JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF A PANDEMIC. PART 2 (Work in Progress)

In late February of 2020, my trip to Vietnam was finally going to happen. After the meticulous work of securing proper documents, booking flights, and travel planning, my dream to return home to my birthplace was approaching rapidly. I had strong feelings of excitement, anticipation, and uncertainty. Would Vietnam remember me after a 40 year absence?

I was peripherally aware of the Coronavirus health crisis that was happening that part of the world. Conversations with my father, who had already been in Vietnam since November, revealed his deep concern about the timing of my trip. Vietnam was especially vigilant to keep the viral threat contained since it shared a border with China. Many social and public activities had been locked down for weeks. They had already quarantined entire cities with any sign of positive cases and restricted inbound travel from China. International travelers were being placed under special health scrutiny.

My father cautioned that maybe I should not visit at this time. He also requested that we pack extra sanitizer and N95 masks, as these items had become scarce. I scoured the stores here in the US and found both items quite plentifully at the time. My bags were packed and set to travel.

On the eve of our early outbound flight from Louisville, we stayed at a hotel a few miles from the airport. I was up late reading and tracking the news about a new outbreak in South Korea, one of our transfer destinations, when I received a message from dad. It said, quite bluntly: Don’t come!

But I was already committed and en route. And with all honesty, I did not foresee that the Coronavirus crisis would escape its regional bounds and eventually become a worldwide pandemic. The viral threat was underplayed in the US, and anyhow, I had become somewhat desensitized to the overactive news cycle that mechanically peddled chaos and crisis since Trump had taken office. The scope of impending danger was muddled. I was not aware at that time that the virus was already impacting major cities on the east and west coast of the US. I discussed our options with my travel partner, Olivia, and we mutually agreed to green light the trip.

Our flight left on time in the early morning hours with a light rain from Louisville. We would have a 8 hour layover in Minneapolis and then onto South Korea , then to our final destination in Cam Ranh, Vietnam.