It's springtime and I'm thinking of travel, but COVID's made travel more difficult. Between new variants and mask mandates that get lifted and reapplied like a flickering light it's hard to tell whether the vacation you planned will actually happen, let alone what masks, vaccines, and IDs you'll need once you get to the station. Today's story reminded me how easily our best laid plans go astray:
Gloria Nhambiu
12.07.2021
A Covid Cancelled Trip
My husband is the last of 6 sons born to a Mozambican family. Mozambique is a country on the East coast of Africa. The country shares its southern border with South Africa.
João, my husband, has been planning to attend the wedding of his great grandniece for at least 6 months. The ticket was bought, and reservations were made. João was scheduled to leave Philadelphia on Monday and fly from New York on Tuesday (today).
Two weeks ago the new COVID 19 strain was found to have developed in South Africa. Until Monday he was still planning to make the trip. But our son, Jasen and his wife Natalie convinces him to cancel the trip because they feared that travel might be banned from South Africa and the seven other countries on the tip of Africa. So, he might find his return iffy.
So, Joao is staying home and missing what is always a beautiful African wedding. I know he feels awful, but I am relieved that he won’t get stuck in a travel shutdown of anyone trying to fly out of that country. When the COVID 19 scare is over we can make the trip together.
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Curated by Caitlin Cieri