It’s a bit crazy in the world right now, eh?
Who would have thought that six months into our around-the-world-trip a single event would serve to unite, entrance, confuse, often terrify, and--ultimately--connect the entire world?
Though we’ve been devoting this blog mainly to tales of our travels and adventures, in this special post, we wanted to share a bit about our experience with the COVID-19 (previously more broadly monikered, Coronavirus).
On March 11*, 2020, the World Health Organization officially raised the classification of the disease from epidemic to pandemic, meaning the viral impact was not only in the speed of spread and infection rate, but it had also reached a scale beyond country and continent borders to become a global issue.
* March 11th has always held a special place in my heart. My first-grade teacher owned the local roller skating rink, and every year on her birthday would take K-8 on a roller-skating trip. Cheers to Mrs. Last.
What has our experience been like?
A few days before leaving Bali in late January, we began to hear murmurs of a disease that was infecting the Wuhan province of China. There wasn’t much known, but by the time we arrived at the airport for our own departure, many travelers (mostly Asian) were wearing surgical masks. We received no special screening and were given no trouble departing Indonesia nor arriving in Australia.
In Australia, we continued our trip business (er, party) as usual. We attended large gatherings like the Australian Open, an Australian rules football match, and an evening event at the National Gallery of Victoria at which we posed for pictures with complete strangers. We went on overnight trips sharing a small van space and sleeping inside a teepee with ten new friends. We welcomed my sister (and mother of four kids ages 3-10) for a week. We snorkeled and she used the guide’s offered snorkel (which was probably sanitized, but we didn’t really consider that).
News coverage continued to roll in slowly about the spread, and we became aware of things like human infrared temperature checkers at airports (and their apparent shortcomings given that symptoms of the “Coronavirus” don’t appear until about ten days after infection) and about the tourists that had been in Wuhan or on cruise ships that arrived in Australia bringing the virus with them. Within a week of our arrival, the travel ban on Chinese citizens was put into effect. Containment seemed assured, and, as a result, nothing in Australia had changed, except for the lack of their normal volume of Chinese tourists.
By the time we left Australia, there had been 15-25 cases reported in the country. In looking backward, we can see that several of the cases had been reported in or near Melbourne and Sydney. Nobody seemed to notice.
On February 20, we left Australia and headed to New Zealand, where no cases had yet been reported. We landed in Christchurch, secured our rental car, and spent the next few weeks traveling around the South Island.
Over this time, the world went ablaze. Italy, Iran, and China were all experiencing what seemed to be uncontrollable escalations of their own situations. The infection rate in Australia was increasing. The U.S. seemed to have a slow adoption rate of the disease, and a decidedly slower response.
On March 10th, we flew from Christchurch to Wellington on the North Island to continue our trip. Being only in the domestic terminal of a country for whom the outbreak seemed like that characterization didn’t suit the nation, we felt confident.
We saw very few masks at the airport. We checked in for our flights, and at the kiosk were prompted immediately with the question, “Have you been out of the country in the past 14 days? If yes, please exit this process and see a representative.” We selected no, dropped our bags, and walked to our gate. Note that there is actually no domestic security at the Christchurch airport and so we had no scan or security screen whatsoever, boarded our flight, and hit the North Island.
On March 11th, you know what WHO did.
The following day (our March 12th, Chicago’s 11th) was probably the first day we heard of nothing else. Within an hour, we had seven people from back home letting us know about Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
We don’t watch the news and yet it continued to reach us. Emails from every single service industry player we have ever patronized let us know their stance and plan on COVID-19. Family and friends shared with us their own plans, struggles, fears, excitement, and/or disinterest.
Days followed. Trump declared a state of emergency, travel bans were thrown violently across the globe. Our Airbnbs in New Zealand started asking us if we were in the country yet and whether we had been sick. Questions that we both answered honestly. People asked us time and again what we would do. What would we do?
I’ll get to that.
Did we get the virus?
Sigh. Maybe. If you read our last post, you’ll note I talk about Heather having the flu. It’s what it seemed like. It was like something we’d seen before. She slept much of it off over the course of a few days and we took it easy in a yurt. So we called it the flu and joked about it being COVID-19 without entertaining it seriously.
But now we do. She had a cough that wouldn’t let go. I had a sore throat, some coughing, and exhaustion for a day (but got little else except my expected menstrual cycle).
Truth is, we don’t know. And when I got the sore throat, we looked at each other and decided it was the right thing to do to get tested. And then we looked into getting tested in New Zealand. With only five cases nation-wide and a flux of test-wanters overrunning healthcare facilities, NZ required that people wanting a test had to have come from Italy, Iran, or China in the last fourteen days. We hadn’t. So we can’t actually know.
So, what did we do about it?
As I said, we didn’t think Heather had COVID-19 at the time, so we didn’t do much more than we would have done at home. Rest, fluids, Dayquil, etc. She stayed back while I surfed, and we spent time (except when on the ice) letting her recover.
Since she’s been sick, we’ve been washing our hands to the theme from Mahogony, using hand sanitizer more frequently, and turning down shaking others' hands. We’ve learned the rules and expectations of New Zealand, and have done our very best to follow them.
