Carrie's lost all her upcoming bookings for the summer. She's been on the phone with people giving them the bad news and trying to sort things out. Some companies are responding to the news of a port closing quickly while others are slow to react, so she's not always able to give full details on the first call.
So far, people have been understanding.
"You don't want to know how much we've lost in commission," Carrie said about the business as a whole.
The US State Department has posted a Level 4: Do Not Travel. Canada and the US have closed the border to all 'non-essential' crossing. My cousin Kacy was evacuated from Morocco with all the other Peace Corps workers worldwide.
There may be some opportunities for people to reschedule for next year, but it's swimming in a sea of uncertainty.
While it's a business for Grandpa and Grandma, it's thankfully not a business they run to meet their daily needs. Grandpa's successfully retired from two careers (Navy and Granger). There will be other travel agents who are not as fortunate.
Extra thankfully for us, the family business doesn't have any clients trapped abroad (that I know of). I read an article stating that there were still cruise ships coasting around looking for ports that would take them. They were getting turned away more often than not.
There will be other careers and businesses in dire straits along with the travel industry.
How long will it take to recover? No one knows.
Will there be a boom period for travel to make up for the forced slow down? Or will it just be a lost year of income? Can't say.
Will I ever get done writing this as I constantly stop to listen to Shane tell me about his drawing?
Yup.
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