Should I reschedule my trip in 2022?

Should I cancel my 2022 trip? Should I reschedule my 2022 travel plans?

Ever since we created our regularly-updated pandemic travel articles for certain destinations, I have received questions like these from readers again and again.

In this post, I’ll share my answer – which applies regardless of the destination – as well as our personal strategy for making travel plans during the Covid pandemic.

Updated: 2022. Originally published: July 2021.

Should you cancel travel?

In some cases, countries may close their borders or prohibit travelers from your nation. That’s pretty straight forward. For our purposes here, let’s assume that things aren’t to that point in your destination of choice – at least not yet.

I know concerns grow with any new Covid variant, like Delta or Omicron. This is certainly important to pay attention to. Please refer to experts and official guidance in this regard.

For today’s purposes, let’s also assume that you are A) comfortable with the risks of being exposed to Covid during travel. And B) that you will travel responsibly by respecting local guidance and avoiding activities that may potentially spread Covid-19 in the community.

My response below addresses the question of canceling when there’s uncertainty about whether the rules might change between now and your travel date. 

This is a question that really comes down to personal preference and how flexible you want to be with your trip.

For example, a number of people asked me about their trips to Portugal in September or later in the Fall of 2021. Portugal happened to be reevaluating their travel restrictions every two weeks.

Here’s what I told those travelers: it’s possible you could go on a Fall trip without much issue, but it’s hard to say how likely that is at this point.

If you don’t want to deal with last minute changes or you want to be sure that there won’t be inconvenient restrictions, travel this year is still pretty unpredictable. I’d recommend waiting for things to settle if that’s the case.

No matter the country, my recommendation for planning trips during Covid is to either be:
A) Fine with flexibility and last minute changes, 
OR…
B ) Wait (reschedule) until restrictions are lifted to avoid the added stress.

It’s really up to you how much uncertainty you’re willing to accept with your trip.

3 Travel Mistakes to Avoid During the Pandemic

You can make travel so much easier for yourself by avoiding these trip planning mistakes in 2022.

1. Visiting multiple countries in one trip

With travel restrictions changing so frequently during the pandemic, now is not the time to plan a trip across multiple countries. It’s already a lot to keep track of the rules for whether your nationality is allowed to enter each specific country.

When you add transiting from one country into another, there may be different restrictions based on where you’re traveling through. A last-minute rule change in the middle of your itinerary could easily spoil the rest of the trip you’ve booked.

2. Not checking the rules in advance AND right before travel

As you start to plan your trip, it’s important to get a sense for what the entry requirements will be as well as rules for being in public, like when and where masks are required. 

But keep in mind that travel restrictions are constantly changing. Rule changes can happen with very little warning, so check official sources again within 24 hours of your trip.

We provide a free Pandemic Travel Checklist to help with this.

We also regularly publish updates for travel restrictions in the specific destinations below. However, we cannot track rule changes for every possible scenario so we do focus the information for our American audience.

If you have a unique trip situation or want additional guidance on travel decisions beyond the free updates we publish on this blog, I strongly recommend working with a travel agent.

Oregon current travel updates
Hawaii current travel updates
Jamaica current travel updates
Merida Mexico current travel updates
Ecuador current travel updates
Paris France current travel updates
Lisbon Portugal current travel updates
Italy current travel updates
Croatia current travel updates
Vietnam current travel updates
Philippines current travel updates

3. Booking non-refundable flights or rentals

Because of the pandemic, most airlines, car rental companies, hotels, vacation rentals, and tour operators have become more flexible in their change and cancelation policies.

It’s worth reading the fine print to understand your options should you need to rearrange your plans. Note that “waived change fees” doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get a full refund, just that you can change the date of your trip.

When you can’t avoid non-refundable bookings, then make a conscious choice if you’re willing to risk losing your payment. If not, wait and plan your trip when things are more settled.

Our Own 2021-2022 Trip Planning Strategy

Our current trip strategy is something we’ve shared with our newsletter subscribers in the past.

I thought I’d explain my rationale for:
– When we’ll be comfortable flying
– Where we’re comfortable going during the pandemic
– Why we’re booking flights now that we may not take

But first, let me preface with: the choice to travel varies with each individual. Each of us must weigh the factors in our own lives that impact our choices, especially in a time like this. The risk Covid-19 poses to your household will vary, your access to vaccines will vary, the sources of news that impact your mindset will vary. Tied up in the choice to travel is also privilege – we can’t forget that.

