~ Marilyn Murphy

It’s January, 2021.

One year ago, China had identified the coronavirus and there was talk about impeaching the president. Whoever said, “history repeats itself” had it right!

Whew! Like almost everybody, we’re glad 2020’s behind us. It was an eventful/uneventful year. Unforgettable in ways we might rather forget. Here are some highlights:

January:

We repeated one of the most extraordinary WOW! Travel Club journeys we’ve ever devised: an eco-adventure to the Baja Peninsula of Mexico.

On the corporate side of our company, Ellen escorted a group to Costa Rica and Howard managed a long-time client who hosts an annual educational Conference for more than 150 first-year Fellows who specialize in Pediatric Gastroenterology.

February:

We took a big step and exhibited at the LA Travel & Adventure Show, promoting our wonderful adventures to a bigger audience!

March:

When Ellen and Marilyn departed for Morocco on March 4, there were only 159 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in the U.S. As a precaution, we took hand sanitizer with us . . . (little did we know what would happen in the next 10 days!)

Spring:

At this point, everything starts to become a blur . . . Gabriel and Howard are busy re-scheduling and/or cancelling meetings, conferences, incentive trips, fam trips, inspection trips and WOW! journeys. We negotiated refunds from our suppliers and processed refunds to customers. Gabriel showed his excellent leadership by applying for the PPP loans. Our long-planned transition of ownership of the company – delayed by our too-busy travel schedules – starts to take shape.

Marilyn took a driving trip to Scottsdale to meet her new granddaughters. (FYI, she had a negative COVID test in advance of her trip…)

Summer:

• Our wonderful landlord allowed us to break our lease, so we began to pack up 40+ years worth of files and memories from our Topanga Canyon Blvd office suite.

• Whitney moved to New York City, where her husband, “Dr.” James Chen, was invited for a year-long Fellowship at the country’s most renown Orthopedic hospital.
• More journeys were postponed . . .

Autumn:

• Gabriel officially became CEO of the CTP Group – but Marilyn will always be “creative queen.” 
• Movers came to transport the big things from our office suite into Gabriel’s garage in North Hollywood. Is it temporary? Who knows . . .

November/December:

There’s always a blessing:

Anne and her only son, Gabriel, traveled the world together. This is a favorite photos of Gabriel’s – taken in Tahiti.

• … these months of forced grounding permitted Gabriel to spend time with his beloved mother, Anne, who passed away in early December after a lengthy illness.
• … since we’re working remotely, Ellen moved back to San Luis Obispo, where she’s closer to her elderly parents and kids. Again, the pandemic created opportunities and new ways of working.
• … Howard is patiently standing by – ready to get back in the game (Plus, he needs somebody to bake for!)

Tasting is believing! Howard baked these cookies, decorated with the colors of Armenia, just for Gabriel. And the donuts … WOW!

• … Whitney is enjoying her time in the Big Apple, and daughter Ava is growing too fast!

• … Marilyn continues writing her book – which WILL be published in 2021. (She’s finally got a working title, too!)

We’re all chomping at the bit . . .

::

And now it’s a new year. With all that is uncertain … you can count on one thing for sure: the WOW! Travel Club and CTP will be back … ready to design and deliver extraordinary travel experiences as we’ve been doing since 1977. No global pandemic is going to stop us!

Marilyn’s Prognostications:

• When can you safely travel again? A few months ago, I would have said late Spring. But I now think late summer 2021 is more realistic. (Fingers crossed . . .)
• There’s much pent-up demand and savvy travelers will rely on seasoned experts like CTP/WOW to mitigate the many risks posed by this pandemic. Once we open registration, we expect our trips to fill up quickly.
• We ARE planning to operate WOW! Travel Club journeys to Japan and Egypt/Jordan. Specific dates for Fall 2021 will be announced soon.
• In addition to those two journeys, we’ll repeat some of our tried-and-true destinations until we’ve been able to fit in the exhaustive inspection trips that are necessary prior to rolling out any brand-new destinations.

Hopefully, we’re seeing the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Thank you for your friendship and loyalty. We cannot wait to hit the road with you!

Happy New Year!

p.s.  The next installment of this blog will feature our Prognostications for 2021!