Over the past two years, our lack of travel has made now a good time to reflect, embrace and contemplate the nature of traveling, and create plans to travel again. Borrowing the words of Shakespeare, to travel or not to travel — that is the question!
The COVID-19 pandemic has kept many of us grounded. Now, as spring arrives and the threat of severe COVID cases hopefully wanes, we find ourselves dreaming, planning and, in some instances, coming to terms with the sticker-shock of travel. While we were grounded, many hoteliers took the opportunity to revamp and remodel. Many emboldened entrepreneurs have also given birth to unique new hotel destinations and experiences.
In my opinion, traveling creates the single largest vehicle for making lasting memories. Be these trips taken for work or pleasure, there is always a takeaway to be found, such as a new amenity, technology, food experience or activity — and these experiences are so exciting, that upon returning home we cannot wait to share them with our loved ones. We can certainly use the stories of travel as a diversion from the news and our daily lives.
We also crave travel in order to make plans to see family and friends, as well as to explore new horizons. I can remember, as a child, waiting for the mail to arrive with our AAA map, which would outline our summer family road trip route. Our trips would include visiting county fairs, amusement parks and lakes for swimming and BBQing; it showed us that even on a budget, one could still travel.
Taking into account all of the upgrades, new health care policy provisions and the rise in fuel costs, these effects are quite evident for anyone who has booked travel recently. Costs are higher than ever and automation is being implemented everywhere.
The Past, Present & Future of Travel
As kids, Flash Gordon and the Jetsons planted the travel seed in our minds. We dreamt of visiting distant lands that would open up and broaden our horizons as we learned more about other cultures, art and food — the ingredients that enrich life.
Pre-COVID, I would say that I was on an airplane at least twice a week. I had a travel routine and looked forward to seeing the familiar faces of workers at the Delta priority counters, be it at LAX or JFK. Now, many of those familiar faces are gone, and the lines at the airports have doubled (if not tripled).
Our beloved — or bemoaned — LAX is once again under renovation. Trust me when I tell you to “eat your Wheaties” before venturing to or from LAX during these renovations — and make sure to bring a healthy dose of patience, as way-finding signage and open spaces are at a bare minimum. A monorail sounds great, and I hope that it streamlines getting flyers into and out of the airport quickly and provides a station stop for Uber/Lyft as well as car park locations. Progress and automation … Hmmm.
The energizing feeling of plating one’s bare feet into the warm sand and surf of the Caribbean is an experience that has been sorely missed. During these fleeting moments of rediscovery, we find ourselves relishing, lingering and logging into our minds these newly-minted memories. Hopefully, we have learned to be grateful that we have made it through the pandemic.
On the beach with a piña colada firmly in hand, one begins to wonder how far we have come regarding automation technologies in travel that hav been developed to “streamline” our experiences of moving from point A to point B. Growing up, we watched Star Trek and marveled at the ultimate gadget of communication: the flip phone. Did we ever really believe that we would have had compact, thin mobile telephones in our daily lives — and that by the year 2022, the flip phone would be outdated?
We also watched as the Jetsons used electric, self-driving cars to quickly fly around town — and those are here now, too. From the first manned space rocket trip around Earth by John Glenn to today’s Space X and Virgin Galactic journeys, real opportunities are being created for any person to experience space travel.
The COVID-19 pandemic has fast tracked the need for updating infrastructure as it relates to travel, and has also shined a slight on the lesser-travelled parts of the United States — all in the hope and search for better quality of life. We humans are adventurers by nature. If we learn anything from our recent world issues it should be to act with kindness and appreciate the gifts that traveling has to offer.
As president of footwear for Informa Markets, Leslie Gallin developed the FN Platform, the footwear shows at Magic. Gallin scouts the world’s best new designers and trends, providing unparalleled business insights and access into the world of footwear and beyond. Gallin is a board member of Footwear Distributors/Representatives of America, American Apparel and Footwear Associate, Two Ten-Footwear Charity and From Fashion with Love.org, among others, and has held positions at World Shoe Association, Geoffrey Benne, Escada, Louis Feraud and Pauline Tigere. She has been featured in Footwear Plus, Footwear News, O The Oprah Magazine, Vegas, Fox’s Good Day LA, Extra TV and more.
Leslie Gallin
Meridian Group
missfashion@cs.com
