It has been almost two years since the pandemic started and we thought it will never end. The travel spirit has been on a long hiatus. Staying at home was a norm we all had to endure.
For online workers and retirees, it did not matter much, it was their regular routine. But for most, staying at home was an extraordinary experience and for some, it was a welcome respite. Being in quarantine was even more difficult. It must be in man’s social nature.
Aristotle once said, “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Man cannot live alone.”
Staying at home had its positives and negatives. Positive was no longer uplifting when it came to test results. Negative was in. Can you imagine the confusion in terminologies?
I am ask every now and then on why my column title is “Turo Tour”, not Turo-Turo. The answer is, I once worked with the Department of Tourism and so my world revolved around tourism since the regional office functions like a mini-Department of Tourism taking on the mandate of the main office.
I believe I had so much to share in terms knowledge, destinations, planning, regulations, and marketing that I acquired for more than 20 years of service. In short, it was good to share knowledge about the mandate of the DOT, its attached agencies, and actual experiences.
So, “Turo” is really to teach anything under the sun related to tourism and “Tour” is just a short cut of tourism.
Later on, I started to write about anything that was of human interest and interesting or just to give information. I was once admonished why I was giving information and not giving opinions as I was a columnist. They probably missed the point.
The column is also to encourage travel and to give information. Many times I address my readers directly as “you” – second person and not “the one” – third person. You need to see this destination or follow the itinerary I was familiar with. I wanted to engage my readers. You need to do this so you will have this experience. I was sharing. You see, every writer has his own way of getting the attention of his target readers and sometimes others don’t see the point.
So, what is the point? We each have our own paradigms, right?
And so, as I awaken from my long pandemic sleep, I can now see that there is an emerging trend. It is happier to relish travel time with family, after all I have discovered so many different and joyous reasons to pass the time with family.
Some have become plantitos and plantitas. Some have become bakers and some have started cooking their favorite dishes again. For some it was Netflix all the way. For those who have enjoyed grab and food delivery, we are now slowly getting out of our batman caves and are becoming fatman, to eat and enjoy the scenery.
And yet we have gotten so used to wearing our mask, that they are now part of our fashion accessories.
My favorite model is my sister-in-law Emma Siapno, when she goes out or travels, she goes out in one specific color, green, pink, brown, blue etc.
It’s a delight to see her, in her terno (not the Maria Clara ensemble) but terno-terno – mask, shoes, blouse, bag, pants, earrings, and accessories. Yes. It is after all still a wonderful world!
So, make the most of it.
April 26, 2024
