How Do People Feel About Travelling in 2021?

2020 was a restrictive year where many of us weren’t allowed to visit our families, let alone go on holiday. However, 2021 has shown a bit of promise in a worldwide curbing over the pandemic, and travellers seem to be optimistic about their chances of travelling again.

But how do people really feel about travelling in 2021?

Planning your holiday is going to take on a whole new meaning

In the past, we could safely go on holiday without really planning anything. At most, we’d have to look for accommodation and luggage storage to make it easier for us. However, we wouldn’t need to think about lockdown restrictions, vaccinations or any other COVID-specific things. In fact, many would argue that trying to plan a holiday during the global pandemic is a ridiculous idea and that you should probably avoid it. However, that’s probably not going to stop a lot of people who like to travel or need to travel for work purposes.

Precautions before travelling are going to depend on the country you’re from and their specific restrictions. From the time of writing this post to when you read it, the rules could have changed as well. As such, it’s a good idea to plan well ahead when it comes to holidays. You’ll want to do plenty of research on the country that you plan to visit, and you also need to consider what the current world situation is like. Most people wouldn’t want to be stuck outside of their country, so it’s vital that you carefully consider your options and plan accordingly if you want to travel.

The choice of travel destinations is going to be really limited

There was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning of the pandemic. Some countries were still wide open and had no quarantine or restrictions. They even encouraged people to travel to their countries because of cheap flights and fewer tourists. However, it only took a few weeks for the world to plunge into chaos. Countries started sealing their borders and turning away travellers, and some places implemented extreme lockdowns to ensure no one got in or out of the country.

With so many travel restrictions in place and rules that are constantly changing, it’s vital that you look at the countries you want to visit and to see what their rules are. You don’t want to end up going to a country that ultimately turns you away and doesn’t even consider you for quarantine. The list of restricted countries will eventually loosen up a bit, but right now, you’re going to have a very small list of countries that you can visit. In many cases, your country might not even let you leave unless it’s for a business-related trip or an urgent visit.

You’ll have to be fairly crafty about the places you visit if you want to go on holiday in 2021. Even after the pandemic is over and most of the world is vaccinated, there are still going to be some locations that will have forever changed due to the pandemic. This is never a nice sight to see, but it’s something we have to accept given the circumstances around COVID-19.

Make sure you’re prepared from head to toe

One of the themes of travelling in 2021 is ensuring that you’re prepared and have plenty of supplies available for use. For example, you’re going to need a healthy supply of masks to take with you, and you may even need to carry or buy plenty of hand sanitiser to take with you. Perhaps the biggest consideration is what kind of masks you wear and if you’re going to have a stash of them with you. Most people these days use fabric masks that are washable, but you may want to consider buying some disposable masks as well because they might be readily available in certain countries that are accustomed to wearing masks.

In most cases, you’re probably not going to need gloves and other forms of protection. However, it’s never a bad idea to carry a few pairs of gloves should you feel more comfortable with it. The most important thing is going to be your mask, so make sure you pick one that fits well and gives you enough room to breathe. Wearing a mask is going to be mandatory on all kinds of transportation and you may even be refused entry to certain places if you don’t wear one. Try out various different masks and make sure you find one that suits your needs and allows you to breathe properly.

Travel is going to boom once the pandemic subsides

Perhaps one of the biggest concerns is how many people will start travelling again once countries open up again. There is going to be a massive surge in people that want to travel. This will increase prices, it’ll make tourist attractions more expensive, and it’s going to create huge queues regardless if the virus is still a worry or not.

This is the opposite of what many people experienced at the beginning of the pandemic. When the virus first appeared on the world stage, travel became a lot cheaper because demand was falling. Fares for travel were much cheaper and accommodation cost almost nothing because there weren’t enough customers. However, once the pandemic goes away, it’s almost guaranteed that companies will start to increase prices beyond what was normal before the pandemic. Hotels will raise their prices to accommodate all of the added safety measures they need to take, and travel is going to start costing more due to the number of people travelling.

So while you can certainly look forward to travelling this year, do keep in mind that prices are going to fluctuate a lot and there’s going to be a lot more planning involved. While many of us certainly do want to explore the world again, it might be worth waiting for a little while after the pandemic is over.