Presguy

I know there are medical and moral arguments against non-essential travel this past year - and they're well presented in other threads here.

I'm wondering, though, what travel opportunities have come up for FTers because of Covid, that wouldn't have happened otherwise.

For instance, some of us have switched our travel to road trips, and have done plenty of "exploring" that might not have happened otherwise. Others, suddenly finding themselves in a work-from-home (or -anywhere) situation have used the opportunity for long stays in new cities. Others have professional obligations, and essential travel, which has stepped up notably over the last year.

My social and professional circle is spread all over the country, and with fares so cheap, I've done a ton of trips to catch up with old friends that I haven't seen in person in years - been really nice reconnecting with people, and visiting cities I wouldn't have had an excuse to otherwise.

Like I said - I know there are arguments against this, but I'm hoping they can be kept in applicable threads.

DeepUnderground

We have been trying to "follow the rules" so our ski vacation which we planned to be in Colorado in April will now be in up state NY. Something I would never have done without CT's restrictions on travel.

Loren Pechtel

I've been going a lot farther from home this year for hiking because I've been in search of empty trails.

fatlasercat

Does taking advantage of UA double PQP count as "because of Covid"?

Presguy

Heh, that wasn't what I had in mind, but sure - why not.

I definitely spread out my extra travel this year to hit Plat on AA and A-list on WN.

nomiiiii

Summer 2020 would not have been a lot of american road-trips for many people who would've otherwise gone to Europe etc. True for us. Lots of road trips in upstate newyork and new-england, around great lakes region, in the southwest parks of utah/arizona, state parts around arkansas/missouri, beaches of florida and so on.

Winter 2020 would not have been a lot of Mexico/Carribean/Florida for many people who would've otherwise gone elsewhere. True for us. Vacations in winter shifted to jamaica/dominican/haiti etc since they were open and pacific islands weren't.

I doubt many people were expecting to go to Croatia/Serbia in the summer 2020, Turkey/Brazil in fall 2020, Egypt/Tanzania/Dubai in winter 2020 either, but these countries have been having a bumper toursm year.

cavemanzk

I think it largely depends on the country you are located in, and the current situation of that country. For example living in New Zealand we have been largely free of COVID-19 since June, apart from a couple of small local outbreaks from boarder leaks that were quickly eliminated.

We have be free to travel domestically without any restrictions, I think over the past 6 months I've travel the most I've ever travelled domestically in an year. Typically all of my travel pre 2020 was overseas.

In the last 6 months I've managed to clock up an few flights.
AKL-WLG NZ 321N
WLG-AKL NZ 321N
AKL-WLG NZ 320
WLG-AKL JQ 320
AKL-CHC NZ 789
ZQN-AKL JQ 320
AKL-WLG JQ 320
WLG-AKL NZ 321N
AKL-ZQN NZ 321N
ZQN-AKL JQ 320
AKL-WLG JQ 320
WLG-ZQN JQ 320
ZQN-CHC NZ 320
CHC-AKL NZ 320
AKL-ZQN NZ 320
ZQN-AKL NZ 320
Hopefully 2021 is the year not of the a320/321

I almost feel bad that I've bee able to travel that much, while so many people haven't been able to travel at all.

GregWTravels

Living in London, United Kingdom, my travels are mostly constricted to where I can get to on my bicycle. Dusted off and pumped up the tyres on a bike I bought back in 2015 during a chain of tube strikes. Been able to get over most of London with those two wheels. Back in the summer when train travel seemed okay, did a few hikes local to London. Box Hill and Chesham.

All in all, a lot of exploring my local area. Even one rode the bike out to Heathrow just to watch planes land (as few as those are that landing nowadays).

the810

I took a few trips to Budapest and I learned to like it. I've been visiting it often over years but usually for short, non-touristy, trips. This time I've spend a few days there and found out it's much nicer than I thought (and they have great restaurants and bars over there).

I also spent 6 weeks in Prague as they were the most open place in Europe during the summer and finally, 4 months (and counting) in Stockholm.

So I would say that for me, covid has been mostly about long stays. No need to return home.

Global Adventurer

I went to Cancun twice between October and December. Cancun (Quintana Roo or Yucatan) were never ever on my radar because I'm not a beach/resort type of traveler. However, since places to travel to were limited because of covid, I went there and I have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought. I actually enjoyed myself 😃 So, I'm going back in a couple of months! I guess never say never!

largeeyes

Also explains why those countries have had bumper COVID years, too.

Bluehen1

I substituted two European vacations in 2020 for two weeks each at a beach house relatives own in North Carolina. Spent the first week on vacation and the second week working from the beach. Found the first trip more enjoyable than the second but that's likely because the first trip was at the beginning of the summer travel season and some restrictions were lifting while the second was at the end of the season when things started shutting down. It was just nice to get out of the house and region. Had very minimal contact with other people fortunately.

rankourabu

All international vacations for 2020, especially ones in the summer turned into Canada road trips and vacations.
Turns out its a big country.
And parts of Quebec are quite "foreign"

Predict same for 2021

downinit

Went to Dubrovnik and Pag in Croatia last summer, after my trip to Benelux/CZ/CH was cancelled due to travel restrictions and my original backup to Serbia was cancelled due to post-election rioting. I was finally able to get time to take the train LAX-PDX-CHI. It was my first time on the Empire Builder since I was a kid. I rented an RV for a music festival in October that got cancelled, so I planned a trip to Kings Canyon/Sequoia instead. Unfortunately, those plans were cancelled by the fires. I rerouted again to visit the Grand Canyon, which I had only previously seen from an airplane at 30k feet. My last trip was to St Croix for Thanksgiving, which was definitely not on my radar (only on prior trip to the Caribbean, 20 years ago). I originally planned a trip to visit Aruba (also never been), but my return flight was cancelled so I went with USVI instead. Normally, I take a few trips to Asia, but that was definitely not an option.

Flexibility is the name of the game. Of the four big trips I have planned and taken after COVID came on the scene, three of the four ended up getting a destination change for various reasons, and the fourth one (train trip) got pushed back from August to October. Thankfully, I had booked refundable airline tickets for Serbia and Aruba, so I did not lose anything but time. Amtrak also allowed free cancellations and date changes, so that was no problem, either.

sfgiants13

A lot more Phoenix and Vegas than usual because it's easy. I did manage to take a trip to Turkey with my dad in December that I would not have taken otherwise since I've already visited recently. Minus the mask annoyance it was a fantastic trip. This was before a lot of testing requirements got put in so it wasn't much of a hassle besides having to gate check our bag in IST due to some weird covid restrictions. Thank god we landed in LHR a half hour early so it gave us time to run through the airport and change terminals after clearing the UK border.