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| We stumbled upon the Preston Fresh Seafood Wholesaler on our drive to Yorkeys Knob, a quick five-minute drive from our then-home in Trinity Beach. We returned many times during our months in Queensland. |
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While searching for the “Photo from one year ago today,” it was interesting to see the upcoming itinerary we’d posted on July 1, 2019. Doing so prompted me to post this prior itinerary revealing how much has changed at the tail end to the present, in light of COVID-19. (See below).
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| Their colorful signs in the somewhat remote location made it easier to spot from the highway. |
This is the first time in our almost eight years of world travel that we don’t have a specific itinerary, nor do we have holiday/vacation home bookings anywhere in the world, at any time in the future.
We have some cruises booked going forward but, based on how COVID-19 is progressing. We expect they’ll be canceled or changed at some point, leaving little reason to post an itinerary including such cruises.
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| When we arrived at the wholesale fish market, we were intrigued by what could be “cooked bugs.” Could this possibly be some sea “insect?” Check out the photo below of “cooked bugs.” |
After all these years of world travel, it’s a weird perception to be in “limbo” with virtually no definitive plan for the future, other than to leave India when it becomes possible, which could be months from now.
Our itinerary has been a vital aspect of the joys of traveling the world. Having the opportunity to review and revise it as needed has been an essential part of our planning. Now, everything has changed.
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| Gee…we’ve never seen scallops in the shell. We can imagine a plate of six of these covered in almond flour and Parmesan-crusted buttery topping. Tom likes scallops, so this will be a no-brainer. |
There are several couples with whom we’ve stayed in touch, mainly from North America, who have been traveling the world as well, mainly from one to three years.
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| These are “large cooked bugs” similar to crab, but according to the salesperson, they taste identical to prawns. The next time we visited, we tried a few and loved them. |
Had we been able to fly to islands in the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and the Indian Ocean, no doubt, we would have chosen another path during this long haul rather than staying stuck in Mumbai.
As more time passes, more and more countries refuse to allow travelers with the US or Indian passports/visas to enter their borders. It seems this fact is escalating by the day when this morning on the news, a growing list of countries now forbidding entry into their walls where COVID-19 is on the rise, as is the case in the US and India.
If and when India’s international flights resume, we may have to stay in Mumbai when few countries welcome us with this double whammy (US and India) in our passports.
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| We selected a barramundi filet from this batch, caught that morning. Keep in mind, for those of you reading from countries not using the metric system…AUD $32.50 per kilo translates to 2.2 pounds which would be USD $14.77 per pound, not too bad for fresh (never frozen) wild-caught fish. We purchased about one pound, of which Tom had 9 ounces, and I had approximately 7 ounces. |
The few countries, such as Tanzania, which we previously considered, accept anyone from anywhere, which may indicate their lack of interest and caution in providing safe entry into their country. But, according to this news story (and others), it may be foolhardy to travel to Tanzania based on their lack of statistics and precautions.
The reality isn’t as simple as, “When and where international airports will open to US citizens having spent many months in equally high-risk India.” It’s much more complex.
Again, some of our US readers write, “Come back home!” But, as we continue to reiterate, ad nauseam, there’s no point in us doing that when cases of the virus continue to escalate, we have no insurance in the US (only outside the US), and we have no home, no stuff to fill it.
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| At AUD 64, USD $49.26, all of these items, which includes a vast Barramundi filet, two pieces of made-without-sugar smoked fish, and two containers of crab meat which we’ll use to make low carb crab cakes this weekend (lasting for two meals) will result in four meals for the two of us. As a result, the cost per entre results in a cost per day of AUD 16, USD $12.31, not bad for such delicious fish and seafood. We struggle to be motivated to go out to dine when we do so well at home and have just as good a time. |
This fact doesn’t make us despondent. Still, we consider ourselves world travelers. We have no intention of changing that scenario one day sooner than is necessary, which most likely would be due to health considerations.
