I canceled my trip to Brazil and I already received my refund from Cheapo Air and Canada Airline.  My flight was due to leave tomorrow and returning the 30th.  Thanks to Covid-19 I'll be staying here and waiting for countries to open up again.

I don't know a lot about what is going on in Brazil and I guess it depends on where you are.  A friend in Sao Paulo tells me it's dead and boring with everything closed and no one going out.  But a week earlier I talked with a Rio friend and he told me there is still fun going on but said not many tourists are around.

Here where I live almost everything is closed.  My employer is still in full swing with many office staff working from home.  We recently had 2 workers test positive for Covid-19.  Both recovered and are back to work.  A few office workers who were sick with what was thought to be a long lasting cold since December of last year were found to have had Covid-19 at some point.  None of my co workers were found to have severe symptoms or suffered harsh effects and none are spring chickens.

I'm now of a mind to travel again when places loosen up, plane fly again and life returns to normal or the new normal everyone says we have to have.  All I know is that once I see a ray of hope, I'll be on the first thing smoking to start my vacation.

Funny thing though, when I think of Brazil, I don't imagine the guys, the clubs or the saunas.  I think of the vast beaches brimming with life.  I forget that I don't speak the language but I do remember feeling at home while there.  In Thailand, I loved the place but I woke up feeling like a visitor, not that feeling like a visitor was bad but feeling like you belong is something special to me.

I think all of us are looking to 2021 for some semblance of normalcy to return to the world after undergoing the horrendous pandemic of COVID-19.  It truly bothers me; I know many others concur.  Unfortunately, everyone and everything is affected, some much more than others.  Escorts and clients would fall in the former category.

I have a friend/guide in Sao Paulo who had a high position in the travel industry; a few weeks ago he posted on Facebook that he'd lost his job and would begin seeking clients to whom he could teach English.  Another qualified guide in Salvador, (Bahia) Brazil has been side-lined for many a month, first from having heart problems and now from the pandemic.

Our lives have been changed unalterably overnight!

Even 2021 might be optimistic as the virus ravages Latin America.