Travel hopes 2021

Yesterday made air and resort reservation for Riviera Maya in Mexico for last week of January 2021. Staying again at the adults-only side of the Barcelo resort complex. Hedged our bets a little by making cancellable reservations in case another wave of COVID hits.

Let the good times roll and Tequila flow!
 
My annual Fall trip to Connecticut is off for a while because Connecticut has limited visitors from about 30 states unless they has a specific reason to be there and they test negative for the Covid 19. Visitors have to fill out an entry form, provide testing documentation, etc, etc.

Too much hassle. I'll just wait until this is over.
 
After our 2020 flights to Berlin were cancelled, 2021 doesn't look good. Europe's going downhill with new COROVID cases.

2021 looks like a flight out to the Continental Divide and renting a car to visit the 5 states we've never been to.

But after 50 years of international travel, we're thankful the experiences. We're good.
 
Chuckanut said:
I have been discussing travel in 2021 with a few good friends. Of course, we all hope for a vaccine in early 2021 that is 95%+ effective, lasts for several years, and is readily available to most of us in the world. That would obviously open up traveling quite a bit.

Or, if Covid is raging through the world with little to stop it, countries have closed their boarders again, and travel is greatly restricted, then the decision to stay close to home is probably forced upon us.

But.....

Lately, our conversations been about what we will do if the vaccine is 50% to 70% effective. Is that good enough to hop back onto a plane and fly to Lower Slobovia? Would we fill safe enough to eat inside a local restaurant on a cold rainy day in England? How about getting in line to visit the Louvre in Paris? Or the coliseum in Rome? Or taking the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building? Visiting the Smithsonian in D.C.? Can the National Park Visitor Centers reopen?

When is 'safe enough' good enough? How much risk reduction do we need? What other precautions would still be needed and how would they impact our decision on when and where to travel? How will less risk, change our plans. Or will it?
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I don’t think you understanding the vaccine effectiveness correctly. Normal seasonal flu vaccines may have an effectiveness between 60-90% based on guessing which three flus may be contagious that year. The coronavirus vaccine is targeted just for this virus. It won’t be approved for distribution unless it’s 99% effective. You’re equating apples to oranges.
 
Bamaman said:
After our 2020 flights to Berlin were cancelled, 2021 doesn't look good. Europe's going downhill with new COROVID cases.

2021 looks like a flight out to the Continental Divide and renting a car to visit the 5 states we've never been to.

But after 50 years of international travel, we're thankful the experiences. We're good.
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We feel the same way. We are getting too old to handle those long flights. Two years ago we did a cruise to Hawaii, Last year we did a cruise to Alaska.
Both cruises were round trip NO flying.
We are hoping to fly to Kauai next March, if all goes well. We are flying first class, plus will have an oxygen concentrator for DW.
 
The Australian government's most recent estimate (6 October) is that Australian borders will stay closed to foreign visitors and that Australians will not be able to leave the country for leisure travel until end of 2021. There may be some possible exceptions involving New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan.

US and Europe are definitely off limits until end of 2021.

I was able to leave Australia for some business travel but the experience is not great.
 
Al in Ohio said:
I don’t think you understanding the vaccine effectiveness correctly. Normal seasonal flu vaccines may have an effectiveness between 60-90% based on guessing which three flus may be contagious that year. The coronavirus vaccine is targeted just for this virus. It won’t be approved for distribution unless it’s 99% effective. You’re equating apples to oranges.
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I guess I am not understanding the Covid vaccines that are in trials either. 99% effectiveness would be great--but everything I have read says they are shooting for 50-60% effectiveness. Kind of like the first shingles vaccine which was about 50% effective (now Shingrix vaccine is more like 99% effective).
 
Now that the wet and cold weather has arrived in PNW, we have gotten a medical quote for our extended stay in Mexico, including Covid-19. We are awaiting confirmation that our carrier, Westjet, will offer non-stop flights so we can use our credit.
 
We are staying home. Today is cold and it has been snowing for two days.

Absolutely nothing planned for the winter unless of course we get desperate and decide to fly off somewhere warm. It would probably be Panama.

At present, the earliest we plan to travel in 2021, is Sept/Oct. Current plan is two months in either Greece/Cyprus or Morocco/Spain. with the former being the favourite.

Not particularly happy campers but we are safe, healthy, and financial secure...at the moment. Always subject to change.
 
