cheska15

I’m sure we have all learnt a lot during this terrible time, especially how much travel is a part of our lives. I have learnt several things and here they are. I would love to hear yours.

That people’s health worldwide far outweighs the need to travel

I will never book so far ahead for accommodation and airfares ever again. We Aussies tend to book a long way ahead especially with airfares to get a good price. I have decided that the money is better in my account rather than the airlines.

I am even more determined to travel slowly, stop and smell the roses, and if I don’t get to see everything so be it.

Thank goodness that there are great travel forums with people on them who give their valuable time to help complete strangers have a good trip. I did know this already, and has been reinforced during this time. Also fellow travelers are the only ones who will really listen.

Also no matter how well you think you have planned for every eventuality, there are some things you can’t plan for. I am going to become a bit more ‘ let’s see what happens. Of course I say this now as there is no hope for us Aussies to be able to travel in the foreseeable future.

There are two areas that I must visit on our return to France. The Loire Valley and the Australian Remembrance Trail. If that’s all I ever get see of beautiful France that would be ok. Of course I want to visit more places like Northern France, Alsace, and Burgundy but they are the two places that will be the priority next trip.

Hope you are all well and happy.

Sassafrass

Never take a single minute of any travel for granted.
I would happily be quarantined for two weeks to be able to visit my daughter in St Kitts, Or my best friend in NZ, but I am too afraid to fly to either place.
The need for travel is less if you love your home environment.

hetismij2

Enjoy your home country. It has more to offer than you may think.
Life is better without massive crowds.
Silence is wonderful.
You don't have to see something in real life to appreciate it. Internet is a wonderful thing.
We can all manage without flying half way round the world for a week holiday.

StCirq

I totally agree with heti that your own country is for many of us a wonderful place to travel, life is better without crowds, and silence is wonderful.

Not so sure that experiencing things on the internet measures up to real-life experience.

Travel is a luxury. If not being able to use your disposable income on travel means you have more money in the bank, spend it on helping people who never have any disposable income, or maybe no income at all.

Coquelicot

cheska, what a good idea for a thread. I agree with all of your thoughts.

If there were a less polluting way to get to France than flying, my husband and I would consider using it. During the last few years we've been able to take two trips in one year but I've felt guilty about flying, so in future when/if we travel to France we'll stay longer each trip rather than go twice. We'll be sensible like the Aussies!

Sassafras, I love my home and during the confinement it's the one place I feel "safe." In fact I've really enjoyed being confined to our house and garden. Also since we didn't go away for a month this spring, we've kept pretty much on top of things around the place. That's rare! But France gives me a thrill like nowhere else and I want to return.

Het, we've seen a lot of our own country and most other regions of the US aren't different enough from where we live to be a thrill for us. And for the foreseeable future, big swaths of the US aren't safe to travel to. I agree that the internet is a great though hopefully temporary substitute for travel. It lets me feel slightly in touch with the parts of France we love. Sadly, one of our favorite areas is having a resurgence of the virus right now and I worry for people we know there.

Macross

Seeing your own country would be nice but we are stuck in Florida. It isn't safe to visit anywhere now, We usually go to the Keys but they are hitting high numbers and our beach that is on a National seashore has hours now of 12 to 8. The hottest hours. I love the beach early morning, so do the surfers. I love visiting my family but they live in NY. They at least have a boat and lake to escape to this summer. The safest place for them I look at pictures of Ballycotton but not the same as being there.

hetismij2

But the internet gives you great tours of many museums, with close ups of works of art you normally wouldn't get near for people and security.
Your time will come again in the USI am sure. And there is such a diversity of landscape and climate I can't see how you could not find something to interest and thrill you once you can travel again in your own country.

Maybe people will learn holidays that are a real break. Just enjoying a single place or piece of countryside. Slowing right down and doing not a lot. Maybe that will be something which comes from all of this for those who can manage a holiday in the first place. That life can still be good at a slower pace, and at a lower cost to your bank balance and the environment.

cheska15

While I agree that to explore your own country is great, Australia is such a young country and does not have architecture that is thousands of years old. So much world history that Aussies never really appreciate until you are standing in places like St Peter’s Square, Notre Dame etc.

StCirq yes travel is a luxury, not only for our group of friends, and most of us on here, but not for the young. The world has opened up to young ones on working holiday visas, and now the younger generation can work in anywhere in the world.

geetika

This pandemic has taught me to cherish and treasure the memories of our various travels over the years, I have realised how fortunate we have been to experience so many different cultures at close hand.

Yes, stay close to home for now, and even then be careful, as opening up and increased mobility has led to increased infections in many countries. The world will still be out there for us, next year, or the year after.

cheska, Australia had done a terrific job and of managing the outbreak but unfortunately there’s been trouble again in Melbourne and Victoria. Strict lockdown of almost 3 months hasn’t helped India very much, cases are galloping out of control.

Thoughts and prayers to everyone out there, take care and stay safe...👍

Sassafrass

My home is convenient, but I do not much like it. We actually bought here because the location made it easy to travel to visit other countries, friends and families. We did not expect to be home much, so bought small and cheap.
We loved our last home and I would not have minded being quarantined there.
I would love to travel in our own country, but do not feel that is even safe.
No place is like France!😺

marg

Our travel photos flash up on our computer and we can spend quite a lot of time looking and talking about the places we have visited. I keep telling my husband that even if we can't go overseas again, we have great memories of past travels. We're Australian so have a very big country to travel around, so looking forward to restrictions being lifted and being able to get in the car and visit favourite places around our own country.

rhon

Like you, Marg, our travel photos flash up and we love remembering our trips both in France and at home. We are also Australian ( Queensland ), and do not anticipate getting back to France until Sept 2021 at the earliest, more likely 2022. I think travel helps you appreciate what you may have previously overlooked at home. Australia is a very old country, but young for European settlement, and there is not a lot of tangible evidence of that very distant past compared to what we see in Europe. That evident history is what we enjoy about our trips in France. But we have just seen dinosaur bones!!!
We were delighted when our state opened up for us to travel within the state and we have done a couple of short trips. I am going to get motivated and do a report on the Australian forum.
Given what is happening in Victoria at the moment, we cannot relax. Take care everyone.

