WTF! How does planning a simple trip to Italy become such a nightmare? Seriously—never in our wildest dreams did we think a virus from China would derail our plans to visit one of our favorite destinations. Yet here we are, keeping up with the latest news on the coronavirus, fact-checking information from government websites, and trying (and failing) not to get caught up in the chaos. Staying calm is easier said than done.

Everyone has their opinions. And no, thank you—we’re not crazy, nor do we have a death wish. We’re making decisions based on facts, not fear. Before this virus, Wuhan, China, wasn’t even on our radar. And now, the idea that a pangolin—an ant-eating creature most of us had never heard of—could be at the center of this global hysteria is mind-blowing. How does something like this even happen?

What’s a person to do? My gut tells me, GO to Italy, it will be fine, but my inside voice thinks slightly differently, don’t go? As I write this, more and more cases are appearing in northern Italy.

Within 48 hours, we changed our flights and are no longer flying to Milan. Instead, we’re flying to Florence. Will this make us safer? Not sure. It’s further away from the epicentre of the virus.

In the meantime, I had to arm-wrestle a refund from the hotel we booked in Milan. Unfortunately, I booked a non-refundable rate (significantly cheaper) because we were coming to Milan no matter what. Well, guess what? Frick’n coronavirus, that’s what. Who could have foreseen this? After many attempts, the hotel came through and issued a full refund. In the end, no one wins. There is much sadness around this, we are no longer visiting the beautiful city of Milan, and the city no longer has tourists.

Milan is now on LOCKDOWN.

Is there a solution to all of this? First, we must come together as a planet and have a strategy for the future that we can all agree on. There are already vaccine requirements in place for specific countries. What about a flu shot? I realize there is no vaccine for coronavirus (yet), but how do we prevent the unknown from happening again? The world is only getting smaller; what is the future of travel? How do we stop the “coronavirus” from happening again?

Like a moving target, our travel plans to Italy are changing by the hour and have since been cancelled. It’s stressful. So yes, we’re making new plans. Unfortunately, we can’t commit to any of them due to the uncertainty of border closures and quarantines. Ugh! We’re flying to London and assessing the situation once we land. That’s our only option at the moment.

Our tentative plans…

Provence!

Yay! I love happy endings:) I’m trying not to get too attached to our new plans; they can change overnight. The thought of mild weather, small French villages, perhaps some rosé and hopefully no coronavirus excites me!

At this point in the game, I’m looking forward to hanging out with my guy no matter where we end up;)

I’ll keep you posted on our whereabouts. Stay tuned!

LC

xo

*photos are from a trip to Milan in the fall of 2018 with my good friend.