“TRAVEL and FOOD are two industries, which will not see a recession ever!”
“Recession ho ya Inflation shaadiya to hoti rahengi na? Log unpe laakhon croro kharadchte rahenge na?”
(Whether its recession or inflation, people will get married, right? They will keep on spending lakhs and crores on it, right?)
This one is a famous dialogue from one of my favorite Bollywood movies, Band Baja Baraat.
I cannot comment on the latter, but the former holds a solid stance. No one saw this pandemic or any such situation coming. No one can ever predict it. Of course, it was after the pandemic that there are stories of “interpretations”, “predictions” that were made years ago. To be honest, I neither like reading about it nor believing in it.
Now that the situation is in front of us, everyone is speculating about the odds on the future of travel. The travel industry is certainly going to take a lot of time to the brim. Being a passionate traveler, it takes a lot of courage to accept this truth. Trust me it is harder to even write about it.
I cannot comment on the latter, but the former holds a solid stance. No one saw this pandemic or any such situation coming. No one can ever predict it. Of course, it was after the pandemic that there are stories of “interpretations”, “predictions” that were made years ago. To be honest, I neither like reading about it nor believing in it.
Now that the situation is in front of us, everyone is speculating about the odds on the future of travel. The travel industry is certainly going to take a lot of time to the brim. Being a passionate traveler, it takes a lot of courage to accept this truth. Trust me it is harder to even write about it.
Like I said in my last blog that I have been spending my time during the lockdown to read about travel. There were a lot of articles, e-news that came up on What is the future of the travel industry? What is the future of tourism? Well, I do not know about the others, but there is going to be a drastic change in the travel industry post lockdown.
With a lot of States in India opening their tourism there are going to be merits and demerits following it. However, some of them have urged the locals to more active in promoting tourism with the state. Whereas on the other hand there are states like Uttarakhand that have special guidelines for travelers traveling to the state. Of course, the guidelines have been released from each state that has started its tourism sector. Yet, people are skeptical about stepping out of their houses for local grocery shopping, traveling is a far fetched quest. And to be honest there is nothing wrong at all. I too had two major travel plans during this time of the year, which all sank badly.
Now, I had to return to my hometown from Mumbai. Since the condition in Mumbai was deteriorating, my parents became all the more tensed for me living alone. So, I traveled from Mumbai to Lucknow; via Bangalore. I had captured that experience and put that up on my Youtube Channel, so you can go have a look at it.
Having said that I had asked a few friends and travel bloggers to give their point of view on what do they think about “the new normal”? or the situation post-pandemic? Here is what I got to know:
Zoha a.k.a. Travelcom, “I think it will be hard initially but soon we’ll all get adapted to it like any other disease and things would get fine. That’s just through my eyes as an optimistic person.”
Then there were friends from team The Wandellers, who poured their heart out and said, “The new normal, as the people are saying, it is not normal first of all. You cannot say a situation is normal where you have to think about eating something from any restaurant or from any shop. But as the situation is, we do have to plan a trip according to the rules of the state we are traveling to. We have to think about including someone on a trip. So we cannot just plan a trip with 4 friends living in a different part of a state or country. Then the most important thing is safety.
Initially, I was too vehement to accept the fact that this is a pandemic. However, post 22nd March the scenario changed completely. There were times I broke down all of a sudden, there were anxiety attacks, overthinking, and whatnot. Things did worsen when I was staying alone in my apartment. Since there was not much to do and I realized I haven’t stayed inside for so long. I had an urge to step out or as a matter of fact my love for travel too.
This wasn’t the first time that this had hit me. It was during one time when I had stayed in the house for 3 months and not traveled at all. When I actually saw myself getting pissed off for no reason and then I traveled. This is also when I started vlogging per se.
But with time I have come up with the notion of more of saving for future travels or investing in things to enhance my skills. However, this is the time when things have started to open up. People have started traveling. But this isn’t yet the best time – it isn’t safe. And if not necessary do not travel. Rather travel local – promote local places. This is the tine for #LocalPeVocal and to be more sound and safe in terms of every freaking thing you do.
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You're brave! Travelling even the pandemic isn't over yet. Take Care
I think as long as we know the precautions we can do travel and local travel at the moment us is like the new normal.
I feel you on how you described you in your apartment. I have good days and I have bad days. Those days are the worse.
Right now I believe people are only travelling when needed, and I agree that this is not a safe time!
I understand everything you’re going through. I take several trips a year, and not being able to travel has def taken its toll. Couple that with the fact that I actually work in public health, so I had been assigned COVID duty. I needed to escape but couldn’t. I finally took a trip to Miami and was shocked to learn that the airline was no longer blocking middle seats, and the flight was at full capacity!!
Ugh. Continue working on perfecting your craft and sharpening your skills. This will all be over one day and we’ll be able to travel freely.
This pandemic has been so hard on everyone and I can only imagine how hard it is on someone who has been used to frequent travel. Hopefully you'll have saved enough money when this is all said and done that you can take an amazing trip, or maybe many amazing trips!
This is a critical time for everyone to behave and practice social distancing. It is up to us to stop the virus spreading and hopefully it will be over soon and all of us can travel again.
Travelling during pandemic is a real challenge, thank you for sharing your experience.
I feel your pain. I am not a patient man and for me, the waiting is the hard part. I have no problem traveling within dangerous zones I guess and dealing with all the hoops an area may make me jump through to stay safe. I am just having an issue waiting to be allowed to go and figure it all out. I think one of the best parts of travelling is dealing with all the issues. It allows you to problem solve in an uncomfortable setting and when you find success, it is just that much more rewarding. But not being allowed to play the game….ugh!
I still find going out hard and traveling is a big no but next month I need to travel to another country and this list is really helpful for me. I need to bookmark this.
I know right? But we have to do our bit towards keeping ourselves and others safe.
Glad you liked it, thank you for stopping and writing here! Means a lot.
Exactly! We all wish the same.
Ah! it has been. I liked the last line – many trips! I wish everyone the same.
Yes! Refining our craft is one thing we all have been doing all this while and making the best of it. Also, thank you so much for the positive words. Glad you liked reading my blog.
Indeed.
Ah! But all of it did add to my experience. So, not complaining now.
Yes that is very important – safety.,
I had no other option but to come back home. So, bravery or no bravery homecoming had to happen.
I feel you buddy! And thank you so much for those kind words, glad you liked my blog and also found it helpful! It made my day, though it has been late but yayy!