Planning a trip from Guam to anywhere was made a little more difficult as flights were changed due to a lack of passengers leaving the island after Typhoon Mawar.
As you probably know, the costs of tickets have risen. Also, the necessity of avoiding Russian air space, which also adds to the flight time.
I leave behind an island that is rising from its knees, slowly but surely. The events of Typhoon Mawar are indelibly etched in most of our memories.
Our house still has a roof while many homes do not. But our glass patio doors bowed – and then held. Like many of you, my husband and I spent the night of May 24 trying to hold back water from entering the house – mopping and squeezing towels. I couldn’t help monitoring news before, during and after the typhoon.
There was no relief as the typhoon did not develop an eye and where I live in Northern Guam bore the brunt of the winds as Mawar slowly passed over us.
What was amazing was how quickly our business community began to resurrect itself. We expect to carry news of those triumphs and some sorrows for a while yet.
Our trip to England will be a mixture of events – both a wedding and placing the gravestone on my father’s grave. (Understandably, my brother left it to me to proofread the text.)
This visit will therefore be a trip with joy and fleeting sorrow - and (I hope) a lot of shopping and dining. I also hope that some of my favorite haunts will still be open, as we get together with my clan of cousins and our friends.
We will also have meetings with the Maratita’s team of professionals that sprang up of necessity as my brother and I continue to close out my father’s estate. Many of you will also have carried out that honorable obligation.
In my case, I had forgotten about the bureaucracy in the U.K. around anything transactional, the legacy of which still exists today in the countries of the Commonwealth and the former countries of the British Empire (enough said).
Inflation still exists in England, but as I have watched the inevitable price creep there, I also think the price gap between Guam and England has shrunk.
We arrive on a Friday evening, and I expect we will line up at the neighborhood fish and chip shop – always busy as the weekend takes shape. A few doors down in the same strip mall is an excellent Indian restaurant, and between them the wine shop and the local equivalent of the mom-and-pop store – called the newsagent. I hope the newsagent still has a healthy selection of newspapers and magazines, alongside other staples and English chocolate and candy.
I always appreciate the simple pleasures and the comfort of familiar experiences – including food. And then there are our two favorite pubs and the theatre to visit.
There are a few things I hope not to experience – the recurring labor strikes among them.
This year we will also be driving on England’s highways and byways – dealing as little as possible with London’s Congestion Charge, which has risen to a whopping £15 per day. You can conveniently pay by credit card at the newsagent before you travel.
And we may well be flying within Europe (hand luggage only).
Meanwhile, please look after the islands, patronize local businesses when you can and … stay safe. mbj
— Maureen N. Maratita is the publisher at Glimpses Media. Publications at Glimpses Media include the Marianas Business Journal, MBJ Life, The Real Estate Journal, Guam Business Magazine, Beach Road Magazine, Buenas and Drive Guam.