Sure, on numerous occasions, we’ve discussed the reality that travel will be different going forward to include; vaccination requirements; long queues at airports and cruise terminals; required quarantine in some countries; face masks being worn in public areas; social distancing, and more restrictions we’ve yet to discover.
We had to get about 18 vaccinations when we began traveling in 2012, which we updated in 2018 while in South Africa. Although we’d both prefer not to be vaccinated if a proven-to-be-safe COVID-19 vaccination becomes available, we will accept this requirement, when most likely, having such a certification may be required to enter most countries.
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| There were a few types of fish that had been frozen, but it was marked. We prefer not to purchase defrosted fish, choosing to buy only fresh when available. |
We didn’t flinch when we had to be inoculated for Yellow Fever and other diseases to visit certain parts of Africa and other countries. And, we won’t flinch again when this becomes a requirement to travel. We have no doubt this will become necessary in the future. Want to travel? Be vaccinated or stay home, which will be the standard travel motto in the future.
We appreciate and accept the risks of vaccination that have created a movement of sorts, opposed to vaccinations. We understand and accept there are certain risks.
But, traveling the world may require a degree of putting aside some of our personal beliefs, preferences, customs, and normal modes of living to accept that of the country we’re about to visit.
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| There were a few types of fish that had been frozen, but it was marked. We don’t purchase defrosted fish, preferring to buy only fresh when available. |
Here is our link from which we’ve taken this year-ago itinerary, as shown below.
| Itinerary 2019 – 2020 | ||
| Ireland – Connemara – house rented | 89 | 5/12/2019 – 8/8/2019 |
| Hotel Dublin, Ireland | 1 | 8/8/2019 – 8/9/2019 |
| Hotel Amsterdam, The Netherlands | 2 | 8/9/2019 – 8/11/2019 |
| Cruise – Baltic – Amsterdam to Amsterdam | 12 | 8/11/2019 – 8/23/2019 |
| England – Falmouth, Cornwall, UK | 14 | 8/23/2019 -9/6/2019 |
| England – St. Teath, Bodwin, Cornwall, UK | 14 | 9/6/2019 – 9/20/2019 |
| England – Witheridge, Devon, UK | 21 | 9/20/2019 – 10/11/2019 |
| Wales – Chepstow, Monmouthshire, UK | 11 | 10/11/2019 – 10/22/2019 |
| Hotel – Southampton, England | 2 | 10/22/2019 – 10/24/2019 |
| Cruise – Southampton to Fort Lauderdale | 15 | 10/24/2019-11/8/2019 |
| Hotel – Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA | 14 | 11/8/2019 – 11/22/2019 |
| Henderson, Nevada, USA | 9 | 11/22/2019 – 12/1/2019 |
| Holiday Rental – Apache Junction, Arizona USA | 61 | 12/1/2019 – 1/30/2020 |
| Flight Phoenix, Arizona to Mumbai, India* | 2 | 1/30/2020 – 2/1/2020 |
| Hotel – Mumbai, India | 1 | 2/1/2020 – 2/2/2020 |
| Train – Maharajas Express -Mumbai to Dehli | 6 | 2/2/2020 – 2/8/2020 |
| Safari – India (inc. in Private Tour) | 5 | 2/8/2020 – 2/13/2020 |
| India – Private Tour | 51 | 2/13/2020 -4/3/2020* |
| Cruise – Mumbai to London | 29 | 4/3/2020 – 5/2/2020 |
| Total days planned | 359 | 5/12/2020 – 5/2/2020 |
| *The private tour ended on March 15, 2020, due to COVID-19 | ||
Life is filled with trade-offs. Only each of us as individuals, couples, or families can decide what works best for their desires and choices. We pray that each of our readers can choose what is best for their needs as opposed to being driven by the choices and opinions of others.
Photo from one year ago today, July 1, 2019:
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| A year ago, we posted more information on the then-upcoming tour on the Maharajas Express. One of the many excursions on the Maharajas Express train includes a visit to the Taj Mahal. (not our photo). For details, please click here. |