It's a little wonder when every day news headlines are screaming about another city or country having to impose lockdowns and control measures to try and stop the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Having several overseas tours set to depart in the second half of 2020 and knowing that many ladies are already booked on them, we're certainly feeling the stress.

There's an obvious discomfort surrounding the topic of COVID-19 and travel at the moment, with very few willing to bring it up. In fact many are tiptoeing around it and hoping it'll blow over! So I thought it was timely to address the elephant in the room.

For Adventurous Women, it's business as usual in relation to any of our tours, unless the Australian Government impose a Travel Ban for one of the countries we're travelling to. If that happens we do not travel and issue a refund to anyone who's paid for a tour heading to that country.

We also advise anyone who books travel, (with us or any travel company for that matter) to take out appropriate travel insurance before booking flights or making any other arrangements pertaining to a tour. We really can't stress this enough.

Speaking on a personal level though, Mr AW and I have just returned from 3 glorious weeks in Vietnam… Yes we took extra precautions compared to normal, but we looked at the facts, weighed up our risk factors and didn't allow ourselves to be guided by mis-information, of which there is so much in the media and especially social media.

This was purely our choice and of course the decision to travel is a personal one, and can only be made by you. Just ensure you do your research and make your own decision, rather than being influenced by other people's fears and even if their hearts are in the right place.

At the time of writing this Smart Traveller are listing simple steps to minimise your risk of exposure to COVID-19 and other infections.
They recommend you:

• Avoid all:
  - high-risk areas such as farms, live animal markets, and areas where animals are slaughtered, including fish and seafood
  - contact with animals (alive or dead), including pigs, chickens, ducks and wild birds
  - surfaces with animal droppings or secretions on them
• If you come into contact with any animals or animal products, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth until you have thoroughly sanitised your hands.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitiser, before and after eating, and after going to the toilet
• Avoid contact with others (touching, kissing, hugging, and other intimate contact), especially if they are sick
• Monitor your health closely. If you develop symptoms (fever, a cough, sore throat, tiredness or shortness of breath), you should arrange to see a doctor for an urgent assessment
• Follow the advice of local authorities
• Contact your airline or travel company for information about changes to flight services
• You do not need to wear a face mask if you are well. Surgical masks in the community are only helpful in preventing people who are infected with coronavirus from spreading it to others.
  However, if you are travelling in an affected country, you must follow the advice of local authorities

Smart Traveller

For accurate up-to-date information related to Corona virus (COVID-19) please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and if you're in Australia, Smart Traveller is a brilliant resource.

Happy and Safe travels!