Anyone Considering Cancelling Travel

[Dawg52]

I had been thinking about a road trip out west in the Fall. And who knows....if covid drops off a bit like some think I may still go. Especially if I have a booster shot done. But at least I have my beach condo to escape to. I'm there right now and I'm sure glad I have it. I pick up takeout and grill a little. I feel as safe as when I'm home.

 

[jollystomper]

We still have not planned international travel, as the main country we want to go to to visit relatives has strict covid testing ad quarantine at a government facility for 2 weeks.

We have not stopped domestic travel, we had to do a little during the pandemic and felt safe. We have attended several large family gatherings in the last 2 months, but no covid infections/outbreaks have occurred from them. We are planning some vacation trips in September and October, those will either be car trips or short (<3 hour) flights.

 

[athena53]

I've had to flex a lot.

March, 2020 was supposed to be Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagos. Got sent home after a week in Bolivia. Gonna try again in May, 2022 (got a generous credit from the travel company).

June, 2021 was supposed to be E. Europe. I was flying through London both ways, quarantine rules kept changing, I moved it to October, 2022.

October of this year was supposed to be UnCruise in Belize and Guatemala, Situation with COVID was getting dicey so they offered a re-book to Alaska. All on board had to be vaccinated and show proof of a recent negative COVID test.

So- we left Friday the 13th. Bad move to choose Friday the 13th. Fantastic trip as usual (my 6th with them) till Tuesday at 6 AM when they announced that a passenger had tested positive. We eventually learned by comparing notes (company kept the name confidential, naturally) that the passenger and his GF had been out bar-hopping before embarking. I'd had lunch in a nearby restaurant and only the staff were masked.

SO- his GF was negative but someone who sat with them at dinner was positive. We were kept in our rooms but treated very well- they brought boxes of books and DVDs around, served meals in the room, etc. We returned to Juneau and the two positives and their companions were offloaded to be quarantined. Patient Zero, it turned out, was schmoozing at Happy Hour even though he'd been sick that day.

The rest of us were tested- all negative. We were allowed to roam the ship and the owner of the company came on and talked to us- great, down-to-earth guy. They've carried 4,400+ people since May with only 9 positives. Cruise terminated but we could stay on board till today. We're all getting 50% refunds. REFUNDS, not credits, and discounts off a future trip. I had a fantastic time- honestly- and am even more impressed with this company and the kind of people it attracts as passengers (well, except for Patient Zero, who should have had to walk the plank). Not a whiner in the bunch- all of us know Stuff Happens and everyone raved about how great the crew had been. A few are setting out on anther UnCruise leaving Sunday- at no charge (in lieu of the refund, I assume).

I had a lovely hike into the woods outside of Juneau after I left the ship- not allowed to return after leaving to protect the crew, but they kept my bags in the nearby office till I returned to go to the airport. I'm in JNU now.

Closer to home: no more overnights with my 4- and 7-year old granddaughtere in downtown Des Moines when I visit. They had business meetings in full swing, masks optional if you're vaccinated and 95% of adults didn't wear them. So, about half were liars. Not endangering them again.

 

[Chuckanut]

Athena53, that sounds like a first class organization. Giving money back for a product not delivered should be SOP. Glad to see it was in this case.

I have one grand who can't be vaccinated, and as matters stand, she is the one I am called on the most often to babysit sometimes at my place for days at a time. Parents are having some work and health issues. What can I say but yes?

For me, I think it will be road trips for the rest of 2021 and early 2022. I still hope to get overseas in 2022, but that remains to be seen. I am an optimist and believe that Covid will be effectively managed at some point.

 

[skyking1]

Yes, I've cancelled a couple of recent trips - to Reno and to P.R. (and probably Hawaii in Oct.) - as well as a couple of live events that I sold my tickets to. I blew off the travel and events because of the spike; and because of my experience traveling to Hawaii in July and how busy, expensive, and agro airports have become.

