Travel poll

[PollyannaMom]

Inspired by something in a thread about Disney crowds being "low" this summer, how have your feelings on travel changed since the pandemic?

Some are more likely to travel, because of a feeling of urgency to "do things while you can."

Some are less likely to travel, because they're still not comfortable with germ risks or because it's just more stressful now than it was before.

Some are traveling the same amount but to different places, some are affected by money in one way or another, and some are unaffected.

Please share your thoughts and reasons.

 

[_19disnA]

Travel habits for us haven't changed. DURING covid we did not go on vacation and were cautious about when/where we would go, but seems virtually all of that is behind us. I never bought into the idea that people traveled more then they normally did in the past to make up for lost vacation time. Most people probably take 1 vacation each year and I doubt they suddenly went on 2 trips since they missed a year (or two) due to covid.

Obviously that is just my general opinion as I clearly have not surveyed thousands of random people to know what 'everyone' else is actually doing.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I've actually been slightly less likely to travel than I was just before the pandemic. It's not a fear of germs, but a vague sense of "all plans being tentative" nowadays that stops me from getting as excited for the planning & research stage as I used to.

I tend put off making the time investment due to how many plans (some big, some small) have been cancelled in the last few years, and then the time gets away from me and I kind of "miss the window". - But I'd like to get over that, and I'm slowly working on it!

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Can't keep me away from Disney!

 

[dreamer17555]

I'm traveling more but I am not sure it is pandemic related as much as my DS17 is quickly about to outgrow certain experiences (like Vibe on DCL) and that if I can steal my DD22 when she has rare time off I want to make sure it is memorable.

Im aware that I am not likely to travel this much after the next 12 months but I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Is this referring to traveling to Disney or just in general? If in general, then maybe about the same if not more. There are so many places I would love to visit but I don't have the time. I am looking to expand my trips to beyond Disney though. I'm hoping to do Turkey with some days added on in Athens next year and beyond that, I may visit some national parks across the US.

I also prioritize travel over other recreational spending such as going to concerts, conventions, festivals, etc.

This is purely anecdotal but I notice my peers are doing way more travel than they ever did before/during Covid. Three of my friends are in Europe right now or have European vacations booked.

 

[tvguy]

DURING covid we did not go on vacation and were cautious about when/where we would go, but seems virtually all of that is behind us. .

Sadly, no. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-trend-high-western-us-cdc-data/

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

We don't travel as much as before the pandemic, but it's finance related. I lost my job during the pandemic and we haven't recovered economically and everything is so much more expensive now. It's tough. Now we pretty much just drive to Florida to visit my inlaws and go to the beach on weekends in the summer.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

"Other"

We haven't traveled as much since the pandemic, but we're still traveling. Bigger, longer trips.

 

[OKW8297]

Our travel habits are consistent with pre pandemic levels. Load upon immunizations and away we go!

 

[hopemax]

For a number of reasons we are trying to travel more, while we still can.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Is this referring to traveling to Disney or just in general?

I meant in general.

The inspiration thread (here) was about WDW, but we were discussing lots of different reasons people might be traveling less or differently - some specific to Disney and some not.


My Florida travel has actually increased since the pandemic break, as I've been to Disney (this year) and Universal (last year) - our old alternating pattern, plus two quick trips down to see my Dad since he's given up "snowbirding" to live in Florida permanently.

But I'm currently at home when I meant to plan a driving trip to NY this week, and I haven't been able to finally set a date for another trip DH and I have been wanting to take for a while.

One step at a time, I guess.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Much less now but mostly because the industry changed so much.

It used to be great to search and find deals like in the NY Times and the old Disney Codes that would pop up but now I feel like this is all gone, everything is a nosebleed with no sense of, "Yay, I got that at the right time." Every time I go to look to fly somewhere the entire process and flight prices change as I try to sort out hotels and rental cars, it is a misery so I abandon the whole thing. For example, the flight prices just spiral up as I make inquiries and all I read about is flights being disrupted and outlandish issues on the planes with safety, attendants being kooky or drunk passengers. Also, the hotels are just so absurdly priced, it used to be a hotel would give discounts when empty but now they keep the prices up when empty, it is annoying.

