Posted by This post isn’t an academic debate but it is a passionate one. If you are a fan of all things travel, you have probably read a few online discussions about this subject throughout the year. 2020 has made us scrutinize many things that we used to take for granted. We each have our opinions and I want to hear yours too. Read on, chime in and let me know how you feel.
Throughout this year, as I have canceled flight after flight to be with loved ones, I have thought hard about these two words.
Definition of a right: A moral or legal entitlement to have or obtain something or to act in a certain way.
Definition of a privilege: A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.
So basically a right is an entitlement and a privilege is a special right or advantage, right?!
So how does that sit in a world of consumerism? The norm is, If you can afford it, you can do and buy whatever you want. This isn’t China! We are not controlled by a communist regime; we are free to do what we want, buy what we want, go where we want. Money can make anything happen. Or so I thought.
Now, at the end of the worst year that most of us have experienced, 2020 has changed absolutely everything. What we knew to be true and real is no longer. For everyday people, hard-earned cash is no longer the key to freedom in the modern world of “anything is possible.” Everything that I once took for granted I no longer can. I recently wanted to buy a new fridge but in a pandemic, production has slowed down and they are not readily available. I always thought that buying a fridge to keep my food cold was a right, an entitlement. I’m sure the royal, powerful, and famous amongst us could obtain any fridge in the universe, but that’s a privilege that isn’t mine. Being able to eat dinner at my favorite restaurant as long as I can pay my bill has always been a right, but If legislation shuts it down, it no longer is. Unless I’m in the aforesaid group.
So now we find ourselves in the same situation with travel. When did it stop being a right or an entitlement? And has it ever been one?
America is so large that we are an affirmed nation of travelers; we think nothing of hopping on a plane to visit family or go on vacation, or climb into the family minivan and drive two days to get to Disney. Does anyone have a right to say we can’t?
As a British citizen, I am entirely used to planning my yearly visits to see my family and have no reason to expect it won’t happen. It’s my right to see my family overseas whenever I want. I never imagined I would be prevented from getting into a country to see my family. That was something that happened in Eastern Europe when I was a kid in the 70s, not in 2020.
In January before Covid controlled us, I flew to Europe for a long stay with my family. In March as I was returning I said goodbye to my daughter, and several days later said goodbye to my parents and brothers. I promised them all I would see them in the summer on my next visit. There was no doubt in my mind I would be back, even as the media continued to tell us that the virus had spread beyond China. We had no reason to think the world would be shut down the way it is now. I haven’t seen my family since.
As a child in England, I was always horrified by the oppressive Eastern Bloc countries that prevented citizens from leaving their country. Eastern Germans couldn’t visit their western German relatives. When the wall came down, the rest of eastern Europe slowly followed suit, and those barriers were gone. People were free to move around the world. EU residents could live and work anywhere in the EU. The world was open for business. So with political boundaries removed and money to travel, it was a right to take that vacation, to visit family. If you could afford it, it sail on!
But now we’ve gone full circle. The borders are back up; I cannot get into the Netherlands to visit my own child. If I went to England, I would need to quarantine for 2 weeks away from my elderly parents and even then live with the risk that I could possibly infect them. So I am keeping my distance until they are vaccinated.
Covid has taught us that borders will always be there, airlines can go bankrupt, on a good day they can still cancel all flights without reason, passport offices can close, nations can turn us away.
Through Covid we have realized that nothing is really a right; we don’t have the right to see dying relatives in a hospital, we don’t have a right to go to our workplace, the salon, a family’s house for Xmas, school, college, or Europe! This year we have no control; we are entirely at the mercy of the rule-makers and it feels very repressive.
So as I write these thoughts down, it’s becoming very clear to me that the choice to travel wherever you choose is not a right, it’s a luxury, just like any other luxury, even down to the luxury of buying a new fridge. It’s a luxury that even money cannot buy for people like you and me right now. It’s the ultimate privilege as stated in the definition, for others who belong to a particular group. If you belong to this group, like a movie star who can attend an event in a country that the rest of us cannot get into, or a billionaire CEO who can make anything happen, or a politician that can eat in a restaurant that no-one else can enter, or a member of royalty that can buy a mansion in a different county, then there are no barriers. Life continues in a unique, privileged way.
But I’m not here to be bitter; I am grateful for the health of my family and the roof over my head. I’m grateful that the airlines are still flying so that I can get back to my family one day. Covid’s lessons have been brutal; life can end abruptly and alone, jobs and homes can be lost through no fault of your own, everything can change overnight. Travel is the last thing on most people’s minds unless a plane separates you from the people you love, and then it is crucial. But it’s still a luxury. All we can do is hold on tight and wait for better times, where we can all be together again.
As we get vaccinated and move on, and Covid becomes more of a nuisance than a pandemic, we should never forget what lessons 2020 taught us. Never take for granted daily luxuries that one day could be taken away. Never take for granted the luxury of getting on a plane and flying anywhere, to be welcomed as a valued visitor, not banned as a potential health hazard. This can happen again and we should tread lightly and be prepared. Better yet, travel as much as you can when the world eventually reopens! Don’t wait for retirement to take that trip you have been dreaming about. Nothing is guaranteed anymore, so seize the moment and do it!
Please leave your comments and let me know your opinion!
