While I am writing this blog posting, I am sitting in London. The C2C: Country to Country has been cancelled (or: postponed, matter of perspective), but I could not cancel my hotel and flight any more. You may criticize that, but I felt very happy to have some sort of farewell trip. I guess travelling will be impossible for the next weeks, maybe months. I already had to cancel a couple of trips. Rail rides in Spain, night train from Milan – hard to imagine they will take place. Corona / Covid-19 has taken control. This blog post will not be political, but just deals with how to drive this post in the different age.

Music – It goes on and on and on and on

The area Flyctory.com is hit least is the music sector. Yes, you will likely miss concert photography for a certain period of time (and I am really sad about it after the C2C 2020 n Berlin), but there will still be album reviews, general music blog posts and other topics around music. Some artists already announced that they will do online concerts and similar events, so maybe the world of music will change again. I also assume that some album releases will be postponed (some have already been) – but this gives a chance to present minor acts and other stuff. I am not too pessimistic that I will be able to cover that sector.

Sports – Game Over?

I am luckily not aiming to go to the World Floorball Championships Under 19 in Uppsala, but some other events will surely fade from the Flyctory.com calendar. I can hardly assume that you will feel that Flyctory.com is a sports blog as well the next weeks. Next weekend was assigned to be the Final4 of Floorball in Berlin. I was assigned to work there as a volunteer (speaker), but also wanted to do some background coverage. I also had the SM Finalen in Floorball in Stockholm on my list (end of April). None of them will take place. Maybe we are lucky that there will be some summer sports like baseball or American Football. The NHL is debating to prolong their season until July – so maybe we get some “hot” hockey.

Much more than all this professional and top-league sports, I hope that people can do sports again as soon as possible. Running should be fine anyway, but also gyms, sports clubs etc. need to open. I don’t feel it makes sense to quarantine us as long as we become fat – and die due to other reasons. The politicians have a massive task to balance things like that. Don’t blame them all the time, it is maybe one of the most difficult jobs currently. And at least in Germany (and most European countries), I feel we are still fortunate regarding politics compared to other countries in the world.

Travel – The Big Problem

At the moment, it is hard to assume when we will be allowed to travel again (and when it will make sense). The good news: I have material in my backlog for some two months of almost daily postings. Is it sensible to do travel blogging when practically nobody should travel? I feel yes. Traveling is about making new experiences, meeting different cultures. I hope I can take you to some places I have been to in the past, good ones and bad ones. We are a globalized world, this is a global problem and we should still have some view on the others (and not buy bunches of pasta and toilet paper we don’t need). The virus will not stop because we close a border. Thus, we should not have borders in our heads. Maybe it is good when Flyctory.com reminds you of the world outside your window – even if it is just a lousy budget hotel I am writing about.

I am most worried about my friends in the USA. They might have the best doctors, but due to limited or non-existing healthcare, no access to them. The social system often forces them to go to work even though they are sick. I hope to be able to hug some of them at the CMA Fest in Nashville in June 2020. Knowing that saying it was a 50:50 chance is already kind of optimistic.

Thus, I feel it is best to keep on Flyctory.com running as long as possible. Having said that, I feel that the motivation of driving this one-man project got a big hit the more I understand what the next months will be like. Let’s stay positive and safe – and let’s survive this together!