NY Times Survey - How are you feeling about traveling right now?

Thanks for the link! I'd missed that as I have been just deleting the daily digest to avoid seeing the news.

I'm sorry you booked non-refundable lodging. I have never been one to book non-ref and after Covid decided I never would unless it was very inexpensive and I could afford to lose that amount.

Travel in 2021 and 2022 was pretty anxiety-ridden with needing a negative Covid test, wasn't it? Thank goodness that is over for now.

I’m feeling fine about travel but I’m not going anywhere except to the post office tomorrow.

If I was going to travel I’d go even though I’d have to endure my flights to and from “ Hell on earth, “ aka LAX.

IMHO travel has been and will always be a crap shoot.

I am in Spain right now, with a rental car.

Unless you turned on the news, you'd not know what was happening in the wider world.

I've had a few interesting political discussions.....

I had no problem leaving the US last week, or entering Barcelona with the new system in place.
And I have not one shred of concern about my return home at the end of this month, although I do hope that I can use my Global Entry.

I'd love to learn where you are headed for in Italy!!

I understand your anxiety and I appreciate the NYT discussing it. I envy those who have no concerns about things. I hope you find a way to have a great trip to Italy. What a wonderful country!

I am recalling of a line Chip Diller as played by Kevin Bacon delivered in the movie Animal House. “Remain calm, All is Well”

But I am also reminded that the movie had a happy ending.

Happy travels!

Before this Middle East incident, I booked 7 locations in Portugal for late September. All refundable, due to my husband's and my ages. Airfare is refundable as well. For late October in Venice, I had to book a 3-bedroom apartment as it was perfect for our family and at a great price. Holding off on getting Biennale tickets and other hotels in Italy after Venice. I'm also a bit riddled with anxiety for any trip abroad; this incident needs to end soon!

Best of luck to joeandrose!

I appreciate your anxiety. I am feeling some of the same. We haven't figured out what we are doing regarding travel this year, and that is unusual for us.

I was thinking of visiting Tokyo toward the end of April. Instead, Portland, Oregon, round trip on Amtrak's Coast Starlight from Los Angeles in a Roomette.

We're in Italy right now and after visiting several cities and there is no reason you would think anything is unusual in the world at this point. The only protest we've seen was a march for Women's Day here in Italy and there was, of course, a threatened strike that did not seem to happen. Just like at home walking down the street there is no visible sign of trouble thousands of miles away.

We have had the trip planned since last September or so and we didn't even discuss not going when the events in the world took a turn. We packed up, made all the usual arrangements and got on the plane.

I hate to say this but the only way the current conflict is probably going to affect our vacation is the dollar - for whatever reason - has actually strengthened against the euro so things have gotten just tiny bit less expensive on a daily basis. I think the airline company probably has more anxiety about the ticket price they gave us before fuel became so much more expensive than we have about our trip.

My $.02,
=Tod

From Italy I can say that the car rental and fuel cost will be the worst problem. The fuel is around 2€/liter now (around 8.7$/gallon).

Personally, I avoid the comment that I feel perfectly safe. The problems with that statement are obvious, but still, it does reflect the perception generated from first person observation. Just when it fails, it fails badly.

I can’t speak to “Europe” because there are so many different situations in Europe. I live in a liberal city (compared to the nation as a whole) and we don’t have the extremist demographic to cause the sort of anxiety that some feel in some countries. No religious attacks, no bombings of places of worship, no hate graffiti, no protests that turn violent or destructive, no hatred towards other nationalities and not political violence or terroist plots (so far).

BUT I DO RESPECT THISE NOTICES:

On March 6, 2026, Europol officially warned of an elevated terrorism threat across the European Union specifically linked to the escalating Iran conflict.

The U.S. State Department maintains a "Worldwide Caution" (updated February 28, 2026), advising citizens to:

• Avoid areas where large demonstrations occur, particularly near diplomatic facilities.
• Monitor local media for updates on potential air alerts or security closures.

