Travelfish #381: Couchfish + Travelfish Reader Survey results! + Post COVID19 travel

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi everyone, Sorry a day late, better late than never right?! First off the results of the Travelfish 2020 Reader Survey are out! [Please take a look]( thanks again for all those, all 749 of you, who made the time to fill out out. Thank you! Secondly a plug for my new project [Couchfish](. If you’re stranded on a couch, harking after travel, this paid newsletter may be just what you are after. Feedback so far has been resoundingly positive and I especially liked this “I love getting an email that is pure pleasure. No request for political donation, no Covid talk [ed:unlike this edition of the Travelfish newsletter!], no bad news. A little bit of dreamy travel.” Please [consider signing up]( costs US$5 per month—free if you are a Travelfish member (in which case just email me your Travelfish member name and I’ll add you to the list). There are also [gift subscriptions]( (hint hint!) The photos in this issue of the newsletter are from Ayutthaya, which is where Couchfish is currently at. Tomorrow Lopburi! [Don’t miss the details. Photo: David Luekens] Don’t miss the details. Photo: David Luekens Cheers and thank you for your support, Stuart Support Travelfish! If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. [See more here](. Travel post COVID19 These be sad times, crazy times and and tragic times. Travel in this age of COVID19 is now walking from the bedroom to the loungeroom. Adventure travel perhaps down to the minimart. How long will things be like this? While obviously not just for travel’s sake, I’d like to see normalcy return as soon as possible, but realistically I think the travel industry and most certainly recreational and responsible travel is going to be laying down for a very long nap. So, how do I see matters playing out? I’m no expert (I wish I could double bold this), but I think the most important thing is that as phrases like “responsible travel”, “ecotourism” and “boutique hotel” have been so co-opted by marketing departments that they are largely meaningless, today, the only way recreational travel should be happening is if it is responsible. By responsible I mean that you or me travelling is not going to endanger others. The way I see it, we, as a planet, have a few stages to get through before we get there. Stage 1: A vaccine/treatment Until there is a vaccine, I can’t see how travel can possibly begin to recommence in a responsible fashion. The closest real example I can think of is the Yellow Fever vaccine, where unless you can prove you have had the vaccine, you ain’t going. So I imagine we’ll end up in a situation where unless you can prove you have been vaccinated against COVID19 you are not allowed to get on a plane (or a boat, bus, ox-cart, whatever). No vaccine? Stay The F at Home. Yes, any vaccine must be free. A number of vaccines are in the early stages of trialling, but it isn’t just developing the vaccination, it is getting it into widespread circulation. A few weeks ago I wrote about a required shift in mindset, where people (including myself) needed to stop thinking about how they could avoid catching COVID19 and instead work on the assumption they already had it, and what they should do to minimise the risk of spreading it. The same goes with a vaccine. Widespread adoption not just of the vaccination but also a uniform verification system, as with the Yellow Fever Certificate, is essential. Being able to prove that you are not a risk to others is vital. So how long is this going to take? Obviously I have no idea as I know about as much about viruses as I do about [the mating of butterflies]( but I’m going to say 18-24 months minimum. That’s another six months to invent the bloody thing, and a year for bureaucrats and governments to A: decide what colour the card should be (eight months minimum—I like purple) and B: kick-off a widespread vaccination programme. Stage 2: Beds, bars and bistros Once Stage 1 is underway, critical travel infrastructure, be it hotels, buses, bars, or whatever, will need to find staff, reopen, hose out the rooms and so on. It’s not like businesses can just reopen for business as usual at the click of their fingers. Staff will have been let go, gone elsewhere. Thousands of tourist facing businesses simply won’t exist anymore—bankrupt. Using Bali as an example, many of the staff you encounter are not Balinese—they’re from Java or Sumatra or elsewhere in the archipelago. And when they lost their jobs, Bali being as pricey as it is (by Indonesian standards) they went home. Businesses will need to pull these people back, or employ new people—and this will not happen overnight. Allow six months at least. Stage 3: Independent travellers and business travellers Vaccination card in hand, people (at least those with money, as vast numbers will have lost their jobs through the economic collapse of the previous two years), will start to inch out. A friend suggested the early post COVID19 days will be akin to the early 70s, and I can see a lot of truth to that. Business travellers, with more resources and budget and so on, may be travelling more by this stage, again like the 70s, but I think recreational travellers will be few and far between. Stage 4: Mass tourism I think add another year before any sort of wide scale mass tourism comes on line. Partly because of infrastructure issues in the destination, partly because few will have much disposable income, partly because mass tourism tends to be a little more cautious. So in summary I’m suggesting a return to some form of independent travel two years from from today—three or four for mass organised travel. As I said, bed down for the long nap. So what do we do in the meantime? If you’ve friends in the business, guesthouses you love, amazing tour guides, fabulous waiters, acknowledge the fact that they are almost all going to be out of a job by the end of April or May. Get in touch. Ask them how you can help. It might be a PayPal donation, or a box of masks, or even a deposit on a trip you might use one day in the far future ... maybe. Ask them what they need—don’t assume you know best. As was suggested to me, ask them if you can sponsor a coconut palm for $20! Most importantly, you make the first step—you reach out. Many people are just too humble to ask for help. Secondly, look after yourself and keep busy. Take the time you’ve now been handed to learn more about where you were