Travelfish #401: A fear of travel
Covid19 is giving many travellers The Fear.
Hi everyone,
This week, a fear of travel. How valid is the fear is a good question, but that the fear exists is beyond dispute. More on this down the page a bit.
The much delayed redesign launches this Friday. Yes, really. Why on Friday? So when it all falls apart I have the weekend to fix it!
No, this is not a Covid19 missile. Photo: Cindy Fan.
As I’ve mentioned before, we have hit our crowdfunding target. Thank you! Three stories are on my desk and they’re great. A fourth, from Burma, has been commissioned and a fifth is almost there. As I’ve written before, these features are 100% funded by Travelfish supporters, so once again, thank you!
The crowdfunding has another month to run, so if you’ve loose change, please keep it in mind. You can follow our progress here.
Last week on pay to read Couchfish, I continued on my travels through far southern Laos—and my travelling party going feral. I picked up at Attapeu, then a rough ride to Pakse, then south to Champasak, for Wat Phu and Don Daeng. This week? On to Cambodia!
Just keep truckin. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
On free to read Couchfish, I wrote about what was one of my strangest hotel experiences ever.
As always, the photos in this newsletter are from last week on Couchfish.
Don’t forget, if you are a Travelfish member, the full Couchfish newsletter is free—just email me your member name and I’ll add you to the list.
Over on Thai Island Times, David had his regular island news wrap and then a fun piece looking at Geographical terms and trivia.
Cheers and again thank you for all your support
Stuart
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A fear of travel
Back before the world changed, if I had to rank my fears around an overseas trip, the top one would be “bike accident”. By a country mile.
The best way to maim yourself or die in Southeast Asia is by getting on anything with two wheels and an engine. Double the risk by not bothering with a helmet. This is a fact.
Kids in far southern watching while my bike gets rebuilt. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
Not counting a bike prang, well I’d need to think about it. I guess robbery, or, a very decent third, a violent assault. Fourth, some other kind of transport carnage—I’ve already had my share in this area, so my odds are narrowing. Fifth, well, it being Southeast and my penchant for hammocks, I guess a coconut falling on my head.
With Covid19 ravaging some countries, calculus changes. Here’s some of my fears around Covid19 (in no particular order).
Catching it.
Spreading it.
Overloading a creaking hospital system.
Dying because of said overloaded hospital system.
Having a trip screwed up by logistical challenges and so on.
Trusting official numbers.
Trusting efficacy of prevention methods.
Giving it to my family and/or friends after travelling.
I don’t think I’m alone in these fears.
As I started working on this piece, I posted a poll on Twitter. I asked if fear was a factor for people in travelling to a country struggling on contain Covid19. So far, over 80% of the 200+ people who voted say yes.
Wat Phu with frangipani. Lovely. Photo: Adam Poskitt.
Part of one of the early replies summed it up well:
“I’d be fearful of ending up in/increasing the burden on an overcrowded hospital, fearful of not being allowed to return home, fearful of inadvertently starting a new outbreak at home, more than fearful of the virus itself necessarily.”
My kids have school holidays in a couple of weeks and, like much of humanity, we’d like to go somewhere—anywhere. For about eight nano–seconds we considered Lombok or the Gili islands. Both are at least semi–open, places are desperate for business, and I’d love to do my bit to support them.
But at the end of the day, to get to either, we’d need to use mass transport—either a short flight, a slow ferry, or a speedboat. (The Travelfish private yacht is in for repairs). At the moment all three options require only a Rapid Test. These tests are notorious for their inaccuracy. We’d also be in close contact with other people, even if only for a short period of time.
No you don’t need a swab test to board. Beached fishing boat, Ko Samui. Photo: Stuart McDonald.
If it was only me, perhaps I’d go for the slow ferry where there’s enough space to distance myself from others—with two kids? No thanks. Not only because of the hassle in keeping them apart from others, but also as if one of them got Covid19, it would kill me.