But we have also tried to support the economy. Though the virus is not rampant here, Kiwi businesses are dying. The service industry is thin-margined, and suffering the loss of patrons isn’t something that a struggling business-owner can do for long. We’ve popped into local coffee shops, dropped donations at museums, and continued our tourism with new consideration for social distancing and extreme hygiene.
And, what’s next?
This was the hard part. The next leg of our trip was to be as follows:
March 23rd: Flight from Auckland to Doha, with a 14-hour layover in Istanbul where we would tour the city a bit
March 23rd – April 1st: Doha, Qatar
April 1st – April 12th: Kenya with our dear friend Michelle (AKA MamaPries)
April 13th – 16th: Zimbabwe for Intrepid tour of Victoria Falls
April 16th – May 19th: South Africa road trip with side tours of Mozambique, Lesotho, eSwatini
May 19th+: Morroco
We had flights booked, tours booked, hotels booked, AirBnbs booked.
Yesterday, our Intrepid tour was canceled with a questionable shift in the cancellation policy. (The company had announced on the 13th a 150% credit towards future trips or a full refund minus recoverable costs should a trip be canceled. When ours was actually canceled along with all other Intrepid trips indefinitely, the cancellation policy swiftly changed to no refund, future booking credit of 110%).
Globally, things have accelerated. Countries are looking to more and more serious measures to try to get a handle on things and to slow the infection of their citizens. The spread is hitting new countries, and getting deeper. For the most part, we have wanted to stay the course on this trip and just see what happens. But we are now faced with cancellations, travel bans, quarantines, and further spread.
The South African president announced that visas of citizens of infected countries, including the United States, will be revoked. Though his statements don’t explicitly ban U.S. Citizens from traveling there (there is no visa requirement for 90 days), it Is implied that any or all citizens from these countries may be blocked from entering.
That doesn’t bode well for our plans to visit there.
In light of everything, we spent this evening looking at what we had planned and ascertained the recoverable and non-recoverable costs in order to make a decision on the next steps. Though many U.S.-based companies have imposed liberal cancellation policies across the board, that just isn’t the case for other parts of our trip (yet), like with absent policy of South African Airways. So we had to determine how much we would have to eat to not travel west (#westwardhoesstayeast?). Also, in case you’re curious, we have travel insurance and back up travel insurance with our credit card; however, it doesn’t quite cover what you’d think it would.
After our review, it just made the most sense to stay in New Zealand. Leaving to go to the Middle East or Africa seems a scarier proposition when faced with potential travel bans, healthcare needs, or runs on life-necessary supplies. There is a lot left uncovered in New Zealand and much of which we can do with a lot of social distancing. Hiking, surfing, diving (with our own regulators) are all at our fingertips. We speak the language, don’t fear governmental or industry corruption, and also, really love it here.
So, for a little while longer, Lois & Claire will be hanging with the Kiwis.
Some final thoughts:
Though this time can be stressful, scary, burdensome, and frustrating, you’re not in that alone (despite social distancing). Our recommendations:
Learn from the Japanese. In Japan, there is a term meiwaku ingrained in the culture and way of life of nearly every citizen. A meiwaku is basically a bother, an annoyance, a self-centered behavior--something all must strive to avoid creating. To the Japanese, this is a cherished concept as they are a nation of harmony. They are constantly considering their impact on others and on society as a whole. And while no one is perfect (we certainly aren’t), now is a great time to remember how we impact others. It’s not one for one, all for one, or one for all, but all for all.
Learn from the Koreans. Parasite and director Bong Joon-ho were big winners at this year’s Academy Awards. And as we saw from our time in Seoul, this is no surprise. Koreans are bold, inventive, connective. They display passion without fear, singing K-pop songs to anyone who will listen in the street. They design café’s to look 2D or as an homage to poo. They splash vibrant colors. Unlike the Japanese who are fixated on perfection, the Koreans don’t seem too afraid to make some mistakes in their pursuit of creativity. So, if you’re quarantined (or about to be as we catch speculation of a potential all U.S. lockdown), do something different. Go ahead, speak in an accent. Write with your left hand. Practice your singing of different (K-pop?) songs to hand-washing. Try to create your own coloring book. Order a blanket with your own face on it. Engage with your loved ones in a new and creative way. Just do something different. Take the risks now, because while there’s no cure for the COVID-19 as of yet, creativity is the sure cure for boredom.
Learn from the Australians. Vegemite is the most Australian thing you can eat. And sure, maybe it’s not widely available, but if it is offered at your grocery store, it’s probably one of the only things that is still on the shelf. This salty, yeasty toast topping (please, just a thin spread) is chocker-bock full of vitamins, especially those Bs. You are facing a pandemic and may spend a lot of time indoors—neither of which will likely help your vitamin consumption. So add on. Take your vitamins any way you can get them. You (vege)mite just feel a bit better.
Learn from the Kiwis. New Zealand's culture is built on its outdoor activities, and if you don’t know it yet, the outdoors is effing beautiful. Even if it’s just in your backyard, or on your patio, or if you know a hiking trail nearby where social distancing is available… do that. And if the outdoors isn't something that works for you, take a page from the Kiwi's Te Papa and visit a museum. There are many that offer free virtual access online right now! Oh, New Zealand also has this bubble that maybe can help you stay outdoors and pandemic free…
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