Do you have major 2021 travel goals? Destinations that have been hanging out on your bucket list since the travel bans took effect? Me too! That’s why I’m sharing these 2021 travel tips.
I’ve learned a lot about what to do—and what not to do—when planning a trip and heading out of town. 2020 taught me plenty. I’m passing on those lessons in this post with the most important travel tips for future travel.
Don’t get stuck making the same 2020 travel mistakes. Consider this post a quick upgrade to your vacation planning habits!
In this post, I’ll cover travel advice for the dos and don’ts of
- refunds for canceled plans
- flexible bookings
- discounts and deals for cheaper travel
- COVID-friendly destinations
- and more!
Use these tips to make your 2021 travel goals a reality this year.
2021 travel must be refundable
2020 problem: Losing money from canceled plans
2021 fix: Book only fully refundable travel plans—and document them!
If I had a dollar for every dollar I lost in non-refundable travel plans last year…. well, I’d break even.
Point is, I know I’m not alone in that I ended up having to cancel a lot of trips, flights, lodging and other travel plans. And I’m betting you’re like me in that you didn’t get all that money back.
So going forward, read all the fine print regarding travel companies’ cancellation policies. Are there exceptions to the rules? (Last year, a lot of people couldn’t get refunds because the pandemic was deemed an unforeseeable act of God. I guess there’s a clause for that.)
Then document all the cancellation guarantees throughout each step of your planning. Take screenshots, save-as-PDF your confirmation emails, everything: You want to have irrefutable proof if you ever have to dispute a company’s handling of your refund.
2021 travel must be flexible
2020 problem: Expensive fees for changing flights and other bookings
2021 fix: Ensure your travel dates can be moved without penalty.
Remember when we were oh-so-cute and thought COVID would blow over after a few weeks of lockdown and flattening the curve?
Some folks tallied up big bills from fees when they pushed their flights and other bookings farther into the future, figuring it’d just be a short time til they could travel freely again. All those fees add up!
So before you reserve anything, make sure you can change the dates of a flight, AirBnB stay or other reservation—free of charge. You want to remain flexible so you can safely adapt to changing conditions.
Open Groupons right before you use them
2020 problem: Unused Groupons and other online deals
2021 fix: Wait until the last minute to redeem deals.
Businesses that rely on travelers have been eager to attract visitors. That can be good news for your travel budget, as many are offering discounts and deals.
Many of these deals are too good to pass up. You’ll still want to be flexible with your travel in 2021. That’s why I recommend not opening or redeeming your coupon or deal until right before you use it.
Last year, we’d planned on going to Wildlife Safari in Oregon at the end of the summer. I had the discounted tickets I got from Groupon all printed and ready to go. But a day or two before our family trip, wildfires broke out all over the West.
I know that fires don’t have anything to do with COVID cancelations, but the principle is the same (since once you open and download a Groupon, it’s considered redeemed and you can’t “return” it).
Now I know to wait to use discounts until the last minute.
I’m about to share more travel planning tips, but I also want to make sure you know about my super-quick training on minimizing risk while you travel. Click the image below to find out more!
Watch the infection rates where you travel
2020 problem: A spike in cases throws a wrench in your plans
2021 fix: Keep an eye on infection rates.
Last year, I couldn’t wait to travel to the Southwest US: The thought of sun and desert got me through the first grey, cold, dark months of the winter.
But Hubs and I paid attention to infection rates where we’d planned to go. When they got too high for our comfort, we researched other locations that still had sun and desert.
Unfortunately, those places followed suit (as did much of the US this winter). We ended up not taking our Southwest trip (sob!)—yet. But the moral of this story is to pay close attention to the communities you plan to visit as well as the places you travel through.
Pick less popular destinations in 2021
2020 problem: Travel plans that involve crowds
2021 fix: Choose vacation destinations with fewer people around
Last spring, when the pandemic was just beginning, we had to cancel a lot of plans. (I 100% recognize how fortunate we are to be in a position that we could have traveled in the first place, and every day I’m grateful for everything we still have—a home, our health, each other. Still, not traveling makes me sad.)
So I let my mind wander. I started to dream up all the trips we’d take once we could travel far. And for some reason, I fixated on one place: Disneyland!
I wanted to make up for all our disappointment with an over the top trip. We tentatively planned to drive down to Anaheim in November for a family trip.
Of course that didn’t happen.
By now I’ve learned to plan travel in places that aren’t crowded (as much as I love the flying Dumbo ride). I’ll be making future plans with that 2021 travel tip in mind. Fewer crowds = less exposure = less risk of contracting or spreading germs.
Focus on outdoors activities
2020 problem: Not understanding how COVID-19 is spread
2021 fix: Spend time outdoors during 2021 vacations
Back when we knew very little about the coronavirus, I had a conversation that went something like this.
