Travel and travel planning are being disrupted by the worldwide spread of the coronavirus. For the latest updates, read The New York Times’s Covid-19 coverage here.

Dear Tripped Up,

Last September I booked a Japan tour with Abercrombie & Kent, scheduled to leave at the end of March. Three tickets came to more than $46,000, without airfare. What happens when you book your dream trip, only to confront travel restrictions and an exploding global pandemic? Nancy

Dear Nancy,

Last September, around the time you must have been booking your Japan trip, I took my first-ever surfing lesson in Barbados. Bobbing in the gentle, beginner-friendly bay, I learned the sport is all about timing: If you can’t get ahead of the wave, you’ll end up watching it thunder ashore without you.

The same goes for writing about travel amid the daily-changing coronavirus pandemic.

My original response to your question, which had been scheduled for the third week of March, included a detailed run-down about how tour operators work. I spoke to Abercrombie & Kent and even got you a credit — yes, the full $46,000.