Who saw a pandemic coming? Not I for sure! But here we are and the good news is that the latest variant may be receding and more people are being vaccinated. All of that adds up to a collective us being able to manage this virus a lot better moving forward.  Travel took a big hit on the chin back in March of 2020 and most of us are still standing today. Congratulations, pat yourselves on the back.  But did we learn anything?

Everyone’s lessons will be different, but here are mine!

Adversity Begets…

Just hang in there for two or three more weeks, travel advisors, and things will be better.

That’s the biggest take-away from a press conference yesterday featuring Norwegian Cruise Line’s CEO Frank del Rio and the head of its Health and Safety Committee, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who sits on the board of Pfizer.

Here’s my transcript of what they said, slightly edited for brevity. I took notes in shorthand, which I am pretty good at but a word or two may be off, and I apologize for that.…

I was a senior in high school in 1967. It was a Friday afternoon when Mr. Zuckerman, my guidance counselor, informed me it was time to present my credentials to a number of colleges in the hope one would grant me admission. At the time, high school graduates had two choices: Attend college or get fitted for army fatigues before being shipped out to Vietnam. In most cases, this choice was considered a “no-brainer.”

The problem was, I had not given it any thought up until that Friday afternoon. Mr. Z suggested I go home and discuss my options with my parents before reporting back to him on Monday with my plan of attack.

I told my mother that it was time to identify a few college…