I came across a crazy story last week that the U.S. State Department lifted its blanket international travel ban for Americans to travel abroad. (see below)
I thought that was really odd as I am hearing about rising coronavirus numbers in India and Brazil and new outbreaks in European countries. New Zealand just reported its first coronavirus case in over 4 months.
So I read deeper and learned that the ban that was lifted was the level 4 warning that the State Department applied to all countries back in March. A level 4 warning prevents Americans from recreational travel to the specified country or in this case all countries. Now the State Department has set the warning level based each country's specific situation. This is the way it was before the coronavirus pandemic. For example, now Mexico and Brazil are still ranked at level 4, but most European countries have a level 3 ban and some Asian countries are ranked level 1.
The positive is that people can begin to dream of international travel again. Having dreams and hopes has been proven to be an endorphin booster - make a person feel good.
However, just because our rankings have changed, that doesn't mean foreign countries will allow Americans in yet. Spain has not lifted its restrictions on prohibiting recreational travelers from the U.S. even though the State Department gives them a level 3 ranking.
The negative is that for Americans who want to travel abroad the situation has become more complicated.
When we were told we couldn't go anywhere, we removed the idea of international travel from our mind and started planning the great American road trips.
When a situation is unclear, we spend countless hours and time researching or worrying about whether or not we can really book that international trip.
Still, the State Department decision shows that the world is trying to return to normal. Hopefully, we can all return to normal sooner rather than later.
Take care and be safe.
Posts Tuesday and Saturday
No comments:
Post a Comment