Anyone Considering Cancelling Travel

[11522914]

In October 2020, my wife and I wanted to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary at an all inclusive resort in Jamaica.

We all know how that went.

So after we got fully vaccinated in April 2021 we thought everything looks like it will be getting better and booked 6 days in Jamaica in October. Figured almost 7 months away.

Needless to say things are not going as expected. I was getting worried but dare not say anything to the wife as she was so excited.

A couple of days ago she said many friends are cancelling their domestic and international trips and thought we should consider cancelling ours.

Wow, didn't see that one coming. So I did some new research on Jamaica.

US government rates it a 3 stating to reconsider travel. Several weeks ago it was rated 4 - do not travel. So improving I guess.

Jamaica requires covid testing when visiting and US requires it when arriving. After reading Jamaica's covid guidelines, if you show a positive test before leaving you have to quarantine for 14 days and may be required to stay at a government facility.

Jamaica has less than 6% fully vaccinated.

Ughhhh. So I haven't cancelled yet as we have until October 1st but it does not look promising.

Anyone else considering or has cancelled travel?

[skyking1]

We certainly cancelled plans. No money on it yet but the same letdown.

[51notout]

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.

[Octogirl]

We have a trip to SoCAl planned - airfare/ hotels reserved - for mid Sept. But we may cancel. The San Diego County has >8% COVID positivity rate.
We wanted to visit common San Diego locations - which will be crowded.

IF, a big IF, we go, we'll change plans to spend more time hiking than restaurants, Olde Town etc.

We were both vaccinated early (me- Dec/Jan) and DH (Feb/March) so I'm thinking about making the trip after getting booster vaccine.

[RobbieB]

We're driving to where we want to go. Still going, but not flying and not international either.

[skyking1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 51notout 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.

Best wishes for you and your visit to dad. That is understandably stressful.

[ocean view]

My FIL who lives in the mid-west has an Oregon Columbia & Snake River cruise planned for late August. Afterwards he planned to visit us in CA. After much deliberation in the past week, he decided to cancel the CA portion of the trip. He was rightfully concerned about exposing our household following the cruise when our DS is about to leave for college. However, he is not willing to cancel the cruise itself, saying that he was really looking forward to seeing Oregon and didn’t know if he’d get another chance (which I doubt is true). I think there’s a bit of peer pressure from his travel companions (all are vaxxed), who indicated there was no way they would cancel.

I don’t understand how DFIL can be concerned about exposing us, but not be equally concerned about his own risk. He is 83 yo. Case rates in north east Oregon and south east Washington are fairly high currently. Fingers-crossed he doesn’t regret this decision.

[Montecfo]

Have not outright cancelled plans but rethinking trip to Vancouver Island and/or to St. John.

Definitely heading to the beach next week and to Texas mid-oct.

[oiseux]

We are leaving tomorrow for France. Nationwide, their infection rates per capita is less than the US, but the area we are headed is a region of higher contagion. But the R rate us rapidly heading to 1, the test rates have declined, and over 75% have already received one shot (closely followed by two). Since we have a place there, it is no different than taking precautions at home (avoiding crowds, focusing on outdoor activities), and in some ways may be safer. But the location has 100% masking and proof of vaccination is required for entry to restaurants, museums, etc, if we choose to go.

[CindyBlue]

Just two days ago, we just cancelled our trip, scheduled for this October, to see the fall colors in New England. We have always wanted to do this, but because of our jobs, we could never travel in the fall. We booked the trip in March of this year, thinking that things would get better re the virus by October...but it's not...sigh...

And the final straw for us was that a former colleague, fully vaccinated, with no underlying conditions, healthy and fit, died two days ago from the virus. We are devastated - and we decided that traveling on a plane is not right for us at the moment.

[JT90505]

Well, our trip was cancelled for us. Plans to help son move out of state put on hold, he will be working from home at least 4 more months.

[Bamaman]

Our trip 3/2020 to Berlin, Dresden and Krakow was cancelled by the airlines for obvious reasons. My wife scheduled replacement flights a month ago when the airfare dropped 40% for the end of September.

We've been social distancing the last 18 months successfully. Except on the airplane and a 2 hr. train trip, we feel we can pretty much avoid crowds without much problem. We're simplifying our upcoming trip and mainly just hitting museums and WWII places of interest.

My wife has a folding travel scooter since she's recovering from foot surgery. Anyone would be crazy to get within 15 feet of her, as she's dangerous on that thing. We didn't see the Covid returning, however we are experienced travelers and determined to live our lives in retirement years as we planned. Who knows if we'll ever be free of some kind of Covid in future years?

