Has anyone else recalled the times when we just said when and where we would go on vacation and just… did we go? It looks like it was 2-3 centuries ago. And yet. It is not as far away as it looks. It is much closer.
It's just that in the approximately 10 years since then, time has been so concentrated that we all recall those times as if they were in a previous life.
Initially it was the memorandum years that even if there was money (a rare thing that did not concern the vast majority of Greeks) think very seriously about going holidays on an island for 10-15 days and spend money that you will definitely need later to "plug holes".
During that decade, when we talked about vacation, we usually meant a few days at our cottage or the home of a relative or friend.
And when all this started to spread and we said that "instead of us going as humans to rest our troubled body on a beach", came coronavirus to add new concerns.
We will go; Where will we go; How we will go; Will it be safe? To get tickets or wait to see if any new news comes to mind lockdown?
And where you go will it have a lot of tourists? And where will these be from τουρίστες;
An important part is how to get to your summer destination. If you go by car obviously all the problems are easily solved. Absolutely controlled environment. No fear. But what if you go by plane or boat?
I will not lie. The reason for writing this text was the day I went to the travel agency to get our tickets for the trip to Crete. Until I crossed the office, the mood was great. The fear of the joker was somewhere in the back of his mind and of course I didn't let him ruin the whole atmosphere. "As we managed in Athens, we will succeed in the holidays as well. Slowly" I was thinking. The innocent.
So I go to the most noble employee, I explain what I want, he explains to me what options I have, we agree on a very nice and economical package and he prints my tickets. He puts them in a white envelope and together with the specific envelope he gives me four papers. I ask him what these are and he explains to me that in order not to suffer and not to stand in line, these are the papers that will ask us to fill in the boat to confirm (keep it) our state of health regarding the covid-19.
Questions that contain the paper from simple to annoying: "Have you been diagnosed with the new coronary heart disease"? Really now? What if I'm sick but I'm asymptomatic? If the person sitting at the next table is asymptomatic or worse, he has lied that he is not sick. covid-19 so as not to spoil his vacation?
The questions continue in the same style about whether you have been in contact with someone who had a coronary artery, about whether you have come in contact with someone who has been in contact with someone who had a coronary artery and so on.
So that I don't get tired, is all the paper in the logic of "you love me"? "Yeah"! "Friend cross"! .. And God help. For those who believe…
All this is clear that it raises many concerns. On the other hand, of course, there is the opinion that says "and what will we do? will we close our homes? " Obviously not.
But only in the equation that we will go on vacation and the factor "go where the biggest hospitals are" is in itself - bad lies - another reason to reminisce about those old summers that really you were carefree.
And it's not just how you go about where you decide to go but also where you stay. If you go to a house of your own or a relative or even an acquaintance, go and come. But if you stay in a hotel or in a rented house? Another piece that raises doubts and concerns. Will everything be fine? Will everything be disinfected before we go? Will all health protocols be followed? And if discounts are made on the measures to be taken?
And here you are, you are an adult, you can protect yourself. The children; How can you explain to them that in the days of utter carelessness they must be very careful?
Don't go there, don't touch this, don't touch the other, what is your mask? The whole phase reminds me of an old great cartoon by Arkas where a little pigeon asked another to play and he asked his mother's permission but she told him to be careful not to run too much so as not to hit, not to sweat. so as not to catch a cold, not to shout so that his voice doesn't shut down etc etc etc. When the second bird asked the first what they were going to play now that he got his mom's permission, he replied… "our eyelids"!
Children, always in their innocence, have their own mechanism for processing the information they receive.
My son, for example, when we recently went to the supermarket went to the stand with antiseptics and asked me to buy so we could have them, he says, together and not run at the last minute. My eldest daughter asked me to visit Spinalonga to see the place where the Hansen lived in isolation and feel better about the quarantine we experienced.
They both wondered if they should wear them masks throughout our nearly nine-hour journey. Neither of them, however, thought of "sitting on our eggs this year and going on vacation."
Maybe the kids have adapted better than us to this new reality. As you know, you can't hide from children. They know everything anyway.
A recent online survey by the MARLAB Marketing Laboratory of the University of Macedonia shows that almost half of Greeks (47%) plan to take a vacation this summer. The main reasons why 19% of the sample will not take a vacation are due to lack of money (36%), due to coronation (32%), and due to workload (22%).
90% of the sample selects Greece exclusively as a summer tourist destination, 7% choose Greece and abroad, while only 3% choose abroad. In terms of their stay, 46% say they will stay in hotel, 14% at a friend's house, 29% at their holiday home and 19% at Airbnb.
From the specific data it is obvious that if the virus is not a prohibitive factor then it is definitely a factor (at best) of concern.
Every year summer The holidays were characterized by words, concepts and aromas such as watermelon, sun, sea, cicadas and carefree moments on the wave. This year things will be different. Before you ask if they put the swimsuits in the suitcase, you will ask if they put on the masks and antiseptics.
Experts say that we should not panic and that what we should do is follow the islands or any other destination, what helped us to successfully overcome the first part of this adventure. Distances, masks, regular hand washing etc
All of the above obviously apply to those who do not consider it a pandemic Covid-19 a global conspiracy. The others have solved these problems προβλήματα Ή so at least they think.
To be honest, I still haven't figured out if it's a good idea to take this trip this summer. We will do it, though. However, I decided to leave the little ones at the helm, who do not "chew" and, based on their own defense mechanism, which was discussed earlier, told me (before they burst out laughing) "come on, Dad, if we do that as he says Hardalias we won't have any problems. "