Friend: “Thank goodness my kids don’t eat gluten and eat a ton of veggies. At least their immune systems will be able to fight off this virus.”
Me, thinking about how Max eats approximately 5 foods, none of which is a fruit or vegetable: “….”
Point is, now we know to avoid the conditions where the virus is more likely to spread: i.e. indoors. So to minimize your risk while traveling in 2021, experts recommend spending time outside.
That’s why we now plan our travel around outdoor activities. Hiking, sightseeing, SUPing, camping, playing on the beach—these open-air activities will be our 2021 travel focus!
Choose quality over quantity for vacations
2020 mistake: Trying to go to all the places
2021 fix: Focus on making the trips you do take as awesome as possible
I love travel. Like, a lot. (I know—you’re shocked.) So I pretty much want to go somewhere new all the time.
COVID has made travel more complicated, though. Just following all these 2021 travel tips makes planning a trip take longer.
That’s why it makes sense to focus on fewer trips—but to make those vacations awesome.
Pinterest is seeing a 7x increase in searches for dream vacations so lots of folks agree with me here. (And if you’re looking for a bucket list trip to take with your besties, check out my post on the best girls trip destinations for 2021!)
A trip doesn’t have to be faraway or expensive to be epic, though. Just think of a road trip through two national parks. One of my dream trips is to stay on Orcas Island and kayak with whales. (Yes, that’s a thing!!!)
Stay local for travel in 2021
2020 problem: Trips to far-flung places were canceled
2021 fix: Go on vacations closer to home.
Last spring, I canceled trips to China, Taiwan, Ethiopia and Japan. I also canceled shorter, less ambitious trips, but those epic travels stung the most.
I’ve learned since then. My family and I are taking local and regional trips instead.
First of all, road trips are the future for travel in 2021 in part because they’re cheaper, more flexible, and more easily rerouted if the need arises. Driving someplace nearby is more reliable than booking a flight and hoping for the best!
Plus, many countries have instituted travel bans—a definite problem for international travel, even if you did feel comfortable traveling by plane.
So to pandemic-proof your vacations this year, opt for nearby destinations. Just because someplace is close doesn’t mean it’s uninteresting! Explore your region, state or even city. Pretend to be a tourist who’s never been there. You’ll experience even well trodden territory in a new way!
Talk about trips as hopeful, not written in stone
2020 problem: Telling your kids about canceled vacations
2021 fix: Make vacation hopes, not vacation plans
In 2020, I had plans to take Edie to China and Taiwan over an extended spring break. Clearly, that trip got canceled.
My mistake was to tell her that we’d go camping in Washington instead. Those ended up being more plans we had to cancel to abide by lockdown orders in our state.
Piling disappointment onto disappointment is no fun for everyone. That’s why I’m now talking about travel as something we hope we can do.
Nothing is written in stone. We remind the kids that all upcoming plans depend on safety.
My 2021 travel tip is to follow suit. Try these phrases to talk about upcoming travel:
- “If everything stays safe, we’ll go to the coast this weekend.”
- “I hope we can go on our trip next month. We’re keeping an eye on everything so we can stay healthy and protect others.”
- “I want to go on our vacation too! Fingers crossed we can go!”
Nurture a flexible mindset
Not long ago, my kids and I took a day trip to Central Oregon. They’re obsessed with dinosaurs, so I researched a place to dig for fossils and thunder eggs. I meticulously copied the directions to one such place—and I couldn’t find it. Like, at all.
Were Max and Edie heartbroken? No! (I had wisely not mentioned the fossils part—see my 2021 travel tip above.) Instead, we treated it as an unexpected adventure. A detour. A thing that sometimes happens when you travel.
If 2020 taught me anything, it’s that I really don’t have control over a whole lot. (You too?) We had soooo many opportunities to practice not being attached to outcomes that we became more flexible. My kids definitely picked up on that!
And honestly, a flexible mindset is useful beyond travel. I’m generally anti-silver linings regarding COVID, but I have to admit that this is a positive change for my whole family.
Another thing that has totally helped us all is to figure out what we can control. I get asked what we can do to travel more safely so often, which is why I created a mini-training online. Safe + Healthy Travel Today shares science-backed tips to minimize your risk while you hit the road—and it takes only 20 minutes to go through! Just click the image below to learn more.
I’m curious: What lessons did you learn from disappointments last year? Please share your own 2021 travel tips in the comments!
Great tips! I certainly miss using my passport but have enjoyed taking road trips close to home. I have learned some new things about my own “backyard”!
You’re right, Calvin: When one door closes, another opens—to road trips! I have appreciated my part of the country more in the last year because I can’t travel far away. Glad you’re feeling similarly!
These are such great and useful tips!
Thank you Sue, glad they helped!
awesome travel tips thank you for sharing useful information
Happy to help!