A few thoughts on a cold, wet Monday morning in Sydney

Calm is contagious. And staying calm amidst all this madness is something we would do well to keep doing. No doubt, across the world, we are getting information from every direction, and it can feel overwhelming. In our hyper connected world, someone’s opinion is only a click away. Don’t fall prey to the information overload. Limit your consumption of news to a few sources that you trust, and filter out the rest of the “noise”. Stay healthy. Stay hydrated. And look out for each other.

Not a day, maybe even an hour, goes by without someone asking me the question, “what does this mean for your travel plans?” I wish I had an answer that I was confident of. But I haven’t. Like everyone else, we are watching the events unfold, across the globe, and taking it one day at a time.

Today, Monday March 16th, the very few confirmed plans we have can still go ahead. The first couple of weeks are a road trip within Australia. Road tripping will allow us to keep our “social distance”, as is the current recommended advice from the Australian government. But 2 weeks from now, and every day in between, we know the situation could change, and we will have to change with it.

The tricky part of the situation for us, is that from next Monday, 23 March, we will be homeless. Our apartment has already been re-let, and our meagre belongings will be collected and put into storage.  We will, literally, be nomads. The positive part is that without any time constraints, we have flexibility built into our “plans”. Today’s plan is history tomorrow. In my work with organisations, I often quote Dwight D Eisenhower, who said that “plans are useless, but planning is essential”. Never has that been more true than at the present time.

So, ask me today whether we are still going travelling, then the answer is a resounding yes. We have little choice. We will be homeless. But, ask me tomorrow whether our plans remain the same, the answer could be very different. We are remaining calm, because this is the type of contagious we want.

If you want to lift your spirits, go and watch the videos from Italy and Spain, where whole neighbourhoods are bursting into collective song. The human spirit is strong. Let’s be strong for each other.