The Points Guy Will coronavirus forever change how we travel?

For the past 20 years, I've worked as a journalist, sharing tales of happiness and tales of grief. My beats have included politics, Wall Street and the aviation industry. But nothing has brought me as much joy as educating people about how to be smarter and better travelers.

We are in the midst of a crisis that's unlike anything the world has seen in a century. There are way too many people fighting for their lives, and others are fighting for their livelihoods, especially in the restaurant and travel industries.

For everyone else, there are different kinds of struggles. The world is essentially closed as we adapt to our new - but temporary - reality of keeping distance from others. For airlines, there are few places left to safely fly and even fewer people willing to set foot on a plane. Governments are closing borders. Many Americans are under orders to stay at home.

So where does that leave us?

This is a great moment for reflection and a chance for all of us to be thankful for our loved ones. It's also a moment to think about how to be a better society on the other side of the virus. That includes thinking about how we travel.

I've always believed that the best part of travel is how it connects us with other people. There's been a lot of talk in the past few years about taking meaningful trips. But I don't think enough of us took that message to heart.

Instead, we booked fancy -- but insulated -- beach resorts where we could unplug from the world. And there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I have a few fully refundable reservations for such trips when this is hopefully over. But we should also aspire to get further outside our comfort zone on our next vacation and meet other people. After all, right now we are all craving a bit of conversation.

In the coming weeks, you will see more stories from TPG aimed at helping everybody reframe how they think about travel. Those stories will be in addition to all the points, miles and deals advice you've always relied on us to deliver. And for the latest coronavirus updates, visit our dedicated page at: https://thepointsguy.com/coronavirus/

-Scott Mayerowitz, Executive Editorial Director

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