Those two warnings can make many uncomfortable about travel and that might be why in January US foreign travel, worldwide, was up but it was down to Europe.

BUT FOR PERSPECTIVE REGARDING TRAVEL TO EUROPE: nothing has changed much in the last few months.

• The dollar has gone from 328 forints to 343 forints since the first of the year. So my buying power here has gone up 5%.
• The dollar is at 0.87€, which is in line with the 12-month average and maybe 1 or 2 cents below the 5-year average. So, it’s not great, but not horrible either.
• No airspace between the US and Europe has never been closed except for a few short lived drone scares.
• Two weeks into Iran war and related terrorist attacks in Europe have been nil to none. The only unusual aggression was the bombing of the US Embassy in Oslo and that wasn’t very effective. There was a synagogue bombed in Belgium, but sad to say that attacks on synagogues or individual members are not unusual in Europe and this one does not change the trend upwards. There have also been a few government interdictions of suspected terrorist plots that demonstrates that European governments are actively cautious.
• Iranian drones cannot reach Europe. In theory iran has missiles that can reach parts of Europe (Turkey, Bulgarian, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Greece) but no iranian missiles have landed on European soil.
• No russian ordinance has fallen in Europe outside of Ukraine; except very near the Ukrainian border in Moldova, Poland and Romania. No deaths or injuries.
• In 2025 out of 38,700,000 (38.7 million) flights there were 8 aircraft accidents that involved fatalities. That was one more than the previous year and 2 more than the five-year average. Flying remains the safest long-distance transportation from point A to point B.
• Approximately 2.75 million US Citizens traveled to Europe in January through February of this year. No US citizen has been murdered in Europe in 2026 as of this date and i can find no report of any attack on an American.

I'm currently traveling around the US. In four weeks I head back to Europe for three months. I'll spend most of that time in Central Europe.

As of now, I'm going. My brother once said to me "What are the odds of a terrorist attack happening where you are? What are the odds of a terrorist attack actually happening to you?

The odds are very small. In fact, I'm probably more likely to be involved in a plane/train/auto accident than a terrorist attack happening to me.

I know enough to walk away from large gatherings or demonstrations, I know enough to stay situationally aware. I know enough to listen to my gut feelings.

What I don't know is how things will change tomorrow. So until something major happens, I'm going.

The one thing I am changing is giving myself extra time to go through airport security in the US during the shutdown. Even though I have TSA Precheck, I'll try to scope out the situation on each travel day.

How do I feel about travel right now? I'm not traveling internationally again until September (to Sweden). But my heart is not really in it. I'm having a hard time enjoying the planning and anticipation when so much of the rest of the world is....well, we all know.
I can get a flight credit and cancel my Air BnB up to a week before checkin, so that is definitely a possibility, whether it be for safety reasons or, just not feeling it.

At this point I am comfortable traveling. I have plans to go to Ireland for three weeks starting early April. Also have plans to travel in Bavaria in October. All is refundable, except for the tour in Ireland. I do not have trip cancellation/interruption insurance. My Medigap plan covers medical expenses up to a certain dollar amount. I do have a Medjet membership, but did not upgrade to Horizon level. In 2023 and 2025 I had to cancel October trips to Bavaria and lost no money due to everything able to be canceled or refunded. Life is short and I'm no longer young. Who knows how much longer I'll be able to travel. Hopefully for years and years. But there are no promises and life can throw a wrench in travel plans as I learned in 2023 and 2025. We each have different comfort levels. I see no sense in traveling if one has to live on edge or worry the whole trip. However, right now I feel more comfortable safety-wise in Europe than I do in most of the U.S.

Happy and safe travels to all.

Traveler Girl

I’m a month away from my first trip to Spain as a “hold-me-over” until Italy in September 2026, after an unexpected cancellation of my Italy trip in October 2025.

Having witnessed too many friends/family/co-workers who put off travel for their retirement years, or waiting for the “right moment,” that never came, my advice has always been the same: go now… go while you can, tomorrow is never promised.

