Travel in the Time of Covid Vaccines

Travel Advisors do our best to help you navigate the world of travel. From planning the trip to helping with unexpected speedbumps like storms, strikes, lost bags, etc.. Covid has added even more hurdles with constantly changing rules and requirements. The reason to use a travel advisor has never been clearer. Much as we would like, we cannot control everything. If equipment failures or unexpected storms caused you severe strain prior to the pandemic, this may not be the best time for you to travel. There are more issues beyond traveler or travel advisor control then ever before. Think about your general disposition and either delay travel, or perhaps plan a different type of trip if needed.

Everyone and their mother has been cooped up for at least a year. Once things started opening up and the availability of vaccines expanded, everyone was ready to hit the road! That means places are crowded. We were making dinner reservations for a Hawaiian honeymoon months in advance due to limited availability.

I had clients in the Dominican republic make an unscheduled trip to the testing facility the morning of departure. They had to pick up their results in person because they were not received by the resort the day before as planned. Then they had to wait around for the only person in the facility who could retrieve them to come back to the office. While waiting, the clients heard people from other resorts with the same issue (test taken at their property but results never delivered). Thankfully they eventually got them and made their flights. Did I mention that we already had to relocate these clients due to a volcano and resort closure?

We prepare as much as possible by staying up to date with the rules and regulations but the rules are constantly changing. If the rules relax just prior to your departure, I recommend following the original rules, just in case you run into an employee still enforcing the stricter code. The testing windows vary wildly. Travelers need to pay close attention to the time frame for testing. 48 hours is different from a country that lists 2 days as the requirement. You also need to confirm if the destination requirements are based on arrival to that destination or departure from your home country. There’s lots of nuance that a travel advisor can help guide you through.

With less flexibility and more paperwork, there are more challenges with travel these days. However, if you can roll with them and know you have a trusty travel advisor to back you up should any challenges arrive, then start packing! You deserve (and will appreciate) a vacation!

House vs Hotel and Family Vacation Dining Tips

The house or the hotel rental was a central debate of out multigenerational family vacation in August. With four kids under the age of 5, we knew it was going to a bit of mayhem.

My children wake up early. I mean EARLY. If we are lucky, they will sleep in until 6-6:30. This means, mom and dad need to entertain (ok just dad because I go back to bed). A house means there’s more living space for the kids to entertain themselves. Most importantly, I needed a separate sleeping space for them.

Kids are also messy. My brother was strongly in favor of the hotel so that he did not have to clean up after the kids meals. He made a valid point. Sometimes I’m not sure if kids have eaten anything or just pretended to be Jackson Pollock. He must have persuaded me after cleaning a particularly messy meal because we went with the hotel. The caveat was that we got connecting rooms for the kids. That way I could close the door without having to sit in darkness myself.

After spending a week staying in the hotel, I still can’t decide which I prefer more. Too much fun during the day and my kids were not interested in eating at dinner time. They were cranky and impatient most nights. That meant that my husband or I was chasing them around and/or busting out the iPad just so we could sit and finish our food. If we were staying at a house, cooking our own meals, we could let the kids roam more freely after feeding them. In theory, we could enjoy our meal a bit more while keeping an eye on them. Of course, then you have to do the cooking and cleaning…

While I often recommend multigenerational families plan their group meals at lunch time, that did not make sense here. That suggestion is most relevant with a wider range in ages. It allows the parents with the younger children to take care of them separately. Often they plan dinner at an earlier time or a more child friendly restaurant. Our whole party was families with small kids plus grandparents.

I think the most relaxing meal was when the babysitter watched the kids while the adults went out. That works whether you stay at a house or a hotel. The bright side was that we had the hotel to help us arrange the sitter. The second best dinner was a private dining room at one of the resort restaurants. Being able to close the doors and let the kids have a little freedom made our meal infinitely more relaxing.

I can’t definitively say that one is best but we’ve discussed the pros and cons. As always, it’s up to you to decide which elements are most important to you and your vacation happiness.

admiring the view of the pool after checking into our room