Wanderlust in the Time of Coronavirus (A GeoEx eBook)

Wanderlust in the Time of Coronavirus

May 7, 2020

POST-PANDEMIC TRAVEL: WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE?

O ver the past two weeks, I’ve shared tales of two personal pilgrimages with you. The first was a quest to view cherry blossoms blooming, an adventure that unexpectedly transported me from my northern California hometown to the Philosopher’s Path in Kyoto. The second was a journey that took me around the world without ever leaving my room— and left me blissful in Bali, surrounded by trilling, booming, gonging gamelan glories. This week I want to focus on the future and pose a question that many of us sheltering-in-place wanderlusters have been pondering: What will travel look like going forward? Over the past few days, as I’ve been researching and considering this, I’ve realized that so much depends on how the pandemic evolves and what course the searches for a cure and a vaccine take. If some of the current promising medicines are found to be effective, that could considerably shorten the recovery timeline and significantly shape the look of post-pandemic travel. But a few things seem to be clear: One is that hygiene and safety will be preeminent in travelers’ minds. Hotels, airlines, and cruise lines will emphasize the heightened measures they have taken to ensure the health and maximize the comfort

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