Sure, 2022 winded down with plenty of turbulence.
See: Southwest Airlines suddenly reinventing itself as the Grinch of the skies and the surge of Covid-19 cases in China after the country relaxed its “zero-Covid” rules, to name just two recent “Yikes!” moments.
But rest assured, there is a whole lot of hope in the world — you just need to know where to go.
See: Seoul, South Korea's capital and culture-dominating metropolis, has finally reopened to visitors — and reemerged as a must-visit art-world destination, to boot. Over in Brazil, a veteran environmentalist leader has just been sworn into office — a good sign for ending crucial deforestation of the Amazon, the “lungs of the planet.” And Australia is finally on the road to recovery after some terrible years of fire, flood, severe covid restrictions — and, frankly, far too much cultural and political stagnation, too.
For whatever reason, over the past decade, all three places had their time to bask in the glow of being the hot global travel destination taken away from them thanks to larger forces at play. But we see the sands of time beginning to shift.
Reemergence is on the horizon.
NOW REOPEN
You Won't Break My Seoul
Before the pandemic, South Korea was in the throes of an unprecedented cultural renaissance. Oscar-winning films like Parasite and K-pop juggernauts like BTS and Blackpink helped put the nation at the top of many travel itineraries. But then the coronavirus rained on the parade, and the bustling southern part of the Korean Peninsula shut its doors to foreigners.
