"And the rainbow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember
the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature upon the earth."

— Home At First —

SPRING: REBIRTH & TEMPTATION

Managing patience as the world begins to re-open.

          Spring has arrived, even if the temperatures are not always spring-like. The weeds sprouting in my lawn and garden have me convinced.

          There's lots of news, both positive and negative. The vaccine is getting into arms in large numbers, especially in the USA and Britain, with much of Europe trying to keep pace. Many older Americans have already received one or both shots, and in many states younger people are now qualified to get theirs. Despite increases in new infections in many areas, new hospitalizations and new deaths are trending down in number. Medical scientists warn us not to lose our discipline. Our resolve to get vaccinated and avoid unnecessary risk will get us to the finish line. And for us, the finish line means getting through customs in a different country to begin a long dreamed of adventure.

          But we must have enough patience to get through the ensuing months before most nations open up their gates to visitors. Vaccination is the key. And while we are enjoying the fruits of post-vaccine freedom domestically, governments, travel organizations, airlines, and medical experts will be pooling their skills to develop the means to enable us to travel internationally again safely. That means figuring out whether we will need to document our vaccination history or successful recovery from Covid-19 infection in some form of "travel health passport", and what roles (if any) testing, quarantining, and "Covid-19 insurance" may play in getting us moving safely again around the world.

          The Elephant in the Room Question remains: when can we travel overseas?

          The Less-Definitive Answer continues to be: it depends. It depends on how many of us get vaccinated, how successfully the vaccinations handle new strains of the virus, how quickly we get to the herd immunity threshold of somewhere between 60%-80% of the general populace, and how well governments, bureaus like the World Health Organization, and private industry (airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, railways, cruise lines, etc.) can coordinate their best efforts into a universally-accepted Safe Travel Initiative. Knock wood.

          The More-Definitive Answer is: our best guess is that international borders will cautiously begin to open again sometime in May, with Iceland (among Home At First destinations) leading the way. With no sudden & substantial increases in Covid cases, and continued progress with vaccination programs world-wide, more and more nations will open their borders each month. At current rates of vaccination, we project summer re-opening likely for Britain. By September several other Home At First's destination countries should be welcoming international travelers again. Fingers crossed.

          At Home At First we are preparing for the grand re-opening of travel by re-tooling and modernizing our business systems. Some of our employees are still furloughed and awaiting callback to work, and some are working remotely from home. We are maintaining our regular business hours. We are a close-knit team, passionate about what we do, and eager to get going full-speed again.

          Until full re-opening, we monitor developments in the industry that will evolve into the new realities of travel. We are also very happy to hear from you to discuss your travel ideas for 2021 and 2022. Call us. Email us. Let's start a conversation about your travel goals. It is our job to help you travel again, but only with the best advice for when and where to travel and how best to travel safely. We pledge to do our best to help make your travel dreams come true.

          In the meantime, be sure to get vaccinated, wear masks whenever near clusters of others and especially indoors, wash hands frequently, stay hydrated, exercise regularly, stay safe, be kind, help one another, dream big, and stay positive. Avoid the temptation to throw caution to the wind while keeping the faith that spring, 2021, heralds the rebirth of life as we would like it to be.

Happy Holidays to come, and God speed,

Judi Taussig Fahnestock & Ron Fahnestock

Becca Fahnestock

Kristen Crowther

and all our colleagues around the world