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| At the gardens of the Smithsonian a few years ago. |
Fairfax, Virginia. St. Louis, MO. Lafayette, IN. I want to see my family. The risks are just too high now. No way to go there.
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| California Redwoods last September. |
California. Always one of my favorite places. Last fall, we took a magnificent guided bird tour including parts of the Bay Area and the Sierras. San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and San Diego are some of my favorite cities. I would love to go back. But right now, California is tragically troubled by coronavirus, drought, and the worst fires imaginable. Around 100,000 people have fled from their homes. Some are sleeping on the ground in parks. The smoke chokes everyone, in cities, agricultural areas, the redwood forests, and everywhere. Many of the redwoods have even burned, perhaps irreversibly (these ancient giants have survived fires in the past, but they take a long time for their grandeur and beauty to be restored, and there are no guarantees). No way to go there.
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| The Grand Canyon. |
New Mexico, Arizona, and parts of
Texas. I especially want to go and see the fascinating birdlife there. Not possible!
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| Hawaiian Rainbow. |
Hawaii. First, getting there: many hours on a plane and in airports. Second: quarantine for 2 weeks when you get there. Plus all the other logistical problems No way to go there.
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| The Eiffel Tower on our most recent visit to Paris. |
France. I would like to see my friends in Paris, to visit the Mediterranean coast and the Atlantic coast, and to explore the vineyards and towns in Alsace. And more. But getting to France right now is impossible: Americans are NOT ALLOWED. The virus seemed to be declining, but then returned. Access to parks, restaurants, monuments, museums, and the like is unpredictable. Maybe the beautiful fruit and vegetable markets will close. No way to go there.
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| The National Geographic Explorer on our cruise in Patagonia. |
Iceland. One of my dream tourist places. I was booked on a National Geographic/Lindblad cruise there in June, but it was obviously cancelled. Another place that Americans are currently unwelcome. And the risk of taking even a small ship like Lindblad runs seems outrageously dangerous now. If the coronavirus did break out, you could be confined to a tiny cabin for weeks, as happened to various cruises last spring. No way to go there.
Japan. No way to go there.
I could go on, but that's enough.
Blog post and photos © 2017-2020 mae sander. All photos by mae sander for maefood dot blog spot dot com.
Hopefully we can dream of better times. You have certainly been a lot of impressive places. That in itself impresses me.
ReplyDeleteYep, time is not right to travel now. I've been to all the places you mentioned, except Iceland, and I'd return to any of them now if situations were different.
ReplyDeleteMost stores are open here now, and a lot of restaurants but I have no desire to dine in a restaurant with waitstaff, etc wearing masks. So difficult with schools and so forth.
Yup, I'm with you. I was suppose to go to London in April. That got cancelled. I was suppose to go back to Iceland in early October, but now I have a flight voucher for someday. and the hubby and I were planning on Hawaii in November. But you know why we aren't going. I wonder how long it will be before we actually get to go someplace.
ReplyDeleteIt's so sad! I hope you get to travel soon. We are meant to be in Europe in October but I can't see that happening.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I want to travel. Not even far. Cleveland for the wedding I won't be attending next week. Canada to see my friend. England, where I was planning to be next month. And a zillion other spots. We'll get there...eventually.
ReplyDeleteSo many places I would love to visit too! Right now,we are focusing on planning trips here in Australia because it doesn't feel like our borders will be opening any time soon. Even travelling interstate is problematic right now because the state borders are closed to Victorians! One day we will be allowed to travel again!
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