A Note from Wendy About Traveling—or Not—in the Time of Coronavirus

PLEASE NOTE:  Public health officials advise older adults and people with underlying health conditions to abstain from travel.  They also recommend “social distancing” for everyone, which means keeping about six feet of space between yourself and others. That can be hard to do on a plane, on a train, or in an airport. The U.S. State Department has advised U.S. citizens to avoid travel by cruise ship. 

We know a lot of you—like me, my family, and the whole WendyPerrin.​com team—are closely following the news about the spread of COVID-19. Every day we’re checking in with travelers who are overseas; talking to WOW List Trusted Travel Experts about their strategies for ensuring travelers are taken care of, whether they’re opting to go ahead with their trips, cancel, postpone, or reroute themselves; and advising those of you with questions about cancelling trips.

EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT COMFORT LEVEL

Everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to travel at this time. As you know from Coronavirus: How To Keep Track of What’s Important, I’m not here to tell you whether to go ahead with a trip or cancel. That’s a personal risk calculation.  Whatever you decide, my team and I are here to advise as best we can.  In our continuing effort to answer your questions, and to touch base with those who are traveling internationally, we are interviewing readers who are currently overseas. We’ve published interviews with one reader who has been in four European countries since late February, and another reader who is in Paris today.

If you’ve got an upcoming trip that you’re thinking of postponing, I encourage you to talk to your WOW List travel specialist about any questions or concerns you may have; they have on-the-ground knowledge and plans in place. We also invite you to talk to us and to one another. If you have insights, tips, or experiences you’d like to share, please leave a comment on our article Coronavirus: How to Keep Track of What’s Important or write to us at questions@wendyperrin.com.

SOME PEOPLE ARE THINKING AHEAD

While many people have been cancelling trips, we’ve seen other people actually booking trips—including to Italy, Japan, and Southeast Asia—for Christmas/New Year’s and winter/spring of 2021. They’re not paying large nonrefundable deposits now; rather, they’re positioning themselves so that, at the time when a large nonrefundable payment comes due, if they feel comfortable moving forward, they will already have the itinerary and prime accommodations and experiences they want in place. To get such a head start is not a bad strategy, given the pent-up travel demand that is likely to occur once this epidemic has subsided. We’ve also heard from travelers inquiring about Cancel For Any Reason travel insurance.

This week we’re hearing in particular from parents who’ve cancelled their international spring-break plans and are asking for help with family trips in the U.S. instead. They might enjoy one of these extraordinary close-to-home escapes, some of which they can drive to. As for those of you who are thinking ahead to Christmas/New Year’s, you might consider these surefire holiday trip ideas.

Again, everyone has a different comfort level.  Most of you are, completely understandably, sitting tight at home. For you, we will continue to share inspiration in our newsletter every week, so you can dream about your next getaway. It will happen someday!

Wishing you and yours good health,

Wendy