Coronavirus is causing all kinds of havoc on planet Earth. The travel industry is getting hit hard. Which sucks for me, my blog, my job? Well, my job is over and done with since we’re getting laid off come June. I was leaving anyway because I was moving to Paris at the end of March.
Now that our “friend” Covid-19 AKA the coronavirus is here, and there, and pretty much freaking everywhere, planet Earth is out of service. Seriously, everything has shut down. Most of the places here in Los Angeles have closed.
Libraries, public pools, significant events like concerts, and even the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is in six weeks, are closed and canceled.
Just a few minutes ago Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all bars and restaurants to restrict the number of people that are allowed in order to practice social distancing.
He also ordered all people over the age of 65 to stay inside their homes.
Overseas
The news is reporting many new cases of coronavirus in Europe. Italy, the entire country, has closed its borders.
France has closed all cafes and restaurants. Berlin is shutting its clubs and special event until further notice.
So, let’s say I was still moving to Paris, there would be nothing to do. I would have to lock myself in my apartment in Paris. Therefore, there is no point.
My move to Paris is postponed until further notice. But I’m not the only one. If you’re an avid traveler, if you work in the travel industry, or if you’re running a travel vlog/blog, things pretty much suck right now.
So What does this mean?
I don’t want to talk about the virus itself in this post. Coronavirus you suck and not just because you make people sick and in bad cases you kill them. Coronavirus, you also suck because you’ve made everything shut down.
Not only are you ruining everything, you are causing chaos in the supermarkets and keeping people indoors.
But what does this mean for me? For you? For people who have planned vacations?
On the positive side, most travel-related companies are letting people cancel their flights, hotels, condos, cruises, and reservations without penalty. Most companies understand the circumstances.
So call your travel agency. Get online and check out the cancellation policy for that plane ticket you bought because chances are you can cancel without penalty or move it to another month in the future.
In the next few posts, I will attempt to outline company cancelation policies due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Got any tips for keeping your cool during this craziness? Leave ’em in the comments!