“The world is big and I want to see it all.” Do I fear traveling to my planned destinations? Absolutely not. What I fear is missing the opportunity to experience the world while I’m still able. However, I do feel a bit of guilt, being able to travel while others are facing such difficult circumstances. Travel is a privilege, and I’m very aware of how fortunate I am to have that opportunity.

@Nonegativevibes voiced my feelings so beautifully!

Travel is a privilege, and I’m very aware of how fortunate I am to
have that opportunity.

G-d bless the brilliant among us.

I have traveled quite a bit through a lot of the Middle East and around the world. I have two upcoming trips.

The first in a few weeks is to Romania, Azerbaijan (borders Iran on the N), Georgia and a short stop in London. My 2nd trip at the end of May is to SE Africa (Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia) - this requires me to transit Doha in both directions.

Based on past experience, knowledge of the area, and my risk tolerance, I have no intention of cancelling, postponing or modifying either of my trips unless the airport in Doha is still closed which has a very very low probability since this will be end of May/mid-June.. Like the previous poster, I am not willing to give up on the opportunity to travel and will deal with any hiccups should they arise.

No one has mentioned that Pakistan and Afghanistan have been attacking each other for the past 2.5 weeks?

Knowing that, does that increase anyone's fear of going to Europe?

GerryM, while you and will rarely agree on much, I do have the highest degree of respect for you , your opiniond and for the source of your opinions. In my mind Purgatory is that place where I am surrounded by people that share my opinions and heaven is where I am forced to think and grow. But for now, you are still wrong 😅. G-d bless Gerry. And I would much rather be in the company of those with the cojones to express their beliefs, than stay politely quiet.

I appreciate that Mr E. It was a bit much for this forum, and sharing such predictions of doom and gloom is probably slightly self indulgent on my part.

I've deleted my post as it would probably bring Webmaster out in a cold sweat. I'm always happy to be wrong about such serious matters.

Apologies to anyone coming to the thread now and wondering what I said.

Gerry, sometimes having a conscience and a love of humanity pushes you over the line .... well that's my excuse when I do it.

I also don’t follow the news much anymore.

I heard they have some great deals at major resorts in Dubai. Not sure why. It must be low season.

Hi ekscrunchy, I am going to the Le Marche region, starting out in Ascoli Piceno. Continuing in Le Marche, staying in Monterado at a castle called Castello di Monterado. From here, making day trips to Urbino and a couple of other hill towns. After all of this we are heading to Emilia Romagna (with a slight detour along the way in Rimini to see the Fellini Museum)— staying in Parma while in this region.

Firstly, I am not writing any of this to be scaremongering and it is NOT political....

Choosing not to travel at the moment is a perfectly rational response to the global situation, maybe a bit more rational than a slightly gung ho 'I don't care about politics, i'm going anyway!' attitude. Circumstances are simply not the same today as they were during previous periods of instability. That is not to say levels of risk are massively high but it is worth being at least 'aware' and prepared in case something does happen.

Anyone who says they know what is going to happen in the next few weeks/months is a liar. No one knows, including the parties involved. If I am being particularly honest I would change that to no one knows, PARTICULARLY the parties involved. A combination of hubris and the impact of ideological changes and experienced staff losses means there is a lot more uncertainty about what might happen. This is not helped by challenges to to relationships with (former?) allies. If you are the kind of traveller that takes comfort in reading government travel advice I would look to expand the range of sources you refer to. Some sources are perhaps not what they once were. This statement is not political, I would say the same thing no matter who is in power.

You need to be prepared for what 'might' happen. Direct physical attacks on Europe are unlikely but not impossible. It's not about the use of traditional warfare, for example missiles, it's the other stuff that can be used to disrupt life. Drones launched within countries can cause a lot of damage, both actual and just from inconvenience as authorities respond. Russia has used local criminals across Europe as part of a parcel bomb plots. You can guarantee there are actors across Europe and the US waiting to be instructed to act

That said, i would be much more concerned about the risk from cyber attacks, taking out financial and communication systems, air traffic control, airline ticketing....the list is endless and they could have some serious impacts on a trip.