JulieVikmanis

For all the time I've spent complaining about having to wait while DH took hours and hours of video of our various European travels, I take back every word. We've spent much of this pandemic so far watching video of our travels and are only about half way through the discs. We're reliving every second and filling in memories in between the footage. Remembering especially wonderful meals, adorable hotels, fabulous sites and experiences, pleasant encounters with other travelers and even reliving some of the incidents of cancelled flights, lorry strikes that rearranged our plans, etc. It all seems good and much of it downright wonderful. Can't wait to get back in the game--but if that takes a while, we plan to revisit our video as much as we have to to keep us keeping on traveling.

dreamon

This pandemic has reminded me - if I needed it - that travel is far too important in my life. I don't travel nearly as frequently as many on this forum (I am concerned about the environmental impact of long haul flights) but I try to go for longer to make up for that. In between I spend time thinking about where I might go and reading about the experiences of others. I'm so grateful for the travel I've done so far, it has given me so many wonderful experiences and memories. The biggest personal challenge from the pandemic is the uncertainty of not knowing when or if we will return to travel in a way that is at all familiar. I would not particularly want to travel if that means being constantly aware of physical distance and avoiding infection. I have learnt that I need to find passions other than travel if I am to stay mentally and physically healthy. I need to find contentment in the things I can do at home and in my garden but that's easier said than done. I sound like a privileged spoilt brat - I know there are millions who are far, far worse off.

My world is so much smaller now and I really miss seeing family and friends. Lockdown, while absolutely necessary, is really starting to suck! At least I have somewhere comfortable to be, so I'm better off than most.

jubilada

To each their own of course but I am baffled by the idea that parts of the US are similar. In terms of landscape, availability of different natural experiences, history and culture, including food , the diversity of the country is amazing. Yes, unavailable now in some parts but , not not at all homogeneous, unless one doesn’t leave the highway, perhaps.

Surfergirl

I've learned to adapt and be open to new people and new experiences.

I've learned the importance of hellos and goodbyes, and not taking things for granted.

What I miss, greatly miss now, is having not been able to be in London, as I had planned, to say my final goodbye to my old flatmate, who sadly passed away from his long struggle with cancer a few weeks ago. At least I was there near the beginning of that journey and again mid-way through, but not being there at the end pains me deeply.

rhon

Knowing Coquelicot's travel style , I feel quite confident she does not spend all her time on highways. I can relate to what she says. We love our trips to France and what we do there is very different from the way we travel at home. Neither one is better or worse, just different. Australia is great country, but as already said, we do not have the huge history that is evident everywhere in Europe. We do not have the little villages with cobblestone streets or protective walls. We do not have churches that are 1000 years old. We still get a thrill at seeing these places.

Australia is a very multi cultural country and we have a melting pot of delicious cuisines to choose from especially in the cities. But we do not have the regional differences and traditions in food that is in France. We produce some good cheeses, but we do have the tradition around their making. Ours do not have to use milk from a particular breed of cow/sheep that has grazed at a certain height and the milk heated to an exact temperature. We do not have the big differences in architecture and houses between regions. These things give us great pleasure in France.

We have recently done some travel within our state and had a lovely time. We observed one day after travelling 200 kms and seeing only three other vehicles that that would not be the case in France. I still think that travel to other countries helps you appreciate what your home country has to offer and opens your eyes to possibilities.

Post lockdown road trip in Western Queensland and time at the beach.

Take care.

janisj

"Het, we've seen a lot of our own country and most other regions of the US aren't different enough from where we live to be a thrill for us. . . . "

Sorry -- I LOVE foreign travel and do a lot of it and can't wait to get back in the air . . . but I simply can't get my head around that statement. Just take one state - California for example. The hottest place in the US and also often the coldest place in the country with 25+ feet of snow. The lowest site in the western hemisphere less than 90 miles from the highest point in the lower 48. Russian history, Spanish colonial history, Mexican history, hundreds of indigenous tribes, Gold rush towns. The oldest and largest trees in the world. San Francisco. LA. Many wine regions. Amazing coastal areas. Rugged mountains. Many Ski resorts. Great hunting and fishing. 'Active' volcano. And countless other features attractions. And California is nothing at all like New England or the deep south or the midwest or Texas or the Great Lakes or Manhattan or or or. The US is like 15 or 20 totally different/unique countries.

suze

we've seen a lot of our own country and most other regions of the US aren't different enough from where we live to be a thrill for us.

Yikes!! You think California, Montana, Arizona, Florida, New England states, the Pacific Northwest, the entire mid-West... are all so very similar as to not be interesting?? Even within states there are great difference, "west of the mountains" in Oregon and Washington is nothing like "east of the mountains". As already mentioned California is diversity personified!

Coquelicot

I guess I didn't express myself very well! Rhon, thanks for saying it better.
We've driven across the country and up and down both coasts so we've experienced the variety of scenery in the US. That's not what I'm talking about. I'll come back to this tomorrow to try to explain better.

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