Travel diary

Coronavirus – travel in 2020

RiA
30 March, 2020
No Comments

It’s already it’s been quite a year! Travel in 2020 and Coronavirus will become something we’ve never seen in our lifetime…

A step back

I’ve been a bit busy the last few months. I haven’t had the chance to write my travel in 2020 post on the places I planned to visit this year as I said I would in my 2019 highlights. With a few less destinations in mind, there was a nice mix of solo travel and family trips coming up.

A trip to Cinque Terra and Milan in Italy was already booked, another visit to Greece (yep, again) following a trip to Meteora, as well as one or two other places further afield. I was looking forward to it all.

Fast forward a few months and things have changed. We now have an existential global pandemic crisis.

Coronavirus

The Coronaviruses are viruses that can cause varying degrees of illnesses ranging from the common cold to more serious respiratory symptoms and syndromes.

In December 2019, a new strain – which is now called COVID-19 – was apparently found in a food market China.

With initial symptoms of what feels like a cold; fever, a persistent cough and a headache, it’s prevalent throughout the world.

Travel restrictions

Each day more and more countries lockdown towns and borders in an attempt to reduce the number of people likely to become ill from the virus.

Travel has been disrupted with airlines such as Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and EasyJet attempting to help those stranded (FlyBe airline went into administration on 5 March 2020). Myself and others included, have been trying to obtain refunds on flights that have or will be cancelled due to the virus. I’ve been trying to do so with British Airways for the last few days and getting nowhere fast. Its CEO now states that it has to “fight for its survival”. Budget airlines are offering or providing refunds so not sure what the difference is.

There are now global restrictions in place in the UK for the next 30 days following (finally) other countries that have already imposed this ruling. It’ll be weeks to come while travellers try to get back travel costs or rebook flights.

For many it will be a frustrating time to have your holidaysand travel plans put on hold. For us all, this has been a seismic challenge to our daily life. Plans will be disrupted forsome time to come. No one has any idea when this situation will end.

Health and safety

Despite all of the frustration, there’s nothing more important than your health and safety of your family and friends.

We have to keep distance from others and now we’re are only allowed to venture out for shopping or exercise.

Thousands of people have been infected, sadly many have already lost their lives. My heart goes out to those that have lost loved ones.

#StopTheSpread

We can all do our bit to help #StopTheSpread – even if it feels like you’re not doing much.

Simple hygiene. If you have any symptoms, even if you think it’s just a seasonal cold, stay home to be on the safe side to stop it spreading to others.

Stay healthy… Be safe… Stay blessed.

Ria
x