If you do plan to travel it is a good idea to have a decent contingency plan for if something does happen. You can't guarantee travel insurance will cover you and your government might not be willing, or able, to help.
Do you have easy access to enough money to cover extending your stay if you simply can't get home? The bills for people stuck around the world because of the middle east situation are running into thousands and insurance isn't covering it.
Make sure you have more medicine than you need for the planned length of your trip.
How will you access money if financial systems go down? Personally i would bring some cash.
What if ticketing systems go down? It's probably a good idea to print back ups.
Do you know important phone numbers and email addresses? Don't just assume you will be able to access them in your phone. Print those out as well

This might all seem like overkill but if you do decide to travel this year a bit of preparation might go a long way to helping you if something bad does happen.

David's quote immediately brought to mind one of my favorite movie quotes found at the very end of "Annie Hall."

It reminds me of that old joke- you know, a guy walks into a psychiatrist's office and says, hey doc, my brother's crazy! He thinks he's a chicken. Then the doc says, why don't you turn him in? Then the guy says, I would but I need the eggs. I guess that's how I feel about relationships. They're totally crazy, irrational, and absurd, but we keep going through it because we need the eggs.

And that's why I travel. Because I need the eggs. 😊

Emma - I appreciate your response and suggestions. Of course we all pick and choose what feels right for us and our risk tolerance. You brought up some points I had not thought of.

If you are in the Marche, visit the village of Corinaldo and the Castle of Gradara.
Romagna is famous for being the birthplace of Fellini (Rimini) and Mussolini (Predappio), you can find their respective museums in both.

Grazie, Roberto -- you never steer me wrong!

My two cents…….my wife and I had not planned to go to Europe again this year. However, I noticed a Viking river cruise on the Rhône river in July with free RT airfare. So, we bought the cruise and now, I’m enjoying planning out a three additional week trip using the RS guidebook. We’re older and tomorrow isn’t promised. Even though I’m more aware than most about world events, I’m running out of time. We figure, go while we can.

We loved that river cruise- it was our first one. We also snagged free airfare, cheap price and free Silver Spirits package back in 2022 when they were trying to get people back to cruising. Have fun.

hey hey all
going to another place on the spectrum with traveling last week, and the "S*** did hit the Fan" and much more.
the hawaiian islands got destroyed big time. @Emma: mentions be prepared for what may happen and no one expected the total damage that happened. the wind, the rain, the flooding, no electricity for days (still out in areas of volcano and lower puna/pahoa area), wires snapped, trees fallen everywhere, roads are blocked, streams overflowing, house broke apart and fell into stream in maui. rooftops blown off, airports closed, stores flooded, where to get food/ice/fast food- workers can't get to work, roads breaking off into ocean shores, cables just ripped from poles, mudslides all over, grounds are soaked who knows what happens next, what kind of travel insurance do you have & does "mother nature" cover it, many neighbors out to help even bringing saws/tree trimmers to cut trees to move off roads, mopping floods of everyone, volcano on big island has opened part of the area.
brown water advisories at beaches to stay out of water, county spigots to help people with water needs, thank the lord for everyone helping with all the damage being cleaned up, 24/7 since sunday. hoping everyone trying to get off island have made it, flights catching up to get them out. big island/hilo-hamakua is my home, was a sad sight to see all the damage that i have never seen like this before.
one our fellow posters jules m twin cities of MN flew out on 3/12 to honolulu for few days with her daughter, a grad student, then onto kauai for several days. hopes all well with her & daughter
heard another storm on the way. keeping everyone in my prayers and thoughts.
aloha

We also will be on that Viking River cruise from Lyon nxt Sunday to Sunday…Holy Week. The free airfare helps jump on board. We are excited and ready. Not really worried. We do though wonder about TSA troubles and long lines? Feel for them!
Princess…I have been watching the horrible storm system hit all of the islands. I am so sorry! Its truly paradise everywhere and heartbreaking when there is such destruction! It looks to be one of the worst! And we had recently booked next year’s spring break with our 3 generation family! Grandkids so very excited! Reserved lodging is south of Kailua-Kona across from Magic Sands beach area. Thinking that beach could be gone…forever? All the devastation you mentioned…just so sad for you and your Hilo home area…and all the islands! Hang on to hope!

