Italy is Calling

I've been visiting the US Department of State's website Travel.State.Gov for years. The site monitors the current safety of each country and assigns a level from one to four. Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions. Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution. Level 3: Avoid Nonessential Travel.  Level 4: Do Not Travel.  Before checking available flights, I check available countries and then head out for a dictionary and a guidebook.

I didn't know about this site when I went to Egypt.  After recent terrorist attacks in Cairo (the late nineties), things seemed to have settled down. Those were the days some of us thought recent attacks meant tightened security and safer trips. Instead of a travel advisory from the State Department, I took my father-in-law's advice and grabbed my backpack.

I wouldn't take the same risk now. And I definitely wouldn't scrouch, climb and crawl through the tunnel to get to the innards of The Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Great Wonders of the World. But I'm sure glad I did it then. (Thanks, Bob.)

When Bolivia struck my fancy it was Level Two (Exercise Increased Caution).  But I was drawn to the country's long braids, colorful clothes and little black hats so I kept checking. When it jumped to Level One on the charts, I bought my tickets.

On a recent road trip to France (unimpressed by the same landscape I'm used to in Italy), I checked the travel advisory for Uzbekistan and learned that it was travelable. I googled some photos and maps before returning to the off-season fields of lavendar.

When I got home, I let the France trip sink in for a month before I started talking about Uzbekistan again.  Most people responded with alarm and advised me that it was unsafe, so I checked my favorite site and confirmed that it was still Level One (Exercise Normal Precautions). Just for fun, I checked Italy.  Due to recent acts of terrorism in Europe, Italy was Level Two (just like Bolivia had been). In October 2019 I was living in a country that in the past I would have  put on hold as a travel destination.

While writing this piece, I've been checking the site on my phone to verify minor details. Although the screen is small, I still squint my eyes and read between my fingertips to avoid unnecessary coronavirus news. It doesn't take much to see all red.  And I don't have to read anything to know that we are all in this Level Four (Do Not Travel) together.

I have a feeling Italy will be on that list longer than the rest of the world.  And even as the Level goes from Four to One, I think visitors will keep more than just a social distance from us.  It looks like Uzbekistan will have to wait. Italy is calling. Seeing the innards of Venice without climbing and crawling through tourists might just be the next Great Wonder of the World.