Also, travelling where the whole point is avoiding other people is, to my mind, anti–travel. Other people are more than half the reason to go anywhere.
So no, we’re not going.
This fear—regardless of how realistic it is—is for many palpable. Taking a holiday for the hell of it could result in their own death, other’s death, or increasing risk where they go. No need to get on a motorbike!
Monks on a boat. Sounds like an album name. Photo: Cindy Fan.
Over a month ago, Bali re–opened to domestic tourism. Since then, its Covid19 caseload has gone through the roof—as have deaths. The two primary cities people flew from to Bali from were Jakarta and Surabaya. Jakarta has the highest caseload in Indonesia. East Java, the province Surabaya is the capital of, is number two.
Who would have thought?
My point is, getting numbers under control is one of many steps. Look at Southeast Asian countries that have tackled Covid19, say Thailand or Vietnam. In both, new cases led to a pushback that even I’d say was disproportionate to the outbreak.
When Thailand had a case in Ranong, the nearby island of Ko Samet saw massive cancellations. That the positive case had never set foot on the island didn’t seem to matter. Likewise in Da Nang, where the outbreak was larger, so too were the cancellations for there and in nearby Hoi An. Tens of thousands of domestic travellers went into quarantine afterwards.
Practising separation. Don Daeng. Photo: Cindy Fan.
Covid19 scares people.
Governments thinking that once numbers are under control, people will return are delusional. It is like anything—once you lose someone’s trust, you need to work tenfold times to earn it back. Some countries in the region have lost an awful lot of trust since March 2020.
The Bali bombings crucified Indonesia’s tourism for years. Some places waited a decade before people returned—others never picked up again at any scale.
With Covid19, each “re-opening” followed by another outbreak, cements the fear further. If Bali had a bombing every six months, every year, and the government did little, would you book a Bali trip?
Calm down and eat noodles. Maybe not in Attapeu though. Photo: Cindy Fan.
The only way to allay this fear is to get the virus under control and to be 110% transparent in what is going on. Prove that local people are safe. Use testing methods which are effective and trusted. Have a comprehensive contact tracing programme. Fund medical systems well, thus enabling them to cope.
Even doing all this, it could still take years to get people’s fear under control and earn their trust back. Every false–start will prolong this disaster. Countries that elect to do none of this will continue to fill cemeteries through their own folly.
When your fear is finally put to bed and Covid19 is under control, still wear a helmet.
Good travels
Stuart
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Ten things worth reading
West Bali
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Vietnam has a thriving drag scene, but it still has ways to go in advancing LGBTQ rights
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Kachin State’s yemase jade miners and dealers demand a more equitable industry
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Cambodia’s biggest lake is running dry, taking forests and fish with it
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Alexandre Garel is preserving Southern Vietnam’s architecture in photos
“They’re not my sole architectural obsession, although I’ve shot a lot. Lots of them are in bad condition. The floors and interiors are often broken down — their soul is gone forever.”
An absence of adat $
“One thing is certain: the coronavirus pandemic has created ripples within the social and cultural system of Batak communities.”
The thinking behind the man called Munir
“The quote above demonstrates Munir’s inclusiveness. His experiences of violence and religious extremism led him instead to inclusiveness, and a love of life through the diversity of human faiths.”
Duch, prison chief who slaughtered for the Khmer Rouge, dies at 77 $
“But the vigour, creativity and cruelty with which he ran his torture house belied that defence. And his brashness and arrogance during the trial were anything but that of a young innocent.” Good riddance.
Something to read
13 Books About the World Worth Reading
They’re the ones I didn’t forget as soon as I finished them.
Photo of the week
Just hanging out. Me and and a coupla cows in Southern Laos.
Thank you!
Thanks from reading the Travelfish newsletter. Please feel free to forward it to all and sundry and your feedback, as always, is much appreciated.
Travel light!
Stuart & the Travelfish team