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Original poster

If you are a person who loves to travel?

60 replies

Lelophants · 10/01/2021 15:38

What are your thoughts about the future of travel? Feels a bit depressing to me! What do you think you will do?

I knew I'd be out of it for a bit with a new baby but now starting to feel the pangs of never going away, no abroad experience to plan for. Especially with brexit, it makes me feel really sad.

OP posts:
Katie517 · 10/01/2021 15:46

I’m very similar to you and also have a 5 month old, one of the things I was most excited about was taking her to see the world, we would usually do around 5 trips a year. Last year we went to Dubai at the beginning of feb and that was it. I feel optimistic that we will get at least one European trip in this summer (basically as soon as restrictions lift that allow us to go we will go). Try to look on the positive side travel happened last summer without vaccines so this summer has to be better. What I have found is that there are a lot of people to whom travel really doesn’t matter and they are the ones saying it will be 2023 before we can go away again, it won’t be. Hang in there, I have found making plans (but not yet booking) has helped then when we are good to go all we have to do is book Smile

Superstardjs · 10/01/2021 15:47

I too love to travel. I'm certainly not seeing this as a 'never again ' situation - as soon as it is deemed safe enough to do so, I will be, although safe enough is a personal perspective even if FCO advice says it is etc. We have started compiling our wishlist of places to go and I am most hopeful I will get to visit at least some of them in the not too distant future.

Funkypolar · 10/01/2021 15:50

I’m glad I’ve already seen much of the world.

If there are any airlines left, the cost of travel will be prohibitive due to the extra green taxes.

QuentinInQuarantino · 10/01/2021 15:50

I love to travel although hate to fly, and I live in Northern Spain so I'll be hopping in my car as soon as borders are open, either within Spain or if I'm allowed further afield I'll try Germany, Luxembourg or Liechtenstein. It's a very easy way to travel and can be done very last minute.

I'm not sure about booking flights, I'd be stressed about cancellations. But you can get on the shuttle with your car and go all over from the uk!

veeeeh · 10/01/2021 15:53

Hopefully the situation is a "pause" in travel terms. But how long the pause lasts is anyone's guess.

I was a great traveller, but not getting the vibe at the moment. Wait and see is what I am doing, the thoughts of going through an airport and all the rest of it brings me out in a rash now.

hettyhooverdoover · 10/01/2021 15:54

I've only taken the kids abroad once, we normally camp in England as that is all the budget will allow but...I've decided next year we will hopefully be able to explore some different campsites and a bit more of the UK. We had no holiday last year? We didn't even have a week off together.

IcedPurple · 10/01/2021 15:56

There is a huge demand for international travel and tourism. Some - usually those who aren't themselves interested in tourism - might see this as an opportunity to 'reset' and 'respect the environment' but the reality is those who enjoyed travelling until now will continue to do so, with even more enthusiasm than before. It may not be this year - although I very much hope that it will! - but it will happen.

Valkadin · 10/01/2021 15:56

We always go abroad , DH has been to about 120 countries and also travels with work. He is about 15 years from retirement and planned to follow the English cricket team amongst other stuff. No idea now and there is no way we will book anything abroad for a long time. We also have a lot of family overseas, FaceTime will have to do.

SeldomFollowedIt · 10/01/2021 15:57

My thoughts are the same.

Too poor to travel even without covid :(

SendMeHome · 10/01/2021 15:58

I’m gutted. Brexit feels awful too, only spending 90 days in every 180 in Europe sounds horrendous. I’d move, but I don’t think the in-laws would consider coming and they’d hate me for encouraging my husband to go.

I don’t think I’d mind so much if we’d been able to conceive, but I’ve just had another BFN... i feel like I can’t have what everyone else seems to have, and I can’t escape from it; either.

GCAcademic · 10/01/2021 15:59

I used to travel a lot pre-Covid. I'm actually really surprised at how little I miss it. Certainly could live quite happily without dealing with all the airport shit ever again.

Flaxmeadow · 10/01/2021 16:00

I love to travel, not as often I'd like to, financial reasons mostly. Whether it's to the next town or city, or thousands of miles away, even just the actual journey is something I really used to enjoy

Even if the vaccine doesn't work as well as we might have hoped, I think instant cheap testing will be the way to go. A quick mouth swab and instant results would ensure that those on a train, plane, in a hotel, restaurant, concert or whatever could be reasonably sure that the large majority were not infectious at that point in time.

