FLASHPACKERS TRAVEL

(FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL)

Hello, from a beautiful house sit in Mount Helen, a suburb just south of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia.

On Wednesday 11^th March, 2020, the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.  What better time to talk about ‘fear’ than now, when we are in the throes of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

I wasn’t quite sure where to begin with this post, because there is SO many fears associated with travel.

• Terrorist attacks
• Being robbed at knife point
• Murdered
• Being injured in a third world country
• Language barriers
• Illness
• Gender inequality/Misogynistic countries

The list could go on forever.

Recently, at work, colleagues are hearing of our plans to travel for a year.  The conversation always starts the same, ‘OMG, I hate you!’, then it progresses to, ‘Where are you going?’, then upon hearing ‘South America’, it then escalates to, ‘Are you trying to get murdered?’

Most conversations are like this, or a version of it.

What instils this common fear in us and why do we all assume the worst?

Here are FLASHPACKERSTRAVEL, we are pretty cautious travellers, adhering to the motto of ‘be aware of our surroundings’.  Sure, we definitely look like tourists, camera in hand, backpack on our back, usually staring in wonder at incredible architecture or landscapes.  We use common sense as a guide.  We usually are not out late and avoid walking around in dark unlit streets.  We travel together, always!  We research areas of interest, so we don’t falter too long in public areas looking lost, or peering too long at maps.  We try and learn the language, albeit, the basics. 

We find that the locals really love to engage with us more when we attempt to have conversations with them.  It has proven so helpful at restaurants, or cafés, or just in seeking some local information about markets or places of interest.

We dress appropriately and respectfully at Spiritual buildings.

We engage with other travellers for advice and local knowledge.

If places are of a ‘higher crime rate’ we might seek out a tour or a local walking group.

These are some of the ways we remain safe and vigilant.  I am sure they aren’t fool-proof, but they have proven to work for us.

I have to be honest with you, two days ago I was struck by fear.  It came by the way of listening to the hysteria about Coronavirus which led my thoughts to housesits. 

If countries stop people travelling, then there won’t be the demand for housesits?
If there are no housesits, then we have no place to stay.

These thoughts led to more negative thoughts of, ‘what shall we do if our flights get cancelled?’ and you can imagine it ended in tears for me.

But fear not!!!!! Mr Flashpackertravel came to the rescue and presented me with a whole new ‘story’.  A story of a new possibilities, of different scenery and of fun and adventure.

So, I will finish off here and just remind you to keep everything in perspective.  There are always other options, often better outcomes and opportunities for new roads to travel along.

It is not a bad thing to consider all scenarios, it will help keep you prepared and off the path of panic and worry.

And always remember to follow your intuition, if it doesn’t feel right, then it usually isn’t.

Safe Travels.

Always on the road to adventures, Flashpackers Travel J