Travel Halted due to COVID-19, World (March and Onward)

I started my 4-month travel journey on February 1, 2020. At that time, the COVID-19 or the novel corona virus disease was still a serious issue only in Asia, mainly in China and Korea, probably also in Singapore. It was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It was then introduced to be a killer virus. Soon afterward, people downplayed it and predicted that it will disappear when the heat comes around. WHO was still short of calling the crisis a pandemic. Thus, it was making mistakes and sending wrong signals to the world.

I traveled to Sri Lanka for a week and drove around the island nation without a problem. At that time, Sri Lanka had one Chinese tourist patient confirmed to be positive with the COVID-19. Other than that, people were not concerned at all about COVID-19.

I then traveled to Kathmandu Nepal for a week and had no problem. Nepal had only one patient then. I was lecturing for the whole week and at times I had meetings over breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also, I spent time with the graduates of SfK MBA BCT Kathmandu 2019.

My journey made an overnight stop in Muscat Oman where no one was found to be ill at that time. I was there for less than 24 hours, but my brief visit was quite productive with a rental car that allowed me to drive to the places of interest.

I continued my travel to Lahore Pakistan for a week, where no COVID-19 patient was identified during my visit. I stayed at a local residence interacting daily with people who attended the training and the host family over daily breakfast and at times dinner.



Thus, I continued my travel to Tbilisi Georgia for several days, where again no patient was identified. I spent time with a graduate of SfK MBA BCT Irvine 2018. We had a brainstorming session about what he was going to do for his missional business.

Then, I traveled to Madrid Spain on February 26. At that time, Spain started seeing some patients, but primarily in Costa del Sol and islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Madrid seemed to be without any patients and no one was taking the COVID-19 seriously. No one was wearing a mask and people were not even talking about it. The Spanish officials were downplaying it very much.

On March 1, Kristin arrived in Madrid for an overnight stay and the following day we traveled to Valencia by bus. We stayed there for 10 days. While we were staying in Valencia, the situation in Europe was getting worse every day. Italy was the worst country, followed by Spain. But, Spain's problem was primarily in Madrid. In Madrid and Valencia, no one was wearing masks and we could not wear them either.

We left Valencia on March 11 for Malta. While we were staying there, the situation in Costa del Sol was getting worse along with Madrid. The number of patients in Costa del Sol accounted for 70% of all patients in the Andalucia Autonomous Community.

I had to make a decision about whether we should continue our travel. After a discussion with Kristin, we made a decision to stop all remaining schedules and return home in Thailand.

After we made the decision, European nations began to take aggressive actions to stop the spread of COVID-19. Spain issued a decree similar to martial law, locking down all residents in Madrid, except for essential trips. Madrid turned out to be the epicenter of Spain's COVID-19 pandemic. Our decision was made timely and correctly. As a result, all airports were getting empty as travelers come to halt all over the world.

We purchased flight tickets from Turkish Airways and we went to the airport. But, alas! Turkish Airways check-in counter staff told us that we could not transit Istanbul unless we have completed the 14-day quarantine period in Malta after we left Spain on March 11. I thought it was harsh.

As the second option, we bought the tickets from Qatar Airways to transit Doha to go to Bangkok two days later. In the worst-case scenario, we were thinking of staying in Malta for an additional 10 days. But we were concerned about potential lockdowns or airport shutdowns that could happen in any place and at any time.

Fortunately, we were able to travel through all travel segments and arrived home on March 17. Praise the Lord! It was the first time that we felt grateful for just letting us fly for the flights we paid for.

At any rate, we ended up canceling our trip to Tunis, the return trip to Malta and to Valencia, a road trip to Malaga, a 2-week timeshare stay in Costa del Sol, a trip to Casablanca, Morocco tour with Gate 1 (they have already suspended the tour with full credit for a future trip.), travel to Cairo Egypt, and travel to Thailand where I was supposed to attend two conferences. But, FBA Forum has been canceled and BAM Congress has been postponed to 2021.

Also, Amanda postponed her wedding that was supposed to take place on May 30 and I had to cancel their honeymoon trip to Tahiti, French Polynesia.

I need to make a lot of calls to cancel the reservations and make persistent follow up on previous cancellations and mistakes made by the airlines and/or travel service providers. It is a lot of hassle. But, it is so good to be home.

Meanwhile, so many people continue to be getting sick, more than 250 thousand, and also many people die, more than 10 thousand, as of March 20, 2020. I have not seen anything like this in my entire life. The magnitude of geographical impact (Now WHO has called it a pandemic), the speed of spreading, the strength of contagiousness are all unprecedented.

For the first time, the US has increased the overall overseas travel advisory to Level 4, meaning "Do not travel." The government is planning to give cash to all low-income citizens. Businesses are closed and the streets are empty. No one can predict how things will develop. Uncertainty and anxiety are rampant among people.

But as a believer, I need to remain in God's peace or Shalom that no one in the world can know or give. Shalom is not an absence of war, but an active presence of peacefulness in perfect harmony with the Creator God no matter what the circumstances may be. What would be the worst outcome out of this COVID-19 pandemic? Getting sick? Hospitalization? Dying? Whatever the outcome, we believers are looking beyond this life into the eternity that God has promised for His people.

Also, I believe that we need to repent before God. It is God's wrath against humanity for its defiance against Him. It is a warning that His patience is drying up. Without our repentance, His wrath may be poured out on us and the Day of the Lord may come. We need to seek God's forgiveness and mercy, but first we need to repent with a sincere heart. Oh Lord, please be merciful to us.

I do not know whether I will be able to travel again and if so when. But I will wait for His guidance in His time. - Jeffrey