We are not planning any trips. My youngest son wanted us all to go to Cabo in December but none of us are willing to go.
 
We are supposed to be going to MX in March for a wedding and had hoped to make it an extended stay up and down the Yucatan Peninsula (wedding is in Cancun...yuck!) from south of Tulum up to Holbox but at this point, I don't see that COVID is going to be abating anytime soon. And, I still have a pretty nice travel credit on AA for my Alaska trip that I cancelled.

I really like where I live, but I do like to travel on occasion and I am starting to get a little tired of "staying home."
 
Koolau said:
All I want to do is get back 'home' to the midwest. I miss the corn and soybean fields. I miss the freedom of driving my Buick land-yacht until it actually needs gas. I miss my favorite pizza in the whole world. As usual, YMMV.
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Island fever?
 
Still putzing around with our 'pretend itinerary' - latest info from VTG shows the ship to Baltimore is sold out. Early days, and it's mainly conjecture anyway.....but we can 'conjecturizate' with the best of 'em.

So this morning it's - hang around Poland etc until the weather doesn't suit our clothes (apologies to the late Harry Nilsson)....fly to Madrid for a few days, thence Zaragoza and environs.. and wend our way to Barcelona and perhaps catch the Rhapsody* to Tampa. ¡Quién sabe!

(* We sailed on this ship a while back, can't remember any particular passenger interfaces, but we enjoyed the young multinational staff (up) forward where we ate regularly. One very shy little Chinese girl on her first voyage, who we worked at getting out of her shell, made a point of coming over and hugging us before we finally disembarked...good memories.)
 
Sounds like a nice plan Nemo. DW isn't convinced cruising is in the cards in the near (or maybe far) future :( There is an idea floating around concerning a non-stop flight to somewhere tropical or equatorial around Christmas. The idea was floated by DD0, and she says if it happens, it would be a last minute thing. I'd like to stay with some friends in Ecuador, but that would be through Fort Lauderdale, not non-stop. The price would be right if the last minute air didn't get us.
 
We just made the final payment for a world cruise on the Viking Star leaving LA in January 2022. The cruise line offered us a $5000 reduction in our fare if we paid 6 months before the usual due date, which we considered good value as the money wouldn't have earned spit sitting in our savings account for that same amount of time.

I have to believe a safe effective vaccine will be widely available by then and the world will start to resemble something we recognize.
 
sengsational said:
DW isn't convinced cruising is in the cards in the near (or maybe far) future.
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Us neither......it's all 'Fantasy sports teams' at this point and we're not putting any money down - Que Sera Sera an' all that. :)
 
Cruises are not on our radar. The last thing we want is to be stuck floating around on an SS Covid, confined to our cabin.

We are somewhat optimistic. Looking at air to either Greece/Cyprus or Portugal/Morocco in the fall, and Thailand next winter. Air fares seem normal but we are certainly not going to be putting a dime down on any flight. The schedules are fantasy land at this point and who knows if the airline will survive.
 
I think I read in the last few days that some cruise ship had recently tried to do a cruise in the Caribbean but immediately had Covid problems and had to put passengers in quarantine. No way would I try a cruise now. Being quarantined to a tiny cabin would be like being in prison.
 
We have stayed locked down most of the last 8 months. After moving a year ago, we've been getting our home in shape after building a swimming pool. We've been too busy to get bored.

We are really missing our annual Spring trips to Europe, however.

This year, we've been to our RV in the mountains 3 times, and are going to rent a house in The Smokies for Thanksgiving weekend.

The wife is having foot surgery 12/31 which will keep her in the hospital and rehab 3 weeks. She's got a travel electric wheelchair and says she's not sitting home in the future unless COROVID gets worse. Our lives are in a holding pattern.
 
We love cruising but like others not putting money down on anything until things are different.
 
We’re planning:

A. A four day trip to New Orleans in mid December

B. Five days in Hilton ahead in Marc, and

C. We have a deposit on a cruise ship out of Venice (to the Greek Islands) in October 2021.
 
As I anticipated, my birding trip to Puerto Rico, already postponed once, has now been canceled. I was offered a third chance in late spring of next year, but declined (agree that there will still be COVID problems then). Finally decided to move my payment to a future trip in South America in January 2022. Put up a countdown clock, and it was over 400 days away ... I never thought conditions would take this long to improve.
 
Since this thread calls out for a theme song:

 
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