Halo semua...
Semoga sehat - sehat dan tetap semangat ya.
I know, the pandemic is still lingering dan rasanya 3 bulan sudah terlalu lama buat virus Corona main ke dunia dan memutarbalikkan banyak hal. Banyak hal baru yang harus kita lakukan agar bisa survive di masa seperti sekarang, atau tepatnya kebiasan baik yang kita sudah tau sejak lama tapi sekarang harus benar - benar diterapkan dengan baik dan penuh disiplin.
Satu hal yang pasti, aku kangen traveling.
Yup, traveling to different part of the world.
or even to many beautiful corners in Indonesia.
Aku rindu melihat bumi dari ketinggian dan melihat gumpalan awan di angkasa.
Aku kangen mengjelajahi kota - kita di berbagai sudut dunia yang menawarkan aneka ragam pesona.
Aku ingin mencicipi aneka kuliner khas di suatu kota dan negara yang aku kunjungi.
Aku tidak sabar bercanda dengan keluarga kecilku saat kami melakukan roadtrip.
Aku juga kangen banget membawa aneka oleh - oleh dari tempat yang aku jelajahi.
Aku kangen diving!
Aaaah...banyak sekali ini kangennya.
Kalian sudah mulai kangen traveling atau jalan - jalan?
Atau masih betah di rumah dan menikmati segala kenikmatan baru, thanks to Corona, seperti menghabiskan banyak waktu dengan keluarga dan punya waktu tambahan untuk menekuni hobi? Aku sendiri mencoba untuk menikmati apa yang bisa kita nikmati selama pandemi ini. Yang pasti waktu untuk keluarga jadi banyak dan itu adalah anugrah terbesar buatku yang selama ini kerap menghabiskan banyak waktu di luar rumah karena pekerjaan. Aku juga jadi bisa lebih menjalankan hobi masak dan membuat beberapa konten di platform media sosial yang aku suka.
Anyway, balik lagi ke traveling.
Kira - kira teman - teman terbayang ngga traveling di era 'new normal' ini seperti apa?
Apakah kita siap untuk traveling di masa yang penuh dengan ketidakjelasan?
As much as we want to go out ad travel to those exotic places around the globe, deep down inside, we all are worried about this virus. Nobody wants to get infected and admitted to the hospital due to this COVID-19. Even though we might not have any symptoms, we are still capable of being a carrier which poses dangers to the elderies and other more vulnerable people, including our beloved parents.
There is something about traveling that really moves me.
In our virtual meet - up last weekend, many google local guides including local guides indonesia, Jakarta local guides, local guides world and other local guides from India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ghana joined us to discuss about traveling that we love so much ♥️♥️♥️. We talkes about The Future of Traveling.
Together with the host Mbak doc_dells and of course dearest Radja Sitanggang @iamlocalguides and Bang Rahmat @rahmatharman, we discussed the future of traveling, especially for us Google local guides.
We are intrigued to know how we will travel during and after this pandemic.
Can we go out and travel again?
Is it safe out there? Is there anything particular we have to prepare?
Will everything be different?
How soon can we travel again?
Will it be more expensive?
Will people have to get more documents just travel?
How about the accommodations?
Will the hotel be obliged to follow strict health protocol?
What do we need to bring and do in order to ensure our room is safe?
How about the arrangement at the airplanes?
Will long haul flights be open?
Will the tourist attractions be open?
How about the culinary experience?
Will the ‘new normal’ bring new regime of traveling?
How strict is the health protocol?
And the questions continue on and on and on.
So many questions indeed and perhaps we don’t have all the answers right now. But it’s good to have a frank discussion with others.
We shared Indonesia's policies regarding the movement of people, especially foreigners, during this COVID - 19. Taken from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights/ website, here are some of the important arrangements you need to understand.
We also discussed about the way other countries implemented their policies for their nationals as well as international travellers. Most of the countries are implementing 14-day or 2-week quarantine for non-national travellers plus additional health protocols and forms to be filled for all visitors. That includes the rapid test. We really need to double check whether the country we are traveling to is implementing certain rules during this pandemic.
We discussed as well about the preparation of Indonesia's tourist destinations in preparing the new normal. Those places gear up with stricter new health protocol like extra hand-washing stations, hand sanitizer posts, temperature guns as well as physical distancing and new scheduling which will avoid overcrowding. I sincerely hope they will be disciplined enough to implement all these new arrangement.
There is one interesting concept of travel bubble that we found in many open sources discussion. A few countries are considering to open their borders with selected few which are considered save and implementing similar health protocol. This concept is basically arranging simpler travel procedures between particular countries without transit in other countries which have no similar arrangement. That's why they use the term bubble.
For now, many Indonesians are traveling domestically for matters such as work-related and family matters. I sincerely hope we all always remember the health protocol whenever we go. Save ourselves and save others as well.
As Google Local Guides, we also discussed and shared tips and tricks about what the Local Guides can do in the middle of the pandemic. We can not go out that often and review places but we can maximize the photos and the review we make on Google Maps. I personally use my time to download more photos in Google maps and write more articles in Local Guides Connect. We can also share more through virtual meet - ups and download the map offline when we are traveling. Surely there are many interesting yet beneficial we can do as Local Guides.
Well, one thing for sure, while waiting for better, safer environment for traveling, please make sure we all stay safe, happy and healthy!
Cheers!
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