With the third wave of Coronavirus scattering across Europe and several other regions of the world, many of us are back in some sort of lockdown, working from home and barely leaving the house anymore. Our days feel a bit like Groundhog Day topped with very little social interaction: taking the kids to school or kindergarten (we know we are so lucky that schools are open here in Spain!), passing by the supermarket on the way home, getting some work and household shores done, picking up the kids again… and repeat the next day!
However, as the days slowly get brighter and longer again and with the hopes that come with the beginning of a new year, some of us start dreaming about travelling again. After all, we all need something to look forward to! And these happy thoughts can help us get through challenging times like these. Studies have shown that the joy of planning a trip is almost equal to the joy we feel when going on the trip itself. One could say, that looking ahead to our next vacation can help boost our mental health, especially during a pandemic.
It is true that Coronavirus has changed the way we travel, but it has not made it impossible. Especially during last summer, when temperatures were up and infection rates were lower, it felt almost as if things were back to “normal”. Nevertheless, certain aspects have changed in the way we approach travelling after Covid-19 and they will probably stay for a good while after what we experienced last year. Here are some examples:
Importance of flexible cancellation terms
Flexible cancellation terms were always attractive when making a booking. However, from what we at The Little Voyager have noticed in the last few months, understandably this has become one of the main concerns from our clients. Hotels and even smaller accommodations had to become more flexible regarding their cancellation and payment terms, as committing to an accommodation with months of anticipation is not compatible with the unstable current situation. Fortunately, our partner properties have shown understanding and flexibility, allowing guests to postpone or cancel their stays whenever travel restrictions arose. We are very happy that some hotels have even shortened the free cancelation period for our guests, such as the Cretan Eco Resort.
Personalised and familiar service
We noticed that many travellers around the world felt frustrated during the last year when trying to reach someone at an airline or large hotel chain to rebook or cancel their holiday plans, affected by the pandemic – us included! We have the feeling that our clients were very grateful for our personalised service during these crazy times. It wasn’t always easy, but we managed to support all of our clients in getting their deposits back or postponing their holidays to this year.
Domestic travelling – more staycations
Many of our enquiries in the last few months showed us a trend towards domestic travel, which was not a surprise. People want to stay closer to home, avoid having to go into possibly crowded airport halls and planes, which feels like a lower risk option to many. Also, the travel restrictions to many international destinations and the quarantine regulations on the way back made staying within the own country the easiest option. I experienced this issue myself last fall. For my husbands birthday we wanted to get away for a couple of days in Oktober. However, due to the travel restrictions, we decided to stay within the region of Catalonia and ended up spending one night at Mas Salagros EcoResort with the kids. It was short, but we enjoyed a lot and it still felt like the much needed break we had been longing for!
Less flying, more driving – road trips on the rise
Closely linked to the trend of domestic travelling, the way many people travelled in the past few months was by car. The fact of being in a small, secure environment, with mostly family members gave many holiday makers the feeling of it being a safe way to travel. Last summer my husband and I drove with our 2 small children from Barcelona all the way to northern Germany (almost 2.000 km) and it was indeed a very good option for us. Although we had already made these travel arrangements pre-pandemic, once travel restrictions started to ease at the end of Spring 2020, making a road trip instead of flying still seemed like the best idea. Along the way we stopped at The French Gites and also spend a night at The German Treehouses. It was such a great trip, that we plan on repeating this Summer!
Less quantity, more quality
The pandemic has shown us that travelling cannot be taken for granted, it is a privilege we have and there is a clear trend towards responsible travel, which has to do with the choices we make when travelling. It seems people wish to create new experiences and memories that resonate, rather than doing more of what we already had before.
So while we can‘t travel right away (at least in Europe), we can use our time to look for inspiration, start planning and maybe even rethink the way we would like to travel in the future.
The Little Voyager is here to give you guidance in finding the right holiday for your family and it makes us happy if we can assist you in finding something to look forward to.
Have you started dreaming about where you would like to travel to this year?