The time has come to look forwards. To the future. One in which we learn to live our lives post coronavirus. At the time of writing, travel in many countries is still forbidden. Some countries are planning to impose quarantine demands on visitors when they do reopen airports. Millions of people around the world have had holidays cancelled. Many people are still fighting to get refunds. Holiday companies are having to call it a day. The whole industry is fragile. Yet travel bloggers need (and want) to travel … but how has the pandemic changed the way they’ll travel from now on? Here’s the thoughts of a few travel bloggers …

The pandemic has made us, as a family, very wary of getting on any plane while there are still new cases of the virus confirmed every day. There is still a risk when it comes to travel by air. So, as a result, we are going to be planning road trips within our own country once numbers decrease to a lower level.

I think road trips are going to become more popular as people steer clear of planes but without wanting to give up on breaks away from the house. They provide you with the perfect opportunity to get away but still allow you to observe social distancing as you have more control over where you go and when you stop. Accommodation such as AirBnB along the routes will be our choice to allow to go self-catering, a safer choice instead of busy restaurants.

And, road trips also allow us to support our local economy by spending any surplus cash in local businesses and companies. Road trips will be our choice of travel for up to a year.

Submitted by Cath, Travel Around Ireland

As we often travel with our dog, an adorable Miniature Dachshund called Schnitzel, our travel plans following the pandemic will look quite different for a while. I’m incredibly grateful that we weren’t travelling overseas at the time everything escalated, as originally, we had planned to travel to Mexico in February 2020. Given how difficult it is to fly a dog back to our home country of Australia, and with the widespread flight cancellations and changes to airlines flying pets in recent months, we may have been left stranded.

For now, we’re planning on travelling with Schnitzel closer to home, now that the lockdowns are easing in Australia and domestic travel is once again possible. We’re heading off on a road trip around our home state of NSW, and hopefully we can soon travel to other states of Australia once border restrictions ease.

Our actual form of travel though won’t change that much. Travelling with a dog usually means sticking to outdoor attractions, rather than indoor museums and sights. We usually pre-book our accommodation, as not everywhere is pet-friendly, and often stick to buying takeaway food or dining at outdoor tables, depending on the local rules. And Schnitzel will likely receive just as many pats off both ourselves and others!

Submitted by Shandos, Travelnuity

Personally the pandemic won’t change my travel bucket list or make me travel closer to home. I will try, however, to pay more attention to hygiene in general: my own hygiene in things like washing hands more often, but also the hygiene of the places where I plan to stay.

