Talking through the potentials
The 5th Australian season definitely set our precedent so we can ask ourselves in what way can their actions translate to an international scale - for the time being. The health and safety officers are a fantastic idea, but only if the personnel were already living in the countries teams are traveling to. It would be smarter to have the officers quarantined at their own homes and bring them on-site at the local checkpoints so they don't have to interact with more people than necessary.
Quarantining for teams may not hold the continuity we loved in every other previous season, but it's almost a cardinal rule now after flying abroad. And if we do have to do something similar like season-that-shall-not-be-named with one country every two legs to reduce the amount of time spent lodged or multiple double-length legs, so be it if it's the best safety precaution.
Just like Garrett said, another concern we have is what countries can be an option so we don't face another disappointing reroute into Family Edition 2.0. And what alternate countries or regions can be replacements at the last minute in the event disaster or logistical error strikes at the time of filming? There should already be an exhaustive interchangeable itinerary made in pre-production at this point if November is the target date for filming.
Our answers for what can be done within the route have been right under our noses. But I do not necessarily mean the total amount of legs has to be overdramatic like AUS5 where they produced a Big Brother-stretch of season. Many, many tasks and task types in previous seasons would do very well in a contained environment away from other teams and were thrilling to watch. The idea of more individualized travel (renting your own boat like TAR2's Rio premiere or a primary lack of physical contact like almost the entirety of TAR10's Ha Long Bay leg), relying on self-driving and the return of yelling for directions from the car, more Fast Forwards and Double Roadblocks, and outdoor activities have always been a staple of TAR, so now it's time to emphasize it.
