December 2019 I landed home after my epic one month trip through Jordan, Palestine and Israel. I honestly thought my next trip was going to be in a year’s time, just long enough to save some money and holiday pay, and come up with the kind of vague plan that that could be written on the back of a ATM receipt.
I’m still dreaming of that next trip, and it doesn’t seem much closer now than a year ago when I should have been booking tickets. Not cancelled, I will still make that trip as soon as I can, but I have been thinking about how travel will change when we are finally able to. I’ll intersect my predictions with some of my travel memories, so this doesn’t end up being too dry.
Proof of Vaccination:
This one is fairly obvious, but if you think you will be able to travel any time in the next ten years without proof of a mainstream COVID vaccination or without a medical condition contraindicating the jabs, then I think you are dreaming. People tend to forget that sovereign countries have the right to deny entry to travellers, and safety is a fairly reasonable reason for cancelling a visa. Judging by some comments on travel Facebook groups, people seem to think this is some violation of their rights, which strikes me as naive considering how many countries have similar rules in place for financial checks, Yellow Fever vaccinations, etc.
Leaving Bangkok in a mini-bus, Two Israelis started singing Spanish love-songs in Hebrew. Between songs I spoke my first words since getting on the bus, I have no idea what you are singing, but its beautiful. I spent much of my evenings in Kanchanaburi with those two.
Testing:
You know porn stars in the USA get fortnightly tests for HIV? One of those facts that I learned that refuses to exit my brain. I expect you will need a negative COVID test two to four weeks before you travel, and another one within forty-eight hours of travel. I suspect a whole industry will be created to administer these tests in a timely, and affordable manner, perhaps the cost will be included in your plane tickets. I imagine immigration staff won’t let you legally leave the country without proof of the results, and airline staff will check again before you board.
Lombok, my first day and I’m invited into photos. School kids and groups of young guys were treating me like a minor celebrity, which was good for my ego. Lombok seemed to be a popular destination for middle class Indonesians and private school trips. One man tried setting me up with his beautiful, but way too young for me daughter. Obviously I declined, but I often find myself wondering what happened to her.
Masks:
I suspect having mandatory masks laws will be implicated at a moment’s notice in countries when there is an outbreak, and possibly at all time for planes and other public transport, potentially all tourist sites as well- If you refuse to mask up you will be denied entry. The anti-mask brigade amuse and frustrate me, I wear P2s a fair bit at work, they are more annoying than the surgical masks people get so upset about, but I still wear them when spraying higher schedule herbicides or handling asbestos.
War Remnants Museum, Saigon. Unapologetic anti-western it is, but I couldn’t spot anything that was a blatant lie. Highlights include a stillborn baby, mutated by Agent Orange, in a glass jar with Formaldehyde.
Contact Tracing:
Another condition of entry will be submitting to some form of contact tracing, whether an app to scan QR codes on entry (which is what Australia has been dealing with for the last nine months), or an app on your phone that reports your GPS coordinates every hour or so, or something along these lines. In a number of countries every time you check in to a hotel or hostel they photocopy your passport to send to the government, so the system is already there.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia- I was walking back to my grim hostel after visiting some sites and by accident I ended up alongside the US Embassy. I paused a moment to consider that US embassies always end up looking like castles built out of concrete with good gardening staff, when I noticed a local man hurrying past, complete with acid burns. my pre-trip reading taught me that throwing acid at political enemies is very common.
Numbers of travellers:
I can see that a lot of the casual, “I heard the beaches were nice” kind of tourists are simply going to give up traveling entirely due to a perceived lack of safety, or limit themselves to only travel to places just as boring and sanitized as their own home. Hopefully this will lead to a reduction of drunk Australians vomiting in gutters the world over.
Selchuk, Turkey- Exhausted, I found my way to the hostel I found most appealing in my Rough Guide, the ANZ Guesthouse. I opened the gate and stepped into the courtyard, where my fellow backpackers were gathered smoking a water pipe, sat on traditional low couches. I was invited in and immediately was introduced to Fran and Miles from New Zealand, Eloise from Melbourne, Amanda from Spain, John the American and our host Mehmut. As is often the way at the best backpacker places, within minutes I felt like I was among lifelong friends.
That brings me to my final prediction. Hopefully when we can travel, a lot of the firm lines between different kinds of travellers will be blurred, and people will mingle much better, joined together by the simple pleasure of visiting other countries and meeting new people. I can only hope.
Adrian's Got The Moose 