Wanderlust in the Time of Coronavirus (A GeoEx eBook)

Introduction

AN UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE

O n January 1, 2020, I sat in my study with a glass of champagne in one hand, looking at my travel calendar for the coming 12 months. In March and April, I was scheduled to lead three trips in Japan. In July I was going to spend two weeks teaching a writing workshop in Paris, and then two more weeks on a cruise along the Rhone River. In September I was supposed to teach and speak at a conference in New Orleans. In October, I was set to lecture on a grand, three-week around-the-world journey by private jet. Finally, in November, I would return to Japan for three weeks. In all, I was looking at eight trips totaling 18 weeks of travel to 14 countries. I raised my glass to a year of exhilarating adventures. Unbeknownst to me and most of the rest of the world at that moment, two days earlier, Dr. Li Wenliang of Wuhan Central Hospital in Wuhan, China, had sent a text to his medical colleagues warning them about a new respiratory virus. The following day, the government of Wuhan had confirmed that health authorities were treating dozens of cases of pneumonia from an unknown origin. Three short days after my celebratory toast, the WHO announced that it was starting to track a mysterious group of

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