After Covid there has been a massive resurgence in travel. Some figures give 2022 fourth quarter as higher than 2019 fourth quarter.  Some issues have developed.  Demand is outstripping supply everywhere. Hotels, airlines, staff restaurants etc. etc.  There is a shortage of everything and people who have been locked down are racing to get out.  Cities are full, planes are running at 100 % plus capacity, and if there was a year with cancellations and delays to outdo this one I have never seen it.

Hey. It’s great to travel again. Great to be back. But it’s going to take time.  Some of the vital services we need for travel, the bus drivers and restaurant staff, the museum personnel etc.  have simply not reappeared.  Covid presented different lifestyle opportunities.  Remote work became a competitor for some jobs.  Staying at home became a viable way to make money and some of the jobs we took for granted will never quite recover their staff.  In our field, travel is particularly affected. But we need to discover. To wander and wonder again.  To breathe the air of those ancient cities once more.

Airports look ragged at the moment. Train stations too. It’s going to take time to bring the waters up to meet these pent-up demands.  But.. hey. I was surprised when they checked my vaccine card at the Eurostar enroute to France and it made me think. We have just come out of a 2-year suspension of life. Each moment we experience from the end of Covid is a moment of wonder.