With privilege, comes responsibility, doesn’t it?

So the choice to travel in 2022 must not just be about our personal desires or personal risk level. We must also consider how our travels might impact the communities we visit.

Where were we comfortable going in 2021? Since our household became fully vaccinated, we were more comfortable with traveling domestically, though we didn’t take very many trips.

We had tentatively chosen an international destination: Cuenca, Ecuador. This was for Fall 2021, with hopes that more Ecuadorians will be vaccinated and the country would remain open to visitors.

Update: This decision paid off! Cuenca was well vaccinated and maintained low case numbers. It felt organized and safe, so we actually decided to return January through March 2022.

We previously had placeholder award flights booked to Hoi An, Vietnam for early 2022. Since Vietnam had not reopened yet, we soon canceled those and redeposited the award miles.

Ideally, we’d love to get back to hosting our own tours in Vietnam and Tuscany. However, we are holding off until at least the Fall of 2022.

We would not be comfortable taking other travelers abroad while travel restrictions and in-country protocols are still changing week-to-week. Hopefully, these changes will slow down so we can feel more confident making tour plans.

Finally, in addition to a long-term stay in Ecuador, we planned to visit family in New Orleans and Hawaii.

Our reasoning for choosing these locations include:
1. We already know these places well, so we’ll have mental “bandwidth” to navigate any Covid protocols and changes. Adding an unfamiliar culture, language, and location on top of that just seems too stressful right now.
2. We have strong connections to locals on the ground who can give us a heads up about what to expect.
3. We’re confident in the healthcare systems we’d have access to in these places. (But if they’re over capacity, then we won’t go.)
4. They’re all good home bases. We’re choosing not to do any point-to-point international travel yet, as there could still be risk of spreading the virus even if we’re vaccinated. We’ll be staying for several weeks or months in one location, which is typical of our “digital nomad” travel.
5. We wouldn’t mind being home bound in Cuenca, either, in case curfews or lock downs are imposed. We’d be able to get food delivery, access resources and continue work online.
6. We’re personally not quite ready to be among big crowds. Content to steer clear of popular destinations, quiet and comfortable Cuenca is sounding better every day.

We actually booked our Ecuador, Vietnam, and Hawaii flights in the Spring for travel in Fall and Winter.

Why did we book when things are still so uncertain?

Well, we book nearly all of our long-haul overseas flights on miles, thanks to our travel hacking hobby. The best availability for booking award flights is typically 8 to 11 months in advance. Also, prices on paid flights are only going up, now that demand is increasing.

In our case, I was able to book our Ecuador, New Orleans, and Hawaii flights with an option to get a full refund if we cancel at least 30 days before the departure. Since there’s low risk of losing our money (or miles), we figured we might as well make reservations asap.

Finally, like so much of life during the pandemic, we hold all our plans loosely. Things could change. Either way, we’ll try our best to be ready.

Don’t forget these things on your 2022 trip

In case you do have a trip planned for this year, we recommend adding the following essential items to your packing list:

Face Masks – Cloth face coverings are required in public places.
Find N95 masks at Bona Fide > or designer options at Vida >

Hand sanitizer – Bring enough for your entire trip, as alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be in short supply.
Shop hand sanitizer >

Medicine – Bring enough prescription and over-the-counter medication for your entire trip to avoid trips to the clinic.

Sealed water bottle – Make sure your reusable water bottle has a lid that’s not exposed to the air. We use one of each of the following:
Shop insulated water bottles with protective lid >
Shop water bottles with purification filter and protective lid >

Travel insurance that covers Covid – We’ve started using Nomad Insurance by Safety Wing for affordable evacuation, international medical, and trip coverage.

Are you planning an overseas trip?

Download our checklist for trip planning in 2022 (free PDF)

Disclaimer:
Please note, travel restrictions change frequently. Readers must take responsibility for verifying information through official sources like the State Department and CDC, in respect to their specific situations. No responsibility can be accepted by Intentional Travelers for action or inaction as a result of information provided through IntentionalTravelers.com. Any information provided here is issued as general information only.

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