going. Read books, start a Duolingo course in the language of the country you were planning on travelling to. Buy a guidebook—yes a real paper one! UK publisher Bradt, specialist in places almost nobody goes to (I mean that in a nice way!), has a 50% sale going at the moment—grab a book to somewhere you have never heard of! [The discount code is DREAM50](. Lastly. Don’t give up on travel. It will be back. Its form might be different—expect a bunch of LCCs to go broke and airfares to skyrocket for example, but, in the words of Arnie, it will be back! More industry thinking and commentary on what the future holds for travel post CovID19 [The seven stages to the new normal]( [A New Normal in Travel Post COVID-19]( [Forecasting a Post-Covid World]( ['Immunity passports' could speed up return to work after Covid-19]( Good (couch) travels Stuart Premium members only: Book a round the world with [roundtheworldflights.com]( (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2021. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( Ten things worth reading I’ve gone a little over ten this issue. Sorry! How Balinese Hindus are responding to restrictions on ceremonial life Bali—it’s complicated. [One of my favourite reads of the week](. Fishing communities risk crocodile attacks in the Ayeyarwady Delta “[These crocodiles found new neighbours]( after Cyclone Nargis roared across the Ayeyarwady delta in 2008, leaving at least 140,000 dead and devastating vast areas of farmland. Many farmers left homeless by Nargis moved to the area around Meinmahla Kyun to work as fishers.” Lost treasures emerge in Cambodia’s hunt for historic sites “The origin of the new finding remains, for now, [something of a mystery]( as the culture ministry and several archaeologists disagree with Eng Kunthea’s historical analysis.” Tioman Island in the Middle Ages Take my word for it, [guidebook writing was less detail-centric in the Middle Ages](. Fascinating stuff by one of my favourite accounts on Twitter [@siwaratrikalpa]( 17 of the best travel podcasts to listen to now [A bunch I had never heard of here](. Wilderness and whisky: Meeting Northern Laos’ Khmu people “Bellies full and bodies tired from the day’s hike, we sit around the fire and hear stories of Khmu traditions and beliefs. Jungle-distilled rice whisky, or “lao-lao”, are shot nine times. [It’s impolite to refuse]( so I gulp the fiery liquor and turn to the friend on my left who repeats the ritual. ” A short history of travel guidebooks and why they matter more than ever “But this pandemic and the ensuing downturn in the purchasing of travel guides looks to threaten what we’ve built, [with far-reaching implications]( Elephants plodding a bleak path after Thailand’s tourism crash $ “Even before the virus, many were subject to abuse, exploitation and cruelty. Now there are estimates that more than 1,000 face starvation [or a return to forest labour in dire conditions]( Bangkok mansion, the city’s oldest private residence “Members of his family lack the means to restore their time-worn residence to its former glory. Even its upkeep strains their finances. [“There’s always something that needs repair. A bit here, a bit there,”]( I CAN IDENTIFY WITH THIS STATEMENT! Modernising Indonesian puppet shows for millennials [I really loved this piece](. Isolation ride A mate in Bangkok, Greg, takes a ride through Bangkok. I’ve ridden with Greg in the past, he’s great company and [really knows his way around Bangkok on two wheels](. Enjoy. Fighting fowl in Sulawesi $ “Those who like cockfights have to jump through some hoops to see them. The news is spread by telephone, and the fights start when people gather. Two places I visit in Tandung postponed the fights [due to uncertainty over a newcomer—me]( Nine rooms and a hallway “There is a bucket of water in the yard outside his house. His wife has left a folded towel, a bar of soap, a pair of shorts, a shirt, and the gallon of 70-percent alcohol he bought with the clinic's other supplies. He takes a bath. He rubs down with alcohol, every inch. He gets dressed, opens the door, calls out a greeting, [then waits for the screaming joy of two small boys who leap into his arms]( Singapore put my safety ahead of ideology “The difference is simply a case of punishment and deterrence: rule-breakers in Singapore have been stripped of their residency status, or had their passport canceled. Is that ‘draconian’ or ‘authoritarian’? [You may call it what you like, but as a Singaporean, I call it effective]( Hmmmm—authoritarian works for me. Indonesia's health workers brace for COVID-19 onslaught “Families are not allowed to see their loved ones or open the body bags at any time before burial, but they can request that their family member be placed in an additional wooden coffin provided by the hospital.” [Brutal stuff](. The week that put Laos on the map An [interesting first hand report from Luang Prabang]( in COVID19 Laos. Isolation “Everyone will have their own story of the lockdown. [Some of the most difficult are unreported]( Not specifically Southeast Asia related, but a great read nevertheless. HATESHARE: They were the last couple in paradise. Now they’re stranded. “Their “room boy” checks on them five times a day. The dining crew made them an elaborate candlelit dinner on the beach. Every night performers still put on a show for them in the resort’s restaurant: Two lone audience members in a grand dining hall.” There are not words in any language for how much I hate this piece. I think this is my first ever hate-share to this newsletter—sorry! [Could the New York Freaking Times not have perhaps interviewed a staff member for their thoughts on this palaver]( Something to read A Tiger in Eden “The Thailand of 1996 is the backdrop to Chris Flynn’s compelling 2012-published novel, A Tiger in Eden. And while it’s not the most well-rounded depiction of the kingdom we’ve come across in fiction, the story of the protagonist Billy Montgomery [is so enthralling]( that we’re happy to put that aside and still recommend the book if you’re travelling there.” Travel shot [Eternal sunbathing. Photo: David Luekens] Eternal sunbathing. Photo: David Luekens Till next time [Sam and Stuart.] That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia. Travel light! Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team [( You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe Instantly](. Make sure you're getting our emails! 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