COVID has even made me reassess my desire to live in a high quality-of-life, HCOL area where everyone has decided to come instead of taking more remote vacations. The crowds at the beach this summer are ridiculous, and the people who come here tend to be more distracted/entitled and far less concerned about COVID than the ones who choose to stay home. When people are on vacation, they behave like COVID is taking a holiday too. We have enough of our own crazy people here as it is. It couldn't be more frustrating.

Just a request to travelers to please respect the locals and mask up properly.

We share your sentiments. We don't live in a HCOL area that is desirable for travel, but do have beach property that we have little desire to use lately. Traffic is terrible and the small town is overwhelmed. Going to the beach has become the only thing you can do here, with predictable consequences.

 

[bolt]

I suspect I retracted my inital reply.
I know from experiance tides, suns, moons, health & other human changes happen regularly & not so regulatory.

I'd rarely modify similar plans.
Health, wellbeing & time are crucial considerations.

Good luck & Best wishes...

 

[yakers]

Back from a couple weeks in Iceland in July, just canceled a September trip to Chicago area for college homecoming and family gathering, want to avoid large gathering and family antivax members. I travel right now in north San Diego county. Next trip is costal camping in Pismo beach in October

 

[USGrant1962]

Nope, not cancelling. Had a trip to Roatan, Honduras two months ago and returning Miami immigration was AMAZINGLY empty! Never thought I would say that because MIA sucks. I'll take CLT or ATL every day over MIA.

We already have 4 dive trips booked in October '21 (TCI), January (Grenada), April (Bahamas), and October '22 (CoCo's Island). We're about to add an early April trip to Cayman Brac (we'll only have a week at home before a Bahamas live aboard - first world problem!). And we plan to add a trip to visit DS#2 in San Antonio when it gets a little cooler in TX. I hope The Alamo National Park is open.

Yup, we'll wear masks in transit as necessary. But we're vaccinated (and I have the breakthrough booster ) so we're good to go. FWIW, we are not high risk - we are under 75 years old and not obese nor immunocompromised.

 

[Midpack]

^^^ Do we know the booster will be effective on any variant that may come? Was having that discussion tonight over beers. May have to cross that bridge one day…

 

[jollystomper]

^^^ Do we know the booster will be effective on any variant that may come? Was having that discussion tonight over beers. May have to cross that bridge one day…

My guess is that it will likely be like flu vaccines... the booster will likely be effective against the variants known at the time... one cannot guarantee "any variant that comes", things will just have to react based on the data and, as you state, figure out how to cross that bridge. Life will go on...

 

[Teacher Terry]

We had a month trip planned for Europe in 8/20. Luckily we got all of our money back. I was tempted to book a trip to Ireland for October a few months ago but luckily I didn’t. I am not going to travel for now. I live in Reno and am not going to any large events with all the tourists. I will get my booster in November when eligible.

 

[Scuba]

Ooh, Bordeaux... that's definitely on my bucket list!



I'd be surprised if the Delta surge hasn't largely subsided in Europe (and the U.S.) by early/mid October. That's when I'm thinking about booking some domestic air travel and looking at overseas flights again.



My outlook is starting to shift towards something like "COVID-19 and its variants are probably here to stay, so it's not going to be possible to just 'wait it out'. I will get all possible vaccinations/boosters and take reasonable precautions, but life is short... and life must go on!" DW and I love traveling too much to let the endless vagaries of COVID put it on hold indefinitely.

I completely agree. Not willing to put our lives on hold indefinitely. Already have one “lost year.” Fortunately we aren’t immuno-compromised nor do we have grandkids.

Didn’t go anywhere in 2020, but in 2021, we spent two months in the US Virgin Islands. For some inexplicable reason, the CDC assigned a “4” travel status to the VI. We felt the VI was significantly stricter than California. We had to have a recent negative COVID test to enter the VI, and masks were required virtually everywhere, even on our dive boat en route from the marina. The local government was very concerned about their medical system getting overwhelmed by a COVID spread, and the masking and social distancing requirements were rigorously enforced, even at outdoor beach bars.

