When I was in 20s, few, if any in the small town where I lived, urged me to pursue something I wanted to do: pedal a bike across this vast nation of ours. Their reasons were many but basically boiled down to this: uncertainty. There was no guarantee that the weather would participate or that my bike (or stamina) would hold up or that I would not get injured or killed in an accident. All valid concerns.
But I loved cycling and still do. Like river cruising, cycling allows the passenger to saunter through landscapes. The late CBS newsman Charles Kuralt even said of my cycling across America during an interview, ”You saw America at just the right pace.”
I remember thinking that I could heed the hometown folks’ advice to stay home. That would have felt as if I were hiding behind a tree, fearful of venturing out for what could happen. Or I could go. I packed my bags and pedaled away. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Now, as back then, we’re faced with all kinds of uncertainty. Will there be chaos at the airports? Will I lose my luggage? Will the water levels cause deviations in my travel? Will war spill over into Europe? We want guarantees and assurances.
Perhaps now more than ever – with a continuing global pandemic, war in Ukraine, climate change – guarantees and assurances are hard to come by. That explains in part why folks are reluctant to make plans too far into the future.
Indeed, Michael Da Costa, general manager of CroisiEurope North America, told me this past Friday that his company was seeing an unusual trend: 40 percent of CroisiEurope’s recent North America bookings have been for cruises in October of this year. Others were booking only into the holiday season. “People were delaying [booking 2023 cruises] because they couldn’t be sure about what the future held,” Mike told me. “They were interested, but they weren’t pulling the trigger.”
We’re not surprised. Some of our readers expressed reluctance to plan ahead in our post Three Concerns Still Keeping Some From River Cruising.
The currents seem to be turning, however. CroisiEurope recently published a brochure of its 2023 offerings. An email campaign that the company distributed to announce the new publication “got the best response of any campaign we’ve ever distributed,” Mike said. “We’ve never had a campaign perform so well or had so many requests for brochures.”
Are we at the inflection point? Are folks beginning to look ahead to 2023 and beyond? As we move into fall and winter, yes, it appears that folks are beginning to make plans for the future. I’m experiencing the optimism personally as my April 2023 barge trips are nearly sold out.
There are no guarantees or assurances. All we have is hope. When it comes to my own travels, I’ve often took inspiration from the musings of Helen Keller. Back in 1940, she wrote: Security is mostly a superstition … Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure … Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
It’s time to once again set out on daring adventures. Are you ready? – Ralph Grizzle
P.S. You can find CroisiEurope’s brochures here or you can ask for our recommendations for river cruises that match your budget and interests. Also, space is still available for CroisiEuroep’s holiday cruises. See Special Offers On CroisiEurope’s 2022 Holiday Season Highlights Available To Book Now
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