COVID-19 has increased our desire to travel
Though stay-at-home orders vary from state to state, and border to border, Americans are still planning trips in record numbers.
In a recent study of 2,000 Americans, more than 75 percent said they’re already planning their next trip or will start planning sometime this year.
Another 69 percent of those surveyed, said they will be heading out into nature and enjoying the outdoors, while more than half of the people said they are planning to tackle their travel bucket list.
Even with social distancing measures in place, my partner and I have managed to take three road trips since May: one hiking, one camping, and one by the river.
Though I would love to take longer, more meaningful trips to countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe, international travel is on hold until at least the new year. However, trips to Savannah, Georgia, and Louisiana are on the horizon.
This global pandemic has changed the way we travel, and the way we think about traveling. Packing disposable face masks, hand sanitizer, and bleach wipes has become the norm; and standing 6-feet apart is oddly second nature now.
While staying indoors has made many of us antsy, some of us have used the time to make ourselves better.
We have picked up new skills, hobbies, and new jobs; contemplated new directions in life, as well as more self-care. We have also created travel bucket lists. My “must visit” list includes Chiang Mai, Accra, and a stay in a tiny home in a wooded area.
Merriam-Webster defines wanderlust as a “strong longing for or impulse toward wandering.”
For me, wanderlust began when I was 19. I joined the US military, not for patriotic reasons, but because I wanted to see the world. By the time I was 21, I had lived in 3 different states, as well as had been deployed to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for 3 months.
Two years later, I was in Okinawa, Japan, where I was stationed for three years. The military was my entry point to discovering new people, places, cultures, and experiences.
Traveling has changed the course of my life. Since those first few moves, I have traveled to over 40 states, including a teaching stint in Beijing, China.
We have no idea how this pandemic will affect travel. All we have control over is how we respond to it. We can daydream via travel lists, or travel blogs and magazines. Or we can plan trips for the distant future. I choose to do it all.