We recently returned from 8 days in SC and GA visiting family. Other than on the planes, very few masks in sight anywhere. All went well.

Our next trip will be a driving trip to coastal So CA visiting several friends. Most So CA activities are outdoors and most venues require masks to enter.

We were scheduled to go on a dive trip to Galapagos in January but cancelled it for non-COVID reasons. Would really love to go to Australia but that won’t be open anytime soon. For now, just seeing what happens. Definitely will do some 2022 trips, but want to go where attractions are open. We have a small ship cruise (38 pax) along the Croatia coast scheduled for July 2022 and will probably tack on time in Italy, Greece or both and stay our usual 2-3 months, assuming a reasonable degree of freedom to see attractions and travel around on our own.

 

[Alan]

We are (currently) heading to UK for 6 weeks in early September. Haven’t seen my dad since august 2019 (he flew to USA - which is a stressful tale) and he’s now in a memory care home. I’m very concerned about the flight and then at some point seeing my dad and potentially passing Covid to him (and fellow residents).

Current plan is to self-isolate when we arrive in UK and test on day 2 and then again before we visit my dad. Isolation is not required by UK but I feel it’s the only way I can be comfortable to see him.

I go back and forth about cancelling but I do feel I can’t leave it much longer to see my 83 year old dad. I’m currently on the page of taking the trip even though it’s taking a chance IMO.

So difficult for you, needing to see your father like this. I hope it all goes well. I think your planned approach of self isolating and testing is a good one.

We cancelled a trip to see our daughter last year in California and have no plans to visit this year.

So far this year we haven’t needed to cancel any trips within the UK. In June we had a couple of weeks in Devon and Cornwall and recently we had a few days in Cheshire staying with my wife’s brother. Early September we have a week booked to stay with my wife’s sister in Edinburgh and end of October we have a family vacation booked where 7 of us get together every year for a “siblings” weekend. (Had to cancel last year of course).

 

[audreyh1]

^^^ Do we know the booster will be effective on any variant that may come? Was having that discussion tonight over beers. May have to cross that bridge one day…

He caught the virus (breakthrough infection) and is counting that as his personal booster.

 

[tulak]

As long as they let me in, I’m going.

I’m on my 2nd international trip this year, currently in Europe. I’m fully vaccinated and unless a variant comes out that would put me at higher risk, I’m going to enjoy life as before with reasonable precautions.

Having said that, there are some locations that I would avoid right now. I prefer to visit countries with higher vaccination rates and good infrastructure.

I’ve also done some domestic travel, which is easier since you don’t need to deal with covid tests.

 

[Badger]

My normal tendency is towards pessimism and the biologist in me sees a long slog getting to the point where this is under control enough to feel comfortable traveling. It's not the original flavor that bothers me but the evolving variants and ability of the vaccines to remain protective.

+1 Also a Biologist - retired Prof. Anatomy/Physiology and Microbiologist. I have a healthy respect for how fast microbes can mutate. This pandemic is going to be a problem for quite some time.


Cheers!

 

[Badger]

...I’ve also done some domestic travel, which is easier since you don’t need to deal with covid tests.

I would consider this to be a downside. Although we are vaccinated and take all precautions that doesn't mean we wouldn't be exposed to lots of carriers that could still make us very sick.


Cheers!

 

[Ronstar]

We're not considering canceling any travel. I like to travel to places where there are few people, so the threat of covid is less at the destination than it is at home. I just have to figure out how to get there safely.

 

[Aerides]

(and I have the breakthrough booster )

As much as I'll take all reasonable steps to avoid getting any variant, if I had a recent very-mild case like you there is that silver lining. I'd figure my immunity to be a extra boosted for the next 6 months too.

