Is family travel after COVID really going to happen?
The world’s a-changin’.
In fact as I write this, I’m on leave from the hospital because I am waiting for my COVID-19 test to come back.
Yup.
Sick with a VERY busy two-year-old and no one can come help me. The dishes are piling up, we’re both in pj’s all day and have watched waaaay too many cartoons.
I couldn’t be missing a sandy beach more right now.
This girl needs a vacation ASAP. And I know that even if you aren’t sick and chasing a mini-stuntman all day…you need a vacation too!
But I know that travel after COVID is going to be different, I’m worried about how it will fit into “the new normal”. …Are you?
There’s so many questions about whether travel after COVID safe and what it will look like if it is.
- When is it actually safe to travel?
- Are some places going to be “safe” sooner than others?
- Are there going to be restrictions about wearing masks or special visas?
- How will hotels and airlines protect people?
- Is it going to super expensive? (Ugh.) Or super cheap?? (Yay!)
I’m going to stop myself right there. I could think of a million more questions and I’m sure you could add a fair amount to that pile too.
But at the end of the day (someday), I will travel again. With my young family.
Why? Because traveling shows how we can come together as a world, and we need that now more than anything.
-BTW if you already had a trip planed that you now have to cancel, you might be able to get some money back!-
1. The world needs to be there for each other
There’s a literal sense to how the world needs us to travel again. Some countries and cities base a major part of their economy on tourism. Tourist money supports restaurants, hotels, guided tours, people that dress up like metal statues and have you pay to take a picture with them….
It also supports hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people connected to the travel industry in every country. Pilots, flight attendants, people that clean airplanes, work in the airport Starbucks, rental car concierge, repair the rental cars, sell travel insurance, drive Ubers, and so many other jobs we will never even think of! In fact, 6–7% of all jobs worldwide are directly related to tourism. And so many more affected by the drop in tourism!
When we start to travel again, those people have jobs again.
Family travel after COVID especially helps (because it means more people are traveling!)
The world also needs one another in an emotional sense.
It helps people feel like they are not alone, we are all sharing in this experience together.
As a nurse, I literally cry when I see the videos of what people are doing to show support of healthcare workers. The clapping and howls from homes. The hearts and signs taped up in windows. I am so touched by it all.
We can create that same feeling for our fellow humans all over the world by sharing in their lives with them! As we travel, we are telling people that we will all heal together.
This is a sweet German grandpa that Link made friends with in Spain.
2. We need the world
I’ve talked before why I think that it is so valuable to travel with kids (no matter their age).
It opens our eyes to the way other people live and THINK, makes us more compassionate and makes us better people.
We each need to see for ourselves how we have all been affected. And family travel after COVID helps you show that to your kids.
I talked to another mama in Spain a few weeks ago about how they have been unable to leave their little home with two young kids for over a month! (You can check her out at on Instagram) I felt a little bad for posting a picture of Link and I on a walk since they couldn’t even go outside!
Not only will we get healing from seeing what others went through, we need to GET OUT of our houses!!!! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
We need a sense of adventure and exploration, to see and experience new things. The cabin fever is real!
(BTW I made these awesome 3 days of “home vacations” for kids -or bored adults- you can download for free here. Recipes, activity ideas, music, and more from 3 of my favorite destinations).
I worry about people being stuck too long inside alone and unable to talk to different people for this long. Our mental health thrives off those mini-conversions in public.
It’s been sad for me to tell Link he can’t play with kids he sees because we might get sick. Last night he was yelling “FRIENDS! KIDS! FRIENDS!!” out the window at some kids across the street.
Travel will help us move out of our post-quarantine depression.
3. Traveling is fun!
“Remember the time that we drove all the Florida Keys to find the best key lime pie? We must have tried 50 pies! And then grandma caught a shark?! The fishing guide couldn’t believe it! I think grandpa was a little jealous…” (All a true story.)
My family loves to think about past trips. They are some of our best memories! These are the stories that will last you forever.
Traveling is so fun! It’s a HUGE reason why I will definitely travel with my family again after it safe from COVID.
When you travel, you get to explore and not carry the stresses of home, work, and everyday life.
And we have all had more than a little bit of stress recently. We have been afraid of getting sick, our loved ones getting sick, our jobs, the economy, enough toilet paper… You need a break.
See things that are new and exciting! Try new foods and do crazy things like scuba dive and wear a swimming suit in public (you own your quarantine fifteen girl!)
So yes.
I am going to be careful and a bit apprehensive at first, but I will definitely start traveling with my family again after COVID.
Check them out to hold you over until you can get back out there!
