My husband and I have our dream trip planned for this summer, July 10-25 to Ireland and Scotland. I'm just wondering what the general feeling is about traveling at that time given the pandemic. I know no one has a crystal ball, I'm just looking for some glimmer of hope! Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Remember that there was a post saying we should not use the terms "I think"; however, I don't think there's any hope for European travel this summer. I'm so sorry about your dream trip. I'm supposed to be seeing Hamilton in London tomorrow, so I feel your pain.
You say you have a trip planned, but make sure not to book it too far in advance that way you don't spend a long time stressed out speculating and only buy 100% refundable; that is how I am approaching my next trip
I don't think that anyone can tell you what you want to know.
Here is what would need to happen. All 3 countries (USA, Ireland, UK) would need to have removed travel restrictions both externally and internally. All the locations would need to be ready to resume typical tourist traffic. That could go two ways. First, the locations might still feel the risk of community transmission is too high and not want others coming. Or, they may be desperate to restart their economy and thankful for every tourist that comes.
Finally, you will need to feel comfortable that your risk factors would be low.
I don't know that anyone can predict with accuracy exactly what things will be like in mid-July.
I held out hope for the longest time regarding my trip to Scotland for the first two weeks of June but resigned myself to knowing it won't happen. I also have a trip planned for England for the last 2 weeks of September and that one is still making me nervous.
Ya, it is a dice roll. We are scheduled to be in Italy in Oct and Costa Rica in November. At the moment, for us, it is a waiting game. Although we think we are healthy, we are almost 80 so assume we have greater risk. There are so many unknowns in this situation that it is impossible to drawn an appropriate conclusion other than NO. Fortunately we have generous cancellation terms so it won't cost us anything to cancel. In your situation with the July dates I probably would plan on canceling. Just recycle for 2021. It will be less stressful if you make the decision within the next 30 days and start planning for '21.
The U.K. government is currently warning that social distancing maybe in operation in some form for a further 6 months, which means your trip sounds very unlikely, unfortunately.
Sadly, I Agree with Wally. Even if restrictions come off (who knows when and where?) the risk is still there until there until a vaccine and/ or antivirals. We cancelled our Spring trip and were thing about September before we came to the same conclusions for now. You may think differently but in the end it may be decided by government travel restrictions and flight availability.
There is nothing more bitterly disappointing than have to cancel a trip (I was supposed to be in Scotland next month) so we all feel your pain .. I did see some encouraging news today about some of the European tides possibly beginning to turn however logistically for Europe to be able to start accepting tourists is a hole that may take a long time to crawl out of.
If you do have to cancel rest assured you will one day be able to book it all again :)
I'm in your same boat - trip to England and Paris planned for Sept 16th. I hate this feeling of being in "limbo" and not knowing if we'll be able to make the trip. Sigh. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed!!!
In rough times, optimism is never a bad thing.
I would cancel nothing in July. That's 3+ months. If we are still in this situation at that point, you can cancel a month out.
At this time the airlines do not have a policy in place for July. So I would wait and keep checking the airline websites to see what their policy will be for flights in July. I also would keep checking as the dates get closer as to what is happening with Ireland and Scotland. I myself had a trip planned for London in May and kown that is not happening and already received an email stating my tour to Highclere Castle has been cancelled. Until the world has a handle on this pandemic and we have a vaccine that is tested and ready for the public to receive, I think that all vacation travel will be suspended. They even postponed the Olympics until next year.
You should also check with the CDC and the State Department to see what they say on travel when it gets nearer to your dates of travel. I know this is not what you want to hear but this is what my thinking is based upon what the doctors have said.
Your dates are probably too early in the year for your trip to happen. We just cancelled a trip to Europe in June and are aware that we need to cancel our summer travel plans too.
Our governor in Virginia just ordered Stay in Place until June 10th. On that note, I'm afraid that any summer travel will probably be delayed. Ireland will wait and I'd want to see it when everything is open.
Lots of thoughtful feedback on this thread. Coming from a medical background I rely on my daily updates from the CDC, Dr. Fauci and my DOH. My sense is we are in this for the long haul. Unfortunately there are no guarantees. We were supposed to be on our way to Maui today. We knew it was a no go weeks ago. Sicily has been scheduled since last December. We are resigned to cancel when needed. We will hope 2021 & beyond will bring better times for all.
As you wisely noted, no one has a crystal ball to provide an accurate prediction. All we have to go on are weigh-ins from medical professionals about how long it'll take to ride this thing out. Right now? Summer isn't looking good for trips abroad or even domestic. Even fall is looking sketchy.
IMHO, the "glimmer of hope" is that current distancing efforts will work and we'll all be around next year, healthy and ready to book our adventures should the countries of choice be ready for our company! In light of the worst which could happen, a disappointing delay is not so hard to swallow, and certainly isn't the end of the dream.
from the CDC, Dr. Fauci and my DOH
DOH? That’s a new acronym for me
I think DOH means "Department of Health", Nigel.
@ Nigel, thanks for asking what the acronym DOH stands for. We are extremely fortunate in the State of Washington to have a progressive Department of Health. Since we were the epicenter of the COVID-19 Virus in January they have worked in a collective effort to disseminate accurate information. I am grateful for their support in my health practice. They also strive to Practice Compassion: "Misinformation can lead to stigma, discrimination, and really poor decision making. Please help us spread information!"
Stay home and stay healthy!
I sat down to write the exact same heading. We have our flights, rental car, hotels, etc. booked for July 13-27th. This is a graduation present for my son who is a senior in High School. Not only has the end of his senior year been a huge disappointment we are now facing the reality that we will most likely have to cancel our trip. All of the comments have answered my questions too, I was hoping and praying for a miracle. I went to Ireland 19 years ago and I've dreamt of taking my boys back. With my son going off to college in another state, hopefully we will find a time in the future to go.
