I did one cruise. I'm not a big fan of them but when you fly into Milan, spend a few days in northern Italy, and board the ship in Venice to tour the Mediterranean there is some real purpose there. It was fun and I saw a ton of Italy, Greece, and the islands but I hated the conformity of being back on the ship for dinner.
But that ties into another one of my thoughts. I am a believer in the old European aristocracy idea of the "grand tour". A few weeks of travel beats a year in a stuffy university in terms of real education and the experience builds character. You're supposed to go through that scary experience of struggling with a foreign language on a train platform to realize you can overcome just about anything. As Americans we are a little too dismissive of the young adult backpacking Europe to see that person is booking flights and trains, dealing with currency exchange, negotiating taxi cost, looking for the best deal in shelter, finding a good meal at a bargain, and all manner of life skills you'll never get at the university dormitory.
Maybe this is what I'm lamenting. My life is nothing but a long string of risks. People fearful of their safety don't get in a boxing ring, travel internationally, eat raw meat, or go diving in the ocean. To say nothing about things I would call normal growing up like hiking, camping, mountain climbing, canoeing, rafting, or any of that stuff. I don't mean to pick on city people, either. Those kids have to learn to ride the train alone at some point and get the thick skin that protects from the pickpockets and bums. That's a life skill.
I can't shake that all this is lost. As we turn the corner into fall it's important to remember that seasonal influenza is far more risky to children than COVID. That being true, why would we abandon the masks and social distancing? Let's make it permanent.