Here's a link to a USA today article about this subject: https://www.usatoday.com/story/trav...travel-forever-and-what-means-you/3727903001/
I didn't think initially that anything would change in my travel plans and that the pandemic would just put things off, but now that things are opening up and I am doing future travel planning/budgeting I find myself making very different travel decisions and making the decision to forgo international travel that initially I just put off completely (no longer planning to do it at all). I'm also for domestic travel forgoing some places that just have hotel options and going more for places where a nice condo would work for my budget. For me it's a variety of factors:
-- budget and how much more expensive travel is, is one of them, (I'd have to cough up more money now for international travel and certain domestic destinations too. It's less budget friendly than ever. I'm staying closer to home which is more affordable.)
-- age I think is a big factor too (DH and I are in our 60s and have already gone to our bucket list places), (Just don't want to work that hard on travel planning now -- want frivilous, fun, and easy)
-- another big factor is planning effort and comfort (I just don't want to deal with extra testing, extra risks of not being able to get back into the US, language barriers, researching insurance (medical and cancelation insurance, etc.). I want easy planning. I want closer and easier to get to. I want more space and comfort. This wasn't so much the case for me two years ago.
-- family seems to be my number one (looking more at condos vs. hotels as a nice place to gather, looking at bring more people along and helping pay for others at closer destinations vs. more popular / exotic places to a certain extent)
Here are some more specifics for me:
This year I did condo vacations at Moab, UT and Rocky Mountain Park/Estes Park, Colorado -- extended family at one and travel with DH, grown son and significant other at other.
2022 I'm doing a March Orlando trip -- condo stay with three park days and three resort / family visiting days (The big deal for me is that I am bringing my 85 year old dad to flower and garden, something we have always wanted to do together. Really catering to dad on this one) Grown kid and some other extended family will come too. // And then in the spring DH and I (grown kids invited too) are going to be exploring a lesser know national park and other areas of Colorado we've never been too (two nights hotel and five nights condo) (Montrose/Ouray, Colorado). Picking a place that looks nice and interesting, but is not as much of a go to / bucket list place for so many people -- maybe lower crowds.
My planned trips to Paris/Belfast and Purerto Vallarta, Mexico I don't think are ever going to even happen. (too expensive now, more work and effort planning that I just don't want to deal with, insurance needs add to costs/complexity). Instead of even looking at these for 2023, I'm looking at an extended family condo vacation getogether in Sedona, AZ (a place all like and where we have gotten together many times in the past -- the last time being 2018).
Just curious if anyone else thinks the pandemic has changed how you travel now and will travel in the future.
I didn't think initially that anything would change in my travel plans and that the pandemic would just put things off, but now that things are opening up and I am doing future travel planning/budgeting I find myself making very different travel decisions and making the decision to forgo international travel that initially I just put off completely (no longer planning to do it at all). I'm also for domestic travel forgoing some places that just have hotel options and going more for places where a nice condo would work for my budget. For me it's a variety of factors:
-- budget and how much more expensive travel is, is one of them, (I'd have to cough up more money now for international travel and certain domestic destinations too. It's less budget friendly than ever. I'm staying closer to home which is more affordable.)
-- age I think is a big factor too (DH and I are in our 60s and have already gone to our bucket list places), (Just don't want to work that hard on travel planning now -- want frivilous, fun, and easy)
-- another big factor is planning effort and comfort (I just don't want to deal with extra testing, extra risks of not being able to get back into the US, language barriers, researching insurance (medical and cancelation insurance, etc.). I want easy planning. I want closer and easier to get to. I want more space and comfort. This wasn't so much the case for me two years ago.
-- family seems to be my number one (looking more at condos vs. hotels as a nice place to gather, looking at bring more people along and helping pay for others at closer destinations vs. more popular / exotic places to a certain extent)
Here are some more specifics for me:
This year I did condo vacations at Moab, UT and Rocky Mountain Park/Estes Park, Colorado -- extended family at one and travel with DH, grown son and significant other at other.
2022 I'm doing a March Orlando trip -- condo stay with three park days and three resort / family visiting days (The big deal for me is that I am bringing my 85 year old dad to flower and garden, something we have always wanted to do together. Really catering to dad on this one) Grown kid and some other extended family will come too. // And then in the spring DH and I (grown kids invited too) are going to be exploring a lesser know national park and other areas of Colorado we've never been too (two nights hotel and five nights condo) (Montrose/Ouray, Colorado). Picking a place that looks nice and interesting, but is not as much of a go to / bucket list place for so many people -- maybe lower crowds.
My planned trips to Paris/Belfast and Purerto Vallarta, Mexico I don't think are ever going to even happen. (too expensive now, more work and effort planning that I just don't want to deal with, insurance needs add to costs/complexity). Instead of even looking at these for 2023, I'm looking at an extended family condo vacation getogether in Sedona, AZ (a place all like and where we have gotten together many times in the past -- the last time being 2018).
Just curious if anyone else thinks the pandemic has changed how you travel now and will travel in the future.