Love of travel in the time of the Coronavirus

6 weeks ago, I decided to return to the states for a temporary period. I was once again in a transition phase between Tbilisi- Prague- Ljublijana- Philadelphia- Mars. I wanted a few weeks to visit my family and try to think of my next chapter. Like every single trip, I make back to the states, the reintegration process can bring upon a set of challenges. I forget how to move about in American society and get reaccustomed to the mannerisms. I only have a couple of people left there that I regularly stay in contact with, so I also get lonely—most of my social support system in Europe.

This occurred to me about a few days after arriving. So I decided to go on the internet to look at flight search engines. I also realized to check my Delta account that has been largely ignored for the last couple of years. I was a regular sky team customer while I lived in Prague as the way back to visit my family was often the cheapest with them, and I had been accruing SkyMiles since I was a preteen. I had abandoned them since I became nomadic as ways to the US and back as Norwegian was more economical. Well, I found out that I had quite a few miles with Delta saved, so I decided to go window shopping. To shorten this train of thought, I went ahead and found a terrific deal to Guatemala city for 20,000 miles. In terms of SkyMiles, that was 60-70% less than how many miles it usually takes. I decided to take advantage and book a trip for two weeks. One of my good travel buddies from Slovenia was coming to visit me to hold me over before my trip so that things would be grand. But not so fast!

I had heard this Coronavirus when it happened in January/February and did not think anything of it. I mean every other year there is something. It was mainly in China and not interrupting life elsewhere. Towards a couple of weeks before my trip, it was becoming a bigger deal. I still shook it off as,” People are overreacting.” “I am not going to play into this doomsday bullshit.” People often flip out and cancel their trips over all kinds of reasons under the sun. I thought this was just another one. The week before my trip, there were all these warnings about travel. I still felt, ” No way, Jose! I planned this trip. I did a lot of online work last month. I did a lot with my family. I need a couple of weeks to be my digital nomad self “. I look back, realizing this was selfish and careless. I am eating a lot of my words.

Before you get out, you pitchforks and damn me to whatever firey furnace that you believe I should go to. I don’t have a permanent real home in the states or at least a place that feels like one. I never correctly settled back. I don’t adequate insurance for the US. I have basic separate travel insurance for emergencies. I also thought about all the people in the service industry in Guatemala and how they would take an economic hit. It was also a low-risk area for the virus at the time and still is compared to the US. I thought if I self isolate for a few days. I could go on and give to the local communities and try to do some good.

Well, whether I did the right or wrong thing is irrelevant now. It does not take me out of the situation. Immediately upon entering Guatemala, every country’s world decided to close borders left and right. These closures have all been immediate and impulsive. I am aware now that the virus is severe, and the spread needs to stop, but willy nilly border closings, in my opinion, this is not the way to go about it. I will write something later today or tomorrow into greater detail about this subject. Well anyway, a few days into my trip. I got the word that the Guatemalan border is closed for everyone.

Rumors have been going back and forth about this border being open, these flights are still going, and all sorts of things. Most of these are false. The president has said Guatemala is closed, and the airport is closed. Unless some political pressure comes, I will go on to assume that I am stuck here for a good two weeks. It would be riskier to move around and come in close contact with too many people. It is also expensive and not a guarantee. I don’t need to bother the US embassy with this. There are already enough people who are doing that as it is. It is best that. I just let the people that are in a more dire need than me. I will probably have to sit in another quarantine there when I get there. At least here, I have a beautiful view and fresh tamales and avocados. It may not be in comfort in my “home” either. So until things become more precise, I will sit tight, self isolate, support local businesses, work on my cover letters, maintain this blog, and try to improve my Spanish.

Let’s see how things change! I will be posting more in here my observations about how Guatemala and Central America are dealing with the corona crisis and reflections on that.