One month from today, I’m planning to be in Christchurch, New Zealand. On March 30, I fly to Melbourne from the city that was hit by a major earthquake last week.

I’ll be in New Zealand later this week, but will start off in areas far from the epicenter. Auckland, Northland, other sites on the North Island are my plans for the first couple of weeks of March.

Following the news of people killed, injured and still missing, it’s not yet clear when I should head to Christchurch or even if I should.

It’s something I’ll be following closely over the next few weeks.

If I can help somehow by visiting there, I will. Whether that means volunteering to assist recovery efforts or just aiding the economy by providing a little tourist spending, I will do what is within my power. If I will just be getting in the way or taking up space needed by displaced residents, then I will wait until the day of my flight to make my way there.

Perhaps there’s nothing I can directly do that would benefit those impacted by the quake. We’ll see how it develops.