Where and how to holiday post Covid-19?

The prospect of not being able to travel for months makes for pretty gloomy thinking. If we’ve one glimmer of certainty right now, it’s that travel will be more important than ever when things get back to normal after the Coronavirus pandemic. The next journey is waiting and, like you, we’re already dreaming about it. 

You may need to stay home to limit the spread of the Covid-19 disease, but there are things you can do to start planning future travel. We know there is a question that you can’t get out of your head: How, When and Where would be safe to travel after the travel bans will be lifted? We all need a holiday after this long lockdown, but we will need to be more careful than usual to travel safely after the pandemic is over. When you’re ready to start thinking about your next journey, we’re ready to listen, advise, recommend and share our passion.

A few travel ideas

Hitting the open road

Being behind the wheel is pulling over on a whim to take in a view. It’s having the flexibility to venture away from the main routes. And it’s a sense of freedom that can lead you to a little-visited waterfall or to spot a deer along a deserted road. An open road, your favourite tracks playing and a blue sky up above doesn’t sound too bad right now, does it? We love hitting the open road, and can use our first-hand knowledge to help you explore in a way that gives you reassurance at a time we’re all considering how to travel safely. Having the freedom to throw your stuff in the trunk and set off as you please makes self-driving a tempting way to explore. There’s nothing like hitting the open road.

Consider Domestic / Local travel

Domestic travel might be one of the best options for holidays in 2020. Domestic travel is likely to recover faster than international travel, and some countries will be open for business before others.Every country has beautiful places to visit and discover, and this year could be the time to do so. You are likely to feel more comfortable as you are familiar with the location, you can potentially avoid flying, and you know the health service and health structure, as well as other benefits of staying within your own country such as reduced travel time and no language barrier. For example, you can visit several destinations in India that will be less crowded with tourists. Places like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha or Himachal will have fewer visitors, and this will allow you to enjoy these states without being too crowded.

Staycation

What is different about staycation is that there is no stress at all. You don’t have to plan your flights, decide what to do or make up a “strategic itinerary”. Instead, you can take a peaceful drive to the countryside if you are looking for a laid-back holiday or to nearby cities if you want to explore local culture and cuisine and stop by places that seem interesting. Staycation is definitely for those looking for a peaceful and calm holiday experience. It is similar to doing yoga or meditating. Such as, the feeling of being totally carefree and emptying your mind to live in the moment. You could actually relax on holiday!

Stay for longer duration

Hop from one place to another less…stay longer in each destination. Look at more offbeat places. Staying put will mean you’ll be able to immerse yourselves into a singular destination and be able to discover and appreciate smaller details and characteristics of a place you may otherwise have driven past on your way to the next stop. Your travel schedules could well become less jam-packed, and the mental and spiritual benefits of really soaking in a new destination could outweigh the niggling need to tick off ‘must-sees’. After all, lockdown has taught us what it is to slow right down.

Visit family / friends (or have someone visit you)

For months, the only way you have been able to contact the majority of your friends and family is through technological means, foregoing the usual face-to-face interactions that were previously woven into your daily lives. Maybe you’ve felt the pangs of missing your loved ones who are scattered across the country. Whatever your state of mind, odds are you’ve realised that the people in your life are the most important thing. You’re going to want to put your time, money and energy on spending time with your favourite people, family and friends.

Return to nature and wildlife

As you are locked down in your homes, grateful for your balconies, terraces, plants, even windows, surely, you’ve dreamt of things like wide-open skies, cool breeze, an expanse of ocean, acres of lush green forest, snow-capped mountains and just being in the wild outdoors. All of this signifies that what you’re really craving is a return to nature in its most pristine forms. Trips with an emphasis on the outdoors might be particularly appealing after you have been cooped up in your homes for months. That means you should look towards secluded places of incredible natural beauty when planning your vacation post the pandemic.

We will travel again, but it will not be the same. When borders reopen, travellers must trust that boarding a plane is safe and that they will be able to enter the destination country. New health safety protocols and systems would be in place such as visible sanitizing, screening and wearing of masks. After more than two and half months of lockdown, most countries are slowly reopening, and travel will resume soon. There are few things to consider before booking travel safely for the next few months.

Coronavirus Travel Restrictions – Before traveling, be sure to check if there are any travel restrictions at your destination. For example, you might check with your federal government or with the government of the country you are going to visit.

Book flexible and refundable travel – This is probably the most essential thing to consider when booking any travel in the next few months. Make sure that your booking is refundable and flexible. Most airlines nowadays let you book and cancel or rebook a flight without applying any penalty. When booking a hotel, always check the cancelation policy. For the next few months, book a cancellable rate, even though it might be a bit more expensive. Another essential tip when booking hotels is to search the hotels on a booking site but then contact the hotel reservation directly, either by phone or email. This will ensure that the hotel is actually open and able to take guests.

Do your research on the destination – If you are planning to visit a particular attraction in a destination, make sure that the attraction is open before departure. Also, consider buying the tickets in advance to secure a spot. Due to social distancing, many museums or attractions can only take a limited amount of people.

Private transportation – Private car services will be preferable for inter-city travel. Private chauffeur services would help if you are traveling for business. You would want to make sure you are going to be in a car that has just been cleaned. From the business travel side of things, it’s all about reassurances and confidence, to make you less nervous about traveling.

Travel advisors – Now more than ever, travel advisors have never been more important. You are not going to want to deal with changes, delays, or refunds in your upcoming trips, especially with recent changes to airline policies. You are not going to want to deal with changes, or trying to keep up with all the delays and cancellations when a good travel advisor can do all the dirty work for you.

Buy Travel Insurance – Get travel insurance and travel medical insurance for the trip. Be careful though, often this “insurance” doesn’t cover you for many things, including the outbreak of a pandemic. You probably would want it in writing from your insurer that travel disruption or falling ill due to Covid-19 were indeed covered under the policy.

Avoid travel when you’re sick – The current situation and the conviction with which the world is adopting social distancing will make it socially unacceptable to travel with a cold or any symptoms. The looks you will get if you cough or sneeze at an airport or on a plane will be scathing. Check in on your general state of health, both physical and mental — and your decision would very much change in the event that you are in an especially high-risk group.

We hope that these few tips will help you plan your traveling in 2020 and beyond. Unfortunately, it is still soon to know when it will be safe to go on international trips again, as Coronavirus is affecting each country in a different way. In our opinion, the focus should be on the security feel provided by a country. For example, an added value can be that the country you are planning to travel to has dealt well with the current crisis or has a good public health system.

One positive aspect for us will be globally there’ll be such a greater appreciation for travel. It’s a privilege to travel, and we’ve always thought that travel is a force for good!