We all love to travel, explore new cultures and do tours of our favourite cities and attractions. We love the excitement of packing. Whether it’s hot or crispy cold, we love that blast of air that hits you when you exit the plane. We love encountering interesting characters along the way, be it a funny tour guide or a charming waiter at the restaurant. It really is true, we all love to make memories, we all love to tick off our bucket lists… we all love to travel.
However, let’s face it, travel is not a priority for anyone right now…
Whether you had planned your trip to explore the Paris catacombs, London eye or Bunratty Castle in Ireland, your trip has likely been cancelled or postponed. If you are in this situation, do not worry! You can check out our blog on what to do in this situation here. But what about future travel plans? Should we be looking to plan our trips to Ireland, France, Germany (or anywhere at all) for later in 2020?
Here is a list of things to consider:
- Safety
Safety and responsible travelling should be at the top of everybody’s agenda. We at Ollie’s Tours have postponed the launch of our 2020 tour season and will only begin operating when it is safe for all to do so.
Every day the World Health Organisation is monitoring the situation. Although countries like China and South Korea seem to be managing their response to the virus pretty well, they are still a while away from going back to ‘normal’ living. With over 1 third of the global population being told to #StayAtHome, nobody really knows when will we be allowed to travel again. - Flights
If any of you have been looking at Skyscanner recently, you would have noticed that flights are quite cheap right now. They are really tempting us! For example, you can book a return flight from Los Angelos to Dublin, Ireland in November for less than $300. And yes, I said return! With that being said, I would highly recommend purchasing the flight insurance. - Research
If you are planning on travelling later in the year, do some research about the destination. The Coronavirus is spreading across the world and different paces and some countries are being hit worse than others. Make sure that where you’re travelling is safe, open to tourists and will be able to fulfil your travelling needs. For example, open hotels, tourist attractions and of course, no lockdown. - Tourist Attractions
It is important to keep in mind that China was the first to get hit with the virus. They have taken a promising step and reopened sections of the Wall of China over the weekend. All going well, we can hope to see a similar trend happen over the coming months in Europe. I am sure we would all love to see the Acropolis in Athens, St. Marks in Venice and the Cliffs of Moher in Clare back open for international visitors to enjoy.
Travel is a huge part of our lives but it is super important that we all follow government guidelines throughout the next couple of weeks and months.
If we all do our little bit, we will be back travelling in no time…
The pleasure people get from travelling starts well before anyone gets on a plane. It begins as soon as you start scrolling through your Instagram or Facebook looking for inspiration. As most of us are at home these days, I encourage you to look into new destinations, new trips, new tours. Don’t be afraid to alter that bucket list! Get planning for a trip of a life-time. It might be in a few months, it might even need to be next year, but get creative and let your imagination run wild. Now is the time for it!
