Many of you have commented that you appreciate our tagline: DREAM.TRAVEL.SHARE. It acknowledges that travelling is more than the simple transaction of taking a trip, and there is as much pleasure in anticipating travel, and sharing the cherished memories after travelling.
DREAMING is also a great coping strategy when you’re unable to travel, and it looks like we’re now back into the DREAMING phase.
Even though we’ve been told to expect a second wave of the pandemic (and it’s arriving right on schedule), it is still psychologically challenging (“NOT this again….!”).
Over the next few weeks, I will share with you some memories from our favorite trips, and invite your comments if you’ve done a similar trip yourself. Perhaps you had a similar trip postponed in 2020, and you can see what others have thought about it.
We’ll start next week with Seine River Cruise from Paris to Normandy on board Uniworld’s Joie de Vivre.
For those with trips scheduled for 2021
We have been fielding many queries as to what people with booked travel in 2021 should do. We are always happy to lay out the options for people, but our predictions for the future are no more prescient than anyone else’s. Having said that, we do place more weight on the opinions of medical experts than we do on politicians of any partisan stripe.
With that in mind, here is some generic advice for anyone with travel plans in 2021:
- Do not get caught up in the news of the day. A couple of weeks ago, I quoted some research that showed that we are unduly influenced by the news media we consume on any particular day. Remember that the conditions 6 or 9 months from now will be completely different than today. Don’t base medium or long-term decisions on the news of the day.
- Understand your booking conditions. You quite likely have very relaxed change policies on your trip plans. Know what these policies are, and remember that the longer you wait to make decisions, the better information you’ll have to work with. If your cancellation conditions are the same today as they will be 6 months from now, there is no rational basis to rush and make decisions today.
- Understand the risks to cancelling. Most people think they are eliminating risk by cancelling their plans. There is some truth to this, but you add a risk of not being able to get what you want when we get the “all clear” signal. For example, river cruises in Europe are about 15% MORE booked up for 2021 and 2022 than they would normally be this far in advance. Small ship ocean cruises are about 10% more booked up. Cancelling a trip scheduled a year from now, with the intent to rebook it once we feel more comfortable travelling makes sense. But everybody else will be doing the same thing, so you’ll be competing for reservation space amongst a whole population of people that are desperate to travel after having sat at home for a year or more. That spike in demand could drive prices up.
Above all else, remember that we are all on this psychological roller coaster together. We are not alone in having anxiety around travel plans and how to manage them.
I’ve decided to set aside my anxiety for a while and instead focus on happier times.
For the next weeks, join us on a journey of DREAMING about travel by cherishing memories of past trips, and anticipating future travel experiences.
Have something to say about this?
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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here to get in touch today.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
