Well, there’s no debating whether Spring has arrived in southeast Louisiana. It has, and with a vengeance! The only debate is which color is more prevalent… the vibrant green leaves and grass, or the ubiquitous yellow pollen that coats everything! Punxsutawney Phil’s shadowy predictions don’t carry much weight down here, so the notion that we’d have 6 more wintry weeks is downright irrelevant. Spring is a season we generally don’t have to WAIT for like our friends up yonder.
WAITING is a game no one likes to play. No one. Nevertheless, it is a condition that we all must endure in life.
We WAIT for exceptionally long stop lights; we WAIT for people ahead of us in grocery, post office, and bank lines. Ever notice that folks up north say waiting “on line” instead of “in line”? I digress.
We WAIT for the watched pot to boil. We WAIT for the attention of our loved ones (or we make them WAIT for us!). And this past year… well, honestly what haven’t we WAITED for? Hopefully your WAIT for your turn to get jabbed has met a successful conclusion – or soon to be. And boy have we WAITED to resume traveling!
Though the WAIT to travel might go on for some people, others are jumping at opportunities now. But there’s another aspect of WAITING that I want to bring into focus. For those of us who book travel for a living, the suppliers we work with (cruise lines, airlines, tour operators and wholesalers) are not yet at staffing levels anywhere near pre-COVID-19 days. Yet the call volumes they are receiving for new inquiries and rescheduled bookings are at a near record level. Turnaround times for getting quotes and proposals are delayed, so if you’re calling me for something, please know upfront that the answers you and I seek might not be so immediate. (Delta recently quoted me a 6-hour wait time to get a callback!)
Ultimately, I think the inconvenience we’re living through now will be worth the WAIT to once again experience the world. And as we all WAIT, let’s remember to breathe, dream and be inspired by our opportunities and wherewithal to experience the joy of travel, and the connections and memories we can make.
Thanks for reading once again, and for considering Philip James Travel for your important travel needs. Have a great Easter!
-Philip
“It is not down in any map; true places never are.”
– Herman Melville, American Author 1819-1891