With the Coronavirus running rampant throughout the world my business trip to the UK and France was recently aborted.

Such a shame, as I was really looking forward to spending time in London for the first part of my trip. My initial idea was to go the weekend before the meetings and prolong my trip afterwards.

As you do when you’re an adventurer!

This would have given me three days prior to my meetings, then afterwards another three days. An awesome opportunity!

It’s been a while since I had been in London other than for a stop over, so I was excited to explore. As a history buff (now you know where Zach gets his love of history) London has so much to offer.

Chock full of more than two millenia of history all in one location, and so many choices?! 🙂

For the second part of my trip, now all non-refundable…. 🙁

I had decided on taking the Eurostar to Paris, exploring for a day then taking a train north to Amiens to take a WWI battlefield tour .

My Grandfather fought in France with the 49th Battalion, 13th Brigade, Fourth Australian Division as part of the ANZAC Corp.

I knew I would be walking in his footsteps and was super excited at the prospect of doing just that!

The tour was to begin in Amiens and explore the battle fields in and around this WWI hotspot. Including Villers Bretonneaux where grandfather fought in April 1918.

Upon arrival in France, as a reinforcement in January 1917 he was allocated to the 49th Battalion so he could fight alongside other Queenslanders.

Initially, the 49th battalion fought in Belgium, where he was wounded at the Battle of Messines in June 1917. He was one of 378 battle casualties of the 800 men that attacked that day. His service record said he received a GSW (Gunshot wound) to the face…

Given the severity of his wound he was shipped back to England for treatment and convalescence.

They built em’ tough in those days…

Having my trip aborted so close to my departure date gave me options especially given that my calendar was now free. 🙂

As any seasoned traveler knows, this happens…and you have to just roll with it.

I still felt like I wanted to take advantage of the freedom, so began planning another adventure almost immediately. The tricky part was where could I go where there wasn’t a ton of people, nor a concern due to the virus?

This proved more difficult given that many of my “go-to” places were now largely off limits…

Check out next week’s story to learn where I ended up going. 🙂

As for our current and worsening predicament…

My heart is breaking for my beloved Italy… I have no words to describe my concern for this beautiful country and its people.

And as the days pass, it seems that panic and widespread misinformation is prevalent and that common sense has gone out the window in some respects.

I can understand anti bacterial wipes, and canned goods to a point. However, it seems like rational thinking and common sense has abandoned us as a species…

As an example – a run on toilet paper? Or fist fights over the last pack of rolls. Really?

Not unlike a world war the Convid-19 virus is impacting the entire world, and like those days the best approach is to stick together and fight it in a coordinated manner.

Each day, countries are taking unprecedented steps to protect their citizens, but we must also do our part at an individual level.

As an example, after coming back from my recent trip I’ve been in self isolation, and will be for 14 days as per the Health Canada guidelines.

This also means working from home and staying in. Admittedly, it can make you a little stir crazy, but it’s really about a short term pain for a longer term gain…

I find myself talking to Zach and Sam on a daily basis, if nothing more than to hear their voices and connect and ensure we’re all doing well both physically and emotionally.

For them school is now officially online, with no more in person classes at either University. A great approach and I applaud both schools for being so quick to ensure the safety of their students.

My advice is to educate yourself via the World Health Organisation (WHO) website.

Stay smart and avoid big crowds, wash your hands regularly and try not to touch your face. Check in with the ones you love as often as you need.

We will get through this, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

I personally have resigned myself to “it will be what it will be”, and will do the best I can.

If you’re feeling isolated and need someone to talk to I’m here for you. Leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

As a reminder, if you’re home in quarantine or just staying close to home now’s the perfect time to catch up on reading all of my past stories. 🙂

Until next time – stay calm and keep healthy!

Ciao!