The current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic has knocked humanity on its knees and turned the norms of society upside down and inside out worldwide. Regardless of whether the response to the pandemic is an overreaction, it has effortlessly exposed the numerous frailties of mankind; uncovered the vast imperfections of the human condition; and exposed a reflection of ourselves that is considered quite sobering.
One Valuable Life Lesson Learned From the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Pandemic
Many lessons have already been taught by the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic — only time will tell if we as a society will have learned those lessons and use them to our benefit in the future — but there is one valuable life lesson which is especially critical to learn pertaining to travelers:
“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” — Benjamin Franklin
Known better in modern times as “do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today”, the quote is especially a lesson to people who love to travel but never have the time or resources to do so. “Tahiti will still be there tomorrow” — fill in your own ideal destination instead of Tahiti — is a classic mantra of the travel procrastinator who is seeking only the best deal or needs to reserve enough time off from work to fulfill that dream…
…and that person might have thought that he or she is healthy and still has plenty of years left to be able to explore the world — or further explore the world if that person is a veteran traveler — and that there are more important things to do before embarking on travel to those ideal destinations…
…but then came the current 2019 Novel Coronavirus pandemic, which changed the plans — and lifestyles — of virtually everyone on the planet; and did so with such frightening efficacy. Travel suddenly became significantly more difficult — if not impossible — as countries, states, and cities either closed borders to visitors or imposed restrictions pertaining to entering the independent government entity. Airlines substantially cut capacity. Lodging companies either reduced the number of rooms available for occupancy or shut down some hotel and resort properties altogether.
Summary
As dystopian as our society is today, the situation will eventually get better — even though life as we knew it may likely never be quite the same — and travel will eventually become more popular again…
…but that will not happen overnight. Years may elapse before travel — and sanity, in general — returns to some semblance of normalcy; and 2020 will be a year for the history books, as it seems to be unlike any other year in recorded history…
…and when travel does return, don’t put off that trip any longer. Start planning your dream trip now — think about where you will go and what you will be doing — and prepare yourself for the day on which you will be able to embark on it…
…before it is too late to do so, as you never know what could happen next…
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