I hadn't planned any travel this year as we just finished putting in a pool, so the backyard is a resort now. And in S.Fla there's no drivable trips unless I want to go to a local beach resort. Getting out of the state is a day's drive and still doesn't get me anywhere I want to go.

I do plan to visit AZ in February, and we have a small-boat cruise in April 22. Right now I do not plan to cancel either, but as we know with Covid, there's no predicting.

 

[hiker88]

We are scheduled to depart on September 7 for 2 weeks in Iceland and then 3 weeks in Spain. The latest surge appears to have already peaked in both countries, but still going up in the US. My biggest concern is having our flight back the US cancelled. A second concern is that one of us will get Covid while there and be stuck in quarantine for 10 days. Both of us are fully vaccinated, but a friend recently got it even though he was vaccinated. I'm running out of time to make a decision on cancelling or not.

 

[athena53]

Having said that, there are some locations that I would avoid right now. I prefer to visit countries with higher vaccination rates and good infrastructure.

That was my concern even before the variant, which made me postpone E. Europe. Even if I got an asymptomatic case I cold pass it on to an unvaccinated local in a country without enough healthcare resources. I was also picturing myself landing in London on the way home and being quarantined because I'd been in a country with a high rate of infection.

 

[LRDave]

I mentioned earlier in the thread about cancelling trips to Chicago and Woods Hole.

We are still planning on going to DW's family beach house in coastal Georgia at the end of September. It will be a gathering of siblings and cousins (and spouses) - all are vaccinated. We will eat in or pick up or dine outside. We can drive there in 7 hours. We will all be in close quarters for most of a week. Some risk undoubtedly.......

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

As much as I'll take all reasonable steps to avoid getting any variant, if I had a recent very-mild case like you there is that silver lining. I'd figure my immunity to be a extra boosted for the next 6 months too.

I hadn't planned any travel this year as we just finished putting in a pool, so the backyard is a resort now. And in S.Fla there's no drivable trips unless I want to go to a local beach resort. Getting out of the state is a day's drive and still doesn't get me anywhere I want to go.

I do plan to visit AZ in February, and we have a small-boat cruise in April 22. Right now I do not plan to cancel either, but as we know with Covid, there's no predicting.

Congrats on the pool! Our current home has one and while I wasn't initially thrilled with having to deal with it, I have come to very much enjoy it. Sure, there is more work keeping the grounds looking "resort like" but you can't beat the privacy and really...I enjoy it more than travel! OK...back to your regularly scheduled program.

 

[Retch The Grate]

Back before the Delta surge, we booked a trip to Maui in October. Still planning on doing it, we're renting a villa not staying in a hotel in part because we love to cook anyways, and we figure we can do more or less touristy things as the local conditions suggest. If it's all hiking and enjoying nature and the beach and making delicious meals together at our base of operations, that's great.

 

[rodi]

We bought our van and are doing camping trips for now. But we have a big trip planned for April (visit family in Florida, transatlantic cruise to Genoa, then time in Italy). Not booking airfare or much else till we see what happens.

Already put my 'trip of a lifetime' I promised myself for my 60th b-day (in two weeks). Machu Picchu/Galapagos. They will still be there when the pandemic ebbs away.

My son is traipsing around Europe right now. Doing everything wrong from a pandemic point of view - sleeping in dorm rooms in hostels, going by crowded train and bus everywhere, going to nightclubs. BUT - most restaurants and clubs require not just a vax card, but a recent negative covid test. So they are testing every 2-3 days. (He's vaccinated, which helps). Most of the places he's been have had lower covid rates than here. Even though some are tier 4 under the state department guidelines. If the state department used the same guidelines for domestic cities/states we'd see a lot pegged at tier 5.

For now - I'm choosing domestic trips - camping... And one risky planned event - moving the vagabond son into the dorms... All the students will be vaccinated - but not the parents.