Travel Bits: June 2021

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 Looking on in envy.......

The United States and Europe are slowly opening up for leisure travel while here in Asia, things look almost exactly the same as they were in 2020! While some Asian countries have relatively low Covid-19 infection rates compared to the US and Europe, they are firmly standing their grounds to stay shut.

This is reflected in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Japan amongst many others. Australia and New Zealand are now like impregnable fortresses to foreign arrivals. Meanwhile, even though Japan is looking forward to hosting the Olympics next month (July 2021), it is at the same time saying that no foreigners are allowed into the country, wherever you are from. Such "disconnect" in policies is hard to fathom.

I am not sure if policy makers are simply being too conservative or too cautious or both. Whatever it is, this continual shutting off from the World is having very damaging effects on their local hospitality and tourism industries. As Asia continues to stay shut, residents in this part of the world can only look on in envy at other places which are slowly but surely, opening up.

Some of my more optimistic friends here in Asia are going ahead to book trips for next year, believing as they did last year, that travel will most likely be allowed to resume next year. But the pessimist in me  has decided to keep my cash in my bank accounts rather than handing them over to airlines and hotels with no clue as to whether leisure travel will even be allowed in 2023, don't even think about 2022! I really do hope to be proven wrong. ;-)

While I wait for the day when I can travel again, I can't help feeling more and more like a hermit! When I eventually do travel again, will I be like the proverbial "mountain tortoise"?

Note: "Mountain Tortoise" is a local colloquial term to describe someone as being a country bumpkin a.k.a. an awkward, rustic and simple person.

Cruise Ships sans Passengers, Marina Bay Cruise Centre, Marina, Singapore (2019)


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