I remember what flying was like in the 1990s. It feels so retro, now. I was embarking on my first international move, to the Netherlands, and had several hours to kill at Chicago O'Hare airport. My aunt & grandmother didn't live far from Chicago and loaded up the car to visit me, at the airport, while I waited for the long-haul flight. My grandmother brought along a full picnic-style lunch that we all enjoyed, at the airport. She packed up the dirty dishes and her crockpot and waved &hugged goodbye, from the gate, and went along her day. We sat at my departure gate and had a picnic on the floor. We hugged goodbye at the same gate. It feels like a lifetime ago that you could meet an arriving plane at the gate, or say goodbye at your departure gate! All we had to do was walk through a metal detector to make sure we didn't have a gun...because back then you could still bring a 4-inch knife on board! You could bring full-sized shampoo bottles in your carryon bag! You could arrive at the airport an hour before your flight and confidently arrive with time to spare.
Then September 11, 2001, happened and everything changed.
For me, it changed in real-time. My parents were traveling that day, flying home from Norway after a 13 day escorted tour. As I sipped my morning coffee and watched the same live news reports everyone else was watching I'll never shake the fear I had of not knowing where they were. They eventually resurfaced in Amsterdam and spent some time on a wild "vacation" that never seemed to end. It turned into a wonderful story of humanity on an international level and I'll write more about that later! After 9/11, everything changed. We all had to get used to a new normal.
When I reminisce about the old days of air travel, it almost feels like a dream sequence in a movie. "We never used to have to take off our shoes to fly," I tell my kids. They look at me with a sort of awe. I wonder what THAT was like? Those memories have been replaced with lines. A security line, sometimes several of them. A line for boarding, a line for the kiosk, a huge line for the really good cheese popcorn in ORD. I could have never imagined this new normal, back then. Now it doesn't phase me at all to spend 2-3 hours standing in a security line that ends with me taking off my shoes and making sure my tiny bottles of liquidy things are Tetris'd together in a quart-sized bag.
Jenn Pro Tip: My favorite way to avoid really long security lines during peak travel season is by upgrading my longest flight to first class. This article is outdated with the pricing components, but the information about the benefits of upgrading to first class is absolutely spot on. Read it, but skip down to the list! My number one reason is to skip that darn line (and the really good cheese popcorn is available in the first-class lounge at ORD!)
Fast forward to 2020, and a worldwide pandemic. We are about to embark on another new normal, folks.
I'm a big believer in things getting worse before they can get better. Let's face it, we've been slipping on a few basic hygiene things for a while now but we finally have a chance to turn things around for the better. We go to work sick We send our kids to school & daycare sick. We go to sporting events, concerts, grocery shopping...sick! Sneezing, coughing, etc. We have all done it. We have gotten used to spending winter months with some variation of an illness that seems to take months to go away. Why are we used to that misery?
The idea that basic handwashing was our number one soldier in the war against Covid-19 is pretty shocking. Soap? Really??? That's ALL it took was soap??!! I'm glad we're all back on track with handwashing and shopping cart washing! I'm glad tables and chairs at restaurants are being sanitized (what! they weren't already??!!) I'm glad it took THIS for people to take hygiene and cleanliness a bit more serious for some sort of communicable disease control. We should be able to stop spreading influenza and other really awful things...anyone lucky enough to hang out with Norovirus? We need to stay on this handwashing kick! The pocket-sized anti-bacterial regime! The secret little silent judging that is happening when someone open-air sneezes! Sir, please don't sneeze in my 6 feet of air-breathing space, thanks. Think of all the unnecessary stomach flu's we can control a bit better now merely because we are all washing and sanitizing our hands and surfaces now! It's exciting!
Our new normal is also going to involve face masks. Yep, I'm on team face mask. I wear a mask so I don't get you sick. I put one on my kids so they don't get you sick. Kids, man. Little walking Petri dishes! In all honesty, this was a mildly weird transition. Sometimes it's really hot with that mask on, sometimes it's really annoying. Sometimes I feel silly. However, I wear the mask. I wear the mask, I wash my hands constantly and I try my best to not crowd someone's personal space, even if it's just at the gas station. I don't want to get you sick, I don't want to get sick and doing these things will help all of us.
I'm happy to announce that Turas Travels is handcrafting face masks! I'd like to take this time to offer a big thank you to 4-H a program from my childhood that taught me how to sew! I actually credit 4-H with teaching me many skills that I still use today, however, sewing was never my forte. I woke up a few weeks ago feeling very sad. I miss talking to people about their fun vacation plans. I miss having a job! It felt a bit like a calling. I felt my mom's voice in my ear telling me it was time to dust off the old sewing machine and find that box of funky retro fabrics and start sewing some masks. It didn't take me long to remember my 4-H sewing skill set! Turas Travels will be opening a new store on the website where you can purchase a face mask! You can even purchase kids sized masks and plan ahead for the commemorative family photo reminder of this wacky new era and get matching masks! There will be other travel safely related products as well as some spotlight collections from designer friends of mine. Supporting small businesses needs to become another new normal. Support me, support some of my small business designing friends at the same time.
I'm happy with how this has turned out, and in this difficult time of basically NO leisure traveling whatsoever, what is a travel agent who specializes in European destinations supposed to do? Well, this one is sewing up a storm and I know you'll be happy with the new products being offered at the TT store.
Below is the first one I ever sewed, with some leftover fabric I found in my mom's old sewing closet. She spent her later year's sewing baby quilts for friends and family and had some fun bits of material to choose from. This sunshiney rainbow makes me smile. See, every darkest day will always end with a rainbow.
We'll get through this friends, we just have to get used to that new normal.
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