[Sunset]

We just returned from an Alaska cruise.
We had booked it a couple of months ago, when things looked really good.

We went wearing our N95 masks for the flights, and on the cruise ship we were one of the few who wore masks walking the halls and in elevators (basically everywhere except our room & balcony).
The Staff all wore masks.

We got lots of looks but I never knew what people thought as nobody said anything, except 1 couple.
At dining they were brought to a table near us, and the lady stopped and said she could go to another table as her being unmasked might make us uncomfortable.
So she was actually concerned for us, and felt more relieved when we told her we were NOT part of the 5% allowed vaccinated.

Carnival announced on the next cruise everyone has to be vaccinated and wear masks inside hallways, theater, etc.

We felt the trip was less enjoyable than normal, wearing a mask, and every time someone coughed in plane or ship it made us remember Covid.

Maybe we will do an auto trip soon

[tb001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octogirl We have a trip to SoCAl planned - airfare/ hotels reserved - for mid Sept. But we may cancel. The San Diego County has >8% COVID positivity rate. We wanted to visit common San Diego locations - which will be crowded. IF, a big IF, we go, we'll change plans to spend more time hiking than restaurants, Olde Town etc. We were both vaccinated early (me- Dec/Jan) and DH (Feb/March) so I'm thinking about making the trip after getting booster vaccine.

FWIW, I think SoCA is one of the easier places to visit, once you’re here. We live in the area and most of the attractions are outside. Almost all of the restaurants offer some form of outdoor seating. We mask up and will go just about anywhere outside. As long as you’re masked and not dining indoors I think the risk is pretty minimal here. Most locals are masking, even without a mandate.

For us, DH is still traveling for work, but I honestly wish he wouldn’t. Hopefully only one more trip next week until we see how this plays out. Our only other travel plans are for my 80/90 yr old parents to come visit over thanksgiving. We’ll all have received a booster by then. It’s more risk than I’d like for them, but at the same time they’re living in a place with minimal masking and high covid rates. And it’s not like we have 20+ years of visits ahead of us. I think my 81 yr old mom is taking the attitude that she’s going to live her life, period. Hard to argue.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octogirl We have a trip to SoCAl planned - airfare/ hotels reserved - for mid Sept. But we may cancel. The San Diego County has >8% COVID positivity rate. We wanted to visit common San Diego locations - which will be crowded. IF, a big IF, we go, we'll change plans to spend more time hiking than restaurants, Olde Town etc. We were both vaccinated early (me- Dec/Jan) and DH (Feb/March) so I'm thinking about making the trip after getting booster vaccine.

I live in So CA. One thing to keep in mind about the published positivity rates is that the vast majority of the population is no longer getting tested. Generally only symptomatic people or people who believe they’ve been exposed or people who need to be tested for other reasons (job requirements, travel requirements, etc) are being tested. Therefore the positivity rate appears much higher than it is, if the denominator were the entire population.

[EastWest Gal]

My niece is getting married in Washington State. We have friends in OR and CA we haven’t seen in years. The wedding date was set in 2019. The plan is to fly to Portland, visit one friend, drive to WA, attend the wedding. Everything but the ceremony itself will be outdoors. Then fly to Santa Rosa CA, visit the few family and friends (4 people), outdoors. I then would drive to the Central Valley and check on our orchard as well as do some ancestry stuff, mainly identify some ancestors in the cemeteries in all the small towns there as well as the historical society.

All this is making me pause. I don’t want to miss the wedding but am wondering about the rest of the trip. We have full N95 masks for plane travel. Still…

[Vincenzo Corleone]

My wife and I cancelled our trip to Costa Rica (CDC rating of 4) that was scheduled for next month. In 2020, we cancelled our trip to Peru.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB We're driving to where we want to go. Still going, but not flying and not international either.

Same here.

[Winemaker]

No plans to cancel at this time, just got back from a 12 day trip in and around Sacramento CA area in the various surrounding vineyards.

[RetireBy90]

We have a trip to Austin Texas to visit brother early Sept and no plans to cancel. We took a flight to Texas and then Nevada early summer and most of airport and planes were masked and acting well.

My view is at some point we have done all we can to protect ourselves, both 2nd shot end of March and we are back to masking everywhere. I'm hoping that Dr Gottlieb is right in his projections and reading of the current situation. I will confess that I wish the trip wasn't to Texas but to Vermont or some low risk place but I'm going to live my life while taking the precautions I can.

Oh, we also have a trip via car to KY in Oct and to Keys in Jan. If crap happens we may have to rethink the Keys but a car ride to KY is within my comfort level.