I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for a while now but probably have been putting it off to be honest. But yes, it’s sadly true that due to the Coronavirus pandemic I’ve had to postpone my round the world trip to 2021.
A small and very insignificant decision in the scope of what the world and others are dealing with right now I admit. But travel and sharing adventures on YouTube is a big part of my ‘working life’ and so postponing a project at this late stage is a big deal to me.
I was due to leave on June 29th 2020 which (at the time of making the decision) was still a few months away. But even if we all got flying again right away, the unknowns about international airspace, local restrictions popping up again as new outbreaks of infections surface, meant that it just wasn’t worth the risk of setting off to only perhaps get stuck somewhere half-way round.
Plus, I haven’t flown since the start of March, so to think I can jump back in a plane and shortly after embark on the biggest aviation challenge of my life just didn’t seem sensible.
So I made the decision to postpone for a year. Why a year? Well my weather window was from June to October. I want to fly through the Northern Pacific (Russia – USA) and Northern Atlantic (Canada – Greenland – Iceland – Scotland) during the Summer months, and then want to get through the Middle East and Asia after the monsoon seasons which usually ends around September. So leaving in June/July is perfect timing for me, and any later in the year just wouldn’t work. I don’t have FIKI (flight into known icing) protection on the aircraft and risking Winter flying that far North just isn’t an option.
What to do in the meantime
The delay actually gives me a really good opportunity to spend some more time on a few areas that will be really important for the trip. The first is the auxiliary fuel tank which wasn’t fitted by the time we went into lockdown, so now I can spend more time on that with the engineering team to ensure we have a robust and reliable system.
The second is my own personal training, and giving myself an excuse to fly a few more ‘big trips’ before setting off around the world. These include taking the aircraft overseas hopefully to New Zealand and/or South East Asia, and a few trips up the East Coast of Australia and perhaps (FINALLY) to Perth!
How I feel about postponing
I made this video explaining a little more of my thought process and how I feel about the decision to postpone.
I guess that you need to make this travel and also include Latin America, believe me, is most that you can image and will be a wonderfull place. I will be here in Bogota, Colombia in the SKGY airport waiting for you and invite you the best coffe that you can taste ever in your live.
I guess that you can travel from USA to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, then come to Colombia. I you want to continue can go to Chile, Argentina, visit the Iguazu falls, got to Brazil, again to Colombia, now you can go to Cartagena, the most beautiful city in the world and fly to Republica Dominicana, again yo can go to USA to Miami, New York and begin your travel back.
South America is not what almos all the people think in the world, and you will be happy to be here.
Just continue with your plans, come to here and call me back to help you in anything what you need.
Have a great time.
Schelbin Erik Leal