5zeds · 10/01/2021 16:01

Vaccinated, I think it will just be the same.

PerfidiousAlbion · 10/01/2021 16:04

Three trips cancelled last year and two already this year. It's very sad but there's not a lot we can do about it.

I still enjoy browsing itineraries and maps for various countries and still have plans for summer, winter, 2022 and beyond, rules permitting.

plg21 · 10/01/2021 16:06

I preface the below with the statement that I know there are bigger and far more critical issues right now...

But I'm missing it dreadfully. I spend a lot of time planning holidays and I feel we won't have the holidays I'd hoped we'd have before our eldest son heads off to uni and doesn't want to holiday with his family any more. Plus the challenge of working around exams and mocks which rules out another group ski holiday for the next few years.

I'm aware we're very lucky to not have to worry financially as some are. But I've only just realised how much travel contributes to my mental well being and I'm finding it quite hard to accept. I'm also very envious of my friends that live by the sea which I find very calming and uplifting.

Oblomov20 · 10/01/2021 16:07

I love travelling. The green issues, then Brexit, and now covid make it less and less possible.
I hope to still be able to visit a city once a year, in the future.

MotheringShites · 10/01/2021 16:09

I love to travel and live for my next holiday. We managed to get abroad four times in 2020 so I’m trying to be hopeful for this year.

zafferana · 10/01/2021 16:09

We love to travel and usually go away 3-4 times per year, but haven't left the UK since last January. I feel like this is just crap we have to get through and it will hopefully be over by the summer. We have flights booked for August for a big long-haul trip. I have no idea if we'll be able to do it, but if we can, which means us being vaccinated first, then we will. Ultimately, I'm hoping this will be max. 2 years of not going abroad, which out of a normal lifespan isn't much. In the meantime, I'm trying not to think about it too much!

HairyFloppins · 10/01/2021 16:12

I'm missing travelling so much. We usually do a road trip in the USA every summer and I spend months planning it.

I spend a lot of time now planning the places I want to visit and looking up hotels and things to do.

I fully believe we will be able to travel again but may be more expensive for a while.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 10/01/2021 16:14

I love to travel. Haven't been anywhere since October 2019. I really hope this is just a blip and travel will continue as before in the not too distant future. I feel so down at the thought of never seeing another country.

RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 10/01/2021 16:16

Planning like a crazy fool, that's what I'm doing.

Found last January's travel planning notebook the other day and nearly cried. So many trips that didn't happen.

We were already planning on going heavy on train travel in the future, to reduce flights, and that kind of fits the next few years I think.

RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 10/01/2021 16:17

Luckily the year before this all kicked off, we'd had a few months away (took unpaid leave before child started school), and we'd managed to get away in October, at Xmas and for two skiing trips before lock down.

DBML · 10/01/2021 16:19

I love to travel and I also spend up to 2 months a year ‘living’ in Florida. I say living, as I view Florida to be my second home, one I love far, far more than I’ll ever love my home here in the UK.

I’ve been going back and forth since 1991 and I was crushed last year not being able to travel there.

I could go the rest of my life without making another trip to Europe or the Mediterranean...but I’ve grieved not being able to go ‘home’ this past year and the thought of not being able to get back to Florida in 2021 gets me right in the chest. I can’t even think about it.

The only good thing is that every month the money we’d have spent on flights and car rental and tickets and breaks in the Keys etc, adds up.

I’ve got my flights etc booked for this year, but they can all be rearranged for the future if necessary. When we do get to travel again, we will have that pot of money ready to book multiple trips and I’ll enjoy every moment being back in my favourite place.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 10/01/2021 16:28

I'm still waiting for refunds for cancelled trips. Hopefully that will mean a big once in a lifetime holiday when we can.

CheltenhamLady · 10/01/2021 16:28

OMG, I really do. We had 4 holidays cancelled last year and we have two booked for 2021. I have everything crossed that we will be able to go but.......

I miss the planning and researching and doing it now seems so pointless really as the spectre of not being able to go looms large.

I am also very aware that this not a big problem in the grand scheme of things at the moment, but if I think about it too much it does upset me.

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