom till now, and some places have undoubtedly suffered because of the excesses of tourism. I think you’ll have to live on your memories for a little while, Gilda. A lot of thought needs to go into the kind of world we want to live in when this is over. For now it’s best to stay safe 🙂 🙂
Jo, you are absolutely right. We do need to keep things into perspective, so what that travel plans have to be postponed? The world is fighting a very serious health war at the moment and nothing else matters. Very good point about mass tourism and the negative impact in our world. Perhaps there will be some positive changes that will result from our current situation. All good food for thought, but for now, stay well Jo 🙂
OMG!
‘So glad that you managed to have a bit of your holiday. Are you back home or still in Thailand?
My son was supposed to spend his 18th birthday in Dublin on a class trip to Ireland, but thankfully, the trip was cancelled and schools in Berlin have been closed for almost a fortnight.
I was due to go to Italy for a bloggers conference in early March and then spend about 2 weeks there travelling around Sicily & Venice but I decided to listen to my instincts & not go!
Sadly, I was right.
Victoria, we are safely home and currently staying home under self-isolation and also following our governments recent lock-down guidelines. All feels at times very surreal, like taking part on a movie, rather than this whole situation being real. I can’t believe your son is going to be 18??? I hope he will be able to celebrate in style, when all is back to normal, although it might take a while. Just as well you have followed your gut instincts and cancelled your trip to Italy. It is so sad to hear of all the people that have died there and also in the rest of the world. All we can do right now is stay at home, as per recommendations. I have signed up to do some volunteering work, so just waiting to get the all clear from my 14 days of self-isolating. Stay well 🙂
Gilda – hope very much you have got home safely it must have been a very stressful time for you. Certainly recent events have upended many plans and livelihoods and curtailed freedoms we have all taken for granted. We have, however, noticed so many more birds and bees in our neighbourhood – they all seem so happy. The flowers and gardens are looking glorious as we move into autumn here in the southern hemisphere. Perhaps there will be some more positives coming out of all this – more respect for the planet and each other? In the meantime stay safe and take care xx 🙂
Rosemary, we have been home for over two weeks now and all is well. Going for a run recently around the city gardens, I was surprised at how Spring has arrived with all its colorful flowers, birds singing and cheeky squirrels running up the leafy trees. As you have mentioned, I am sure for you the Autumn colors of the Southern hemisphere are gorgeous. Trust nature, to give us something to smile about at such difficult times.Keep well my friend 🙂
So glad that you made it home safely Gilda! As you say Mother Nature is giving us plenty to smile about in these trying times. We are fortunate in that we can still go out for exercise here as long as we follow the social distancing rules. I sincerely hope that this freedom continues as it’s so beneficial for health and well being. I did see that there have been problems over the weekend in some of the UK cities as with the nice weather too many people were out and about in some of the city parks. Hope people respect the distancing rules and the parks can stay open as if people live in flats its harder for them to access gardens. In the meantime stay safe and healthy xx 🙂
Hey Gilda:
So happy that you both made it back home safely and most importantly healthy.
I remember our first week of lock down. I felt overwhelmed,over binged on all the latest news and statistics and barely slept more than a few hours a day. You had a bit of a head start to dealing with lock down modes so I hope just being home is a much welcomed “change”.
I think your blog’s mission statement: ” ….to explore the world, create new experiences, let curiosity take me away from my comfort zone” applies now more than ever! So…I do look forward to reading about your recent Asian travels BUT I also hope you write about your “lock down” experiences including pictures of Brian’s sitting and thinking poses. I have over 10 different sitting options in our flat and I need some tips on how to sit and relax like Brian :).
Kidding aside, may you both stay safe, take the best of care and keep your sanity! xx
Lissette, I can’t tell you how relieved we felt at arriving at our front door. We have locked ourselves in for the 14 days of self-quarantine, but currently, although we can go out for some exercise, life in lock-down continues. Every day I wake up thinking perhaps we will hear some good news today…a vaccine, a cure for COVID-19, a glimmer of hope. But hopes are dashed as soon as you switch onto the latest news. We have now decided to limited ourselves to watching just the evening news and the government daily updates. Thank you for encouraging me to continue blogging. I am really enjoying your blog posts and experiences of lock-down in Spain, I think you guys have made the right decision to stay put in Leon. I laughed at your idea of ” pictures of Brian’s sitting and thinking poses”…I think his favorite is actually lying across on the sofa (taking over more than his fare share) in the evenings, sipping a glass of wine. As always, thank you for your fun and thoughtful comment. xxx
Gilda, so glad to know you both made it home safe and sound. You certainly were amongst the last of travellers hanging around bravely in Viet Nam while things were shutting down all around. So totally agree on all the hardship that this will cause for so many hardworking people that have no other support system than tourism.
