bbriscoe34

I was never a virus denier, but now that I'm fully vaxxed, I don't want to spend a vacation being treated like I might have the plague. I wore a mask when I needed to, and when it made a difference, but now that requirement has been lifted for me in the US and in my state (except for public transit). I also have contact dermatitis with a recurring rash on my face that developed from all the mask sweat, so going forward I need to avoid wearing them as much as possible to give my skin a chance to heal.

All that said - where are some good destinations for this summer that will be as close to normal as possible for a vaccinated couple and college aged son?

invisible

Florida. Texas.

GloballyServiced

Not Europe, because I can smell the arrogant bureaucracy and red tape from here.

I’ll probably keep an eye out for Thailand to open up, because it’s a country where I’m used to having some hassles to deal with, and I know the people of that country need a lifeline.

Mexico is another good one.

invisible

If you’d read Thailand forum, you’d give that hope away.

If I understood the requirements correctly, they are:

- no mask rules
​​​​​​- no quarantine rules

So pretty much ‘ life as we known in 2019 ‘.

If so, then general - whole APAC is off the table this year and probably next year as well.

GloballyServiced

That is very sad to hear that about Thailand. I feel sorry for the people of that country that rely on tourism to put food on the table.

Before this latest “wave” I thought they were on track to open up Phuket entirely without diapers and without quarantine.

13901

This feels like the #34506th thread on "Where can I go where I don't need to wear a mask?" on this forum.

The bottom line is, besides some parts of America, Tanzania and Turkmenistan, nowhere.

That's it.

the810

I've more or less decided to stay in Sweden this summer. It will probably remain the only location in Europe where you don't need to wear a mask in any situation this summer (Czech PM also suggested they may drop masks in the summer, but I'm sceptical). There are also very few other restrictions - restaurants close a bit early (22:30 since June) and large events are restricted, but otherwise it's business as usual as far as visitors are concerned. Plus there is an added benefit of it being located in the north, which means no tropical heatwaves

If they reopen to Americans by the time you want to travel, I highly recommend it. It's a great place, I've been visiting twice a year prior to the pandemic, and now it's also one of very few places with pragmatic, non-emotional approach to the pandemic.

bbriscoe34

This is also the question the most journalists simply take for granted and won't ask nuanced questions about.

Such as when will these things change? Not simply, can I physically get into FRA airport without a business reason this summer?

Additionally, the stated policy doesn't always line up exactly with conditions on the ground, so real world experiences are welcome. And I didn't know about Sweden as mentioned below - that is helpful.

bbriscoe34

Mexico could be good if "fully" opened soon. Or Jamaica? How are the all-inclusives doing it now? Pool bars open? Dance clubs open/closed?

I'd like to take the fam to Canada some summer as well, but from what I'm hearing so far, they are no where close to even opening the border, let alone dropping restrictions for vaxxed Americans to eat, drink, and party.

david55

My backyard garden.

747-800i

I will spend the summer in the south of France and Greek islands.

sdsearch

How will your travel (driving or flying)? If flying, how will you get around once there?

Be aware that since the rental car companies sold off a bunch of their fleet and now are having trouble restocking them because of car shortages, some locations are selling out of rental cars while there are still plenty of airline seats. So if you're going to rent a car, make sure you can get a (pay later, ie cancellable/changeable) car reservation before you book your ticket. (Some people have to fly to alternate airports many hours of driving away just to rent a car.)

See this thread for more about that:

“A Car Rental Apocalypse”

Keep in mind that things can reverse! For example, last month Chile just tightened down, because, despite a very good vaccination rate (close to that of the US overall), they got a big new Covid surge.

So I would recommend that you stay as close to home as possible if you don't to risk your plans having to change at the very last minute because some country decided to suddenly clamp down again and require masks.

That's a lot less likely to happen domestically, but even it were to happen, it's a lot less likely to happen in two adjacent states, so you could always fly into wherever you're booked but drive to the next state for most of the trip.

And that's the problem with "experiences" in this environment; they can only tell about what was the case a while ago, not what will be the case by the time you get there. And in the current world, things aren't that stable yet that experiences from months ago are necessarily very predictive yet.

Maybe the most predictive thing may be political dislike of masks at the state level. That's what makes Texas among the safest (Florida too, except that if you don't drive there yourself, that's one of the states with many car rental horror stories). But even then, things can always different at some local levels, so even within a state your plans may need to be flexible.

And be aware that many hotel chains are requiring masks as a business policy, even as states lift overall mask requirements. So that may make it tricky to figure out where to stay where absolutely don't need a mask.

If you can drive from home and camp, that solves both the rental car availability and the hotel mask requirements problem.

bbriscoe34

Good points. I did get an email from Hyatt saying they will not require masks for vaccinated travelers in US hotels anymore. Is there a list of what other hotels are doing this summer?

sdsearch

As with all of this, the list can change at any moment. As of now, here:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/hotels...mask-mandates/

it says:

"So far, parent companies Marriott, Hyatt and IHG have said they will waive mask mandates at their brands’ properties. Meanwhile, Hilton, Wyndham, Accor and Loews have not yet changed policies that require masks in public areas, such as hotel lobbies."

And, of course, that may only be in places where there's no local government requirement for masks for all indoors still (like there is here in California until mid-June, for example).

kac2138

I want to go to Scotland. I don't think I'm going to be able to (from the US).