Welcome back to Philip James Travel!
Carrying over from last week’s newsletter installment, I want to reiterate that “Now is the Time” for planning – more so than it is to go about traveling. Not that travel is impossible right now, but it remains challenging on several levels. The travel industry is so very wishful in the desire to be open, yet it remains super cautious about doing so. It’s playing a grown-up game of peek-a-boo. We’re open (kind of) / Nope, we’re closed; We’ll resume sailing again in October / No, make that November; We’re fully open and ready to welcome you / But you can’t quite get here.
The real truth is that International travel is possible now, and authentic experiences are there to be had – but you must have the time and resources and flexibility – oh and the right professional travel advisor to help you navigate the many obstacles that make traveling right now so cumbersome.
And then for the great many rest of us, we can instead turn our thoughts to planning those exceptional trips and experiences for the future that lies ahead.
I learned from National Geographic this week about a Norwegian concept called, friluftsliv (free-loofts-liv) or “open-air living”. It is deeply ingrained in the country’s heritage, and it basically means a commitment to celebrating time outdoors which is of course a great way to beat back the blues of isolation. We might not have Scandinavian landscapes to retreat to now, but a touch of whatever form of nature you have around you can be a powerful rejuvenator.
Inspirationally this week (moving globally from Norway to the South Pacific), I wish to share with you the region and culture very generally known as Polynesia. For at least the last hundred or so years, the American consciousness has been drawn to things Polynesian during and after times of great strife, such as wars, recessions, pandemics. Even when physical travel there has been impossible or impractical – just the notion of Polynesia conjures images and tastes that allow us to escape us to this paradise and find refuge. Tiki inspired art, decor, and beachcomber bars transport us to an idyllic and timeless place where with just a Mai Tai or two we can find a corner of heaven.
Destination Inspiration: French Polynesia
Preferred Partner Spotlight: Paul Gaugin Cruises
Travel Fact: The circulated air we breathe in airplane cabins is second only in safety to that of a hospital operating room. Most aircraft cabin air is "carefully controlled" and completely changed 20 to 30 times per hour with recirculation systems that blend some fresh air with up to 50 percent recycled of cabin air that passes through HEPA filters on “most modern aircraft,” according to the World Health Organization.
Thank you once again for allowing Philip James Travel to be welcomed into your inbox. If you'd like to discuss any of the contents, I welcome you to contact me. We all need something to look forward to again and nothing is more exciting than planning that next perfect getaway. We're here to help. Let's go there!
Philip -
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
Gustave Flaubert, French Novelist 1821-1880