Emma, my admiration for your excellent post. You've made some very good points indeed, and I'll agree that whether now is or is not a good time to travel abroad - or even domestically, given the reports of massive backups at airport TSA checkpoints - is up to how much risk one is willing to take.

There can be a big difference in tolerance for things that go wobbly between well-traveled individuals versus first-timers with little-to-no experience? I'll add to your list of preparations packing patience and understanding for the beleaguered employees working the airports and any other transport hubs affected by current world events. The snags/headaches befalling travel plans is not their fault. The same goes for missed nights at accommodations, missed tours and/or attraction tickets due to travel delays that are clearly stated, up front, as non-refundable/non-changeable. They're not being unreasonable or greedy if refusing to refund the $. Now may not be the time to book much of anything that can't be refunded if one is unwilling to eat the $ should one be required to.

I'd also have your passport and a credit card on you at all times while out and about.

Well said Kate! Experience shows us how to tolerate travel mishaps. I feel for first timers! As Gilda Radner said….If I remember….”there’s always something”! And we have been disappointed at something every trip. But adjust attitude and say…its all part of the wash.
I know…It feels more concerning when there are headlines of current/potential world troubles. Could it spill over into where we are? Now in our 70’s while still able…we go!! More prepared and insured and work at finding “refundable” as much as possible! I always try to smile and be kind to airport workers…even when they are not “feelin’ it”. Working with the traveling public on a good day is rough! Travel mercies to all!

How do I feel about travel right now? I'm not traveling internationally again until September (to Sweden). But my heart is not really in it.

The weekend the Iraq "excursion" started, we were planning to sit down and scope out a trip to France for May. The news on that early Saturday knocked the wind out of our sails, and we did not follow through. Not out of any particular fear, but our hearts just weren't in it...

We will consider travel options for the fall and early winter in a couple of months. We no longer go to Europe in the summer (June to August), but hopefully planning a trip for Oct to Dec will feel right to us again, soon.

Oh dear Princess. I am reading now about your next Kona low coming again…like you had mentioned. This has to be so frightening for all! Anyone traveling there now like our MN poster or with any pending trip has to be concerned. My heart and prayers for Hawaii’s protection today! Could you please keep us posted?

Petrol prices in Europe have always been much higher than that of the USA, although with this war, prices have been inching up these last few weeks. So, for clarification, gas prices are in € and liters. Last year it varied between €2.20 a liter to €2.75 a liter. If you do the math it’ll come out to around €10 a gallon. But, cars in Italy are MUCH more fuel efficient than cars in the USA , which has been known for decades. But, car rental in Italy is also expensive. The driving part is easy.

The mpg of the bestselling car in Italy is close to 55mpg, while in the US the best selling car in the US does about 45 mpg. But the average fuel efficiency of cars on the road in the US, according one source, is 24 mpg while the average fuel efficiency of the cars on the road in Italy, according to one source, is 37mpg.

The cost of gas in Austin Texas today is under $4.25 for good stuff. So, if the average cost of gas in Italy is, as you say, $10, then the US guy can go 100 miles for $17.71 (100miles / 24mpg x $4.25) but the Italian car will need to have gas mileage of not less than 56mpg to travel for the same 100 miles for same cost as the American. New cars in Italy do that, but that’s not the average of the current cars on the road.

So, if you renting a car in Italy you want a 2025 or newer Fiat Panda. 60mpg if you are careful, keep to flat open highways and stay out of towns and cities and your luggage (and you) is relatively light.

Now, where did i put thr keys to the Ford Raptor?