Nowadays, I prefer to go on day trips in my car and it's not because of price, it is because of avoiding the irritation of a real travel overnight trip, I don't know how people can stand the planning. I have a few travel books and sometimes I get bitten by the bug to look but then I get so annoyed they go back on the shelf and I don't leave.

Some hotels want me to pay 100% when I book, what is that? Nope, makes me think they are in financial distress and might not be there for the trip.

I miss the process being fun, it is not fun anymore.

 

[fla4fun]

My desire to travel is the same as before. However, my company closed down due to the pandemic in 2021 and I am still looking for work, so I don’t have the funds I had before and likely won’t since the jobs I have been applying for are about half the salary I earned before. I selected that I was less likely to travel, due to the finances issue, but if that were to turn around I would travel the same or more, but perhaps more short trips instead of a few longer ones.

 

[disneychrista]

I think I am as likely or more likely to travel now than before than pandemic but the pandemic is not the reason for any changes. It is more that I am getting older and I want to travel now while I am still physically able to.

 

[SirDuff]

My new role has a lot of travel involved and it's roughly a million miles from home (well, about 8,500 miles), so an increase in traveling post-COVID (but not really related to COVID-19).

 

[halfpintpeggy]

We still take the same amount (or more) of trips. We haven’t chosen to go to WDW for any long trips though, we just don’t feel the value has been there for several years.

 

[Micca]

Our travel was pretty consistent during the pandemic, we even did a couple of WDW trips dealing with masks. When DW finally retired we started to increase travel but a couple of trips over the past two years were plagued with health problems (mine!) Went to Hawaii and struggled to walk due to some weird hip problem, got pneumonia after a trip to Italy, and the most recent WDW the hip thing happened again. But we're doing three WDW trips this year with two still in the books.

 

[Southernmiss]

We've moved to a different stage of life in these last 4 years.

Our youngest graduated high school in 2020 and now college.

We were traveling for kid activities. Now, we travel to move young adults to graduate opportunities.

Dh and I are also now traveling more to do what we want and visiting family across the country.

We would love to go to Disney again, but there are other places we want to see first.

We are still working full time, so we are constrained by time off and work demands.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I've actually been slightly less likely to travel than I was just before the pandemic. It's not a fear of germs, but a vague sense of "all plans being tentative" nowadays that stops me from getting as excited for the planning & research stage as I used to.

I tend put off making the time investment due to how many plans (some big, some small) have been cancelled in the last few years, and then the time gets away from me and I kind of "miss the window". - But I'd like to get over that, and I'm slowly working on it!

Much less now but mostly because the industry changed so much.

It used to be great to search and find deals like in the NY Times and the old Disney Codes that would pop up but now I feel like this is all gone, everything is a nosebleed with no sense of, "Yay, I got that at the right time." Every time I go to look to fly somewhere the entire process and flight prices change as I try to sort out hotels and rental cars, it is a misery so I abandon the whole thing. For example, the flight prices just spiral up as I make inquiries and all I read about is flights being disrupted and outlandish issues on the planes with safety, attendants being kooky or drunk passengers. Also, the hotels are just so absurdly priced, it used to be a hotel would give discounts when empty but now they keep the prices up when empty, it is annoying.

Nowadays, I prefer to go on day trips in my car and it's not because of price, it is because of avoiding the irritation of a real travel overnight trip, I don't know how people can stand the planning. I have a few travel books and sometimes I get bitten by the bug to look but then I get so annoyed they go back on the shelf and I don't leave.

Some hotels want me to pay 100% when I book, what is that? Nope, makes me think they are in financial distress and might not be there for the trip.

I miss the process being fun, it is not fun anymore.

Agree with both views. The whole "tentative" vibe and the planning being more exhausting than fun are a big part of why we travel less now. Another factor is that many places in our area that did cat boarding closed after 2020 or just stopped taking cats. It's been challenging to find a facility that boards cats which we feel we can trust.