It was such a wonderful treat to meet you both and SO much fun going street food hopping. So glad that our time together provided a highlight to your travels in Viet Nam. Now that we have quickly departed Viet Nam for our new home base in Mexico Ben is wistful about all those Banh Mi’s that he did not have before we left, and wishes he had. Ah well, there is now Mexican food to discover!
Lovely to read you and look forward to more photos and descriptions from the rest of your trip.
Stay safe and healthy.
Much love to both of you
Ben & Peta
Ben and Peta, we often think of you guys and that fabulous street food-crawl we experienced together in Hoi An. Looking back now, I just can’t believe how things have changed so fast, and in particular for you guys. No one could have foreseen such change of events. One day you are happily eating all the Banh Mi’s you wish for in Vietnam and the next it is all about tacos and guacamole in Mexico…it is such a roller-coaster. But it is so wonderful that you have landed on your feet. I will write lots more about our SE Asia trip, even if I don’t publish it for a while, I certainly don’t want to forget about it. Lots of love to you both.
Good to know that works too! I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.
Ghulam, thank you so much. Take care!
Hi Gilda, Great post and glad to hear you are safe. We thought we are subscribed to your blog as we did not receive this post in our email. Can you verify? Great post you did on Sue Slaught’s site about the Covid 19!!
Stay safe, thanks,
John and Susan
Hi guys, you are definitely on my list of subscribers, so not sure what is going wrong? I will have another look at that. Thank you for persevering 🙂 I have enjoyed contributing to Sue’s blog post, it is such a lovely collection of experiences at a time when we all have a greater need to feel part of a global community. We are all in the same boat.
Hi Gilda!
What a sudden change towards the end of your travels… I’m very glad you managed to visit most of the sites you had planned for and that you had a good time all in all. And, so amazing you got to meet Ben and Peta. Also “right in time” as they were displaced soon after you guys left. What a mess!!
But, as travelers only having to pause for a few months isn’t that big of a deal. At least, you have a home still. 🙂 I feel for full-time nomads like us, especially the ones abroad. Tough to come up with plans and solutions now, since returning to the homeland might not be a possibility, either because of restricted travel, border closures, or not wanting to impose on family or friends for a place to live.
I enjoyed reading your contribution on Travel Tales of Life! Have a nice weekend and happy Easter.
PS: I have tried a few times to sign up for your blog posts over the months, but for some reason never received anything. So, I tried to “follow” again. We will see what happens.
Liesbet, we feel very lucky to have managed the amount of exploring we did in SE Asia. Perhaps one day we will go back to Hanoi and continue with our travels from there. I have been thinking of you and all the full-time RV’rs and Nomads with no bricks and mortar homes to go back to, at these difficult times. Also, all the people stranded abroad unable to get home. I know that you and Mark are heading towards your MIL’s house to hunker down for a bit? Certainly, no easy solutions and I really feel for you, particularly because of all the uncertainties of how long this situation is going to last for. Stay strong and safe, you are both amazing, resourceful, resilient people and you will get through these hard times. Thank you for persevering with signing up to the blog, not sure what is going on with that 🙁 I really appreciate your visit and comment.
What a small world! Lovely to see you here with Peta and Ben. I had the good fortune of sitting at their table in Sri Lanka. I am now sharing a country with them in Mexico, but over 1000 nautical miles are between us. Amazing to see Nihn Bihn through your lens, much changed with the virus but still as beautiful. Amazing story about the Taiwan tourists. Shame that Hanoi and surrounds shuttered right around you. I share your sorrow for the impact of the virus on the tourism industry. Glad you were able to make it home safely. Enjoyed your contribution to Sue’s Covid-19 post.
Lisa, it is indeed a small world and how lovely that you also have had the opportunity to meet up with Peta and Ben. They are fabulous! We absolutely loved Nihn Bihn, our guesthouse was particularly wonderful. So friendly and they cooked us amazing meals. It was sad to see their town closing down to tourism and the negative impact that it will have on the economy of that region. We were lucky to get out of Hanoi at the right time since country borders were closing and flights cancelled. We will return to Hanoi in the future to explore further. Thank you for your visit and comment. I will check out your blog soon 🙂
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.