Slowly, but surely, the world is starting to reopen once again. When everything first started shutting down three months ago, we weren’t sure what travel was going to look like after the pandemic. Obviously, it is still early days, but there are some hopeful signs ahead. We have tentatively rescheduled our trip to Turkey to October with the hope that travel becomes more stable and there isn’t a second wave of the virus. People have different reactions to the reopening of travel once again and there is no right or wrong response. Some people do not want to travel for a while as they are concerned about how safe it will be even with some of the safeguards that countries are trying to put in place. Others, like ourselves, are looking forward to traveling as soon as we are able and the places that we want to visit aren’t locked down.
Some countries are requiring health certificates that prove that you don’t have any symptoms at the time that you are traveling. Many places are requiring people to self-quarantine upon arrival, which doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you are going to be in country for a long period of time. The checking of temperatures and requiring masks is pretty common, but it isn’t consistent. For now, airlines seem willing to keep middle seats open or try to ensure that there is an empty seat between passengers, but we don’t expect that to last for long as they try to maximize revenue for the various flights. It is also important to not only understand what restrictions that you might face in the location where you are traveling, but it is important to understand if there are any conditions for returning from travel in your location of origin.
At this point, it is too soon for us to consider traveling outside of the United States, but we are considering trying to take a trip within the country. As we make our decision, there are several factors that we are weighing. First is cost as the lack of demand doesn’t necessarily mean that airline tickets, hotels, or other travel associated items are discounted and in some cases they may even be higher in order to make up for the lack of customers. Second is the ability to go to restaurants, visit tourist sites, and other restrictions that might be in place. We use a couple of sites to help us determine what restrictions are in place, but you have to check frequently as the restrictions or lack there of can change on a weekly basis. For travel within the United States, we go to the state specific websites as the restrictions not only vary by state, but they can vary by county and city as well. For traveling outside of the United States, when that time comes, we are paying attention to the US Department of State site that tracks the restrictions by country.
As the world begins to reopen and countries allow international travel once again, what are your travel plans? Do you have specific concerns about traveling yourself or are you worried about visitors from other countries coming into your country?
I am hoping to get back on road again. Loved our time is cruising along the Danube …Its been a long time since we have visited Laos ..love that photo.
:). Our last trip. before COVID-19, was to Laos and Vietnam. We can’t wait to be traveling again.
We are travelling across the country next week! We have never taken the kids to see their grandma in Tucson, AZ (she always travels here), and after cancelling our trip to DC we were desperate fo go SOMEwhere this summer. Flights are so cheap now and with our air bnb credit it is costing us hardly anything, so we decided to go for it! Of course, 2 days after buying the tickets the riots started – so now I’m more concerned about that. Hoping things calm down just a bit over the next week…if we make it smoothly I will post a report on how it went! 😬
That sounds like a great trip :). We are in the same situation…..desperate to go somewhere this summer. The riots are causing issues now, but we do think they will calm down shortly. Let us know how it goes!!
I’m hoping to go to Portugal in July. Flights from the US started back this week. They seem pretty open to receiving tourists; much more so than their neighboring countries, understandably so. We would get a COVID-19 test just prior to our flight there even though it’s not required to mainland Portugal and get another test upon arrival back home, just to be on the safe side.
We have not made it to Portugal yet. We did see that they have opened up flights from the US. Getting tested before and after the trip is not a bad idea. Had not thought about doing that.
I can’t wait to travel again, but I won’t be until everything is under control (and until I find a job and have money coming in.) I don’t want to get sick nor risk being undetectable and getting someone else sick.
We are not sure that it will ever be completely under control. But it will definitely get a lot better.
Cant wait to get back out again
We hear you 🙂
I’m looking forward to travel again! Unfortunately I can’t imagine I’ll feel safe on a plane for a while. How can we possibly be 6 feet from people on a plane? But I’m going to rediscover road trips!
In the meantime, I’ve been using the quarantine to discover fellow new travel bloggers that I hadn’t connected with yet. Hi!
I’ve also been inspired to write more! My most recent blog is about how I travel so much. Now that I’ve visited 50 countries I thought it was time!
https://www.visit50.com/how-to-travel-more-often/
Agree, being on a plane will be a challenge. We think some airlines are going to do a better job than others.
Hello back 🙂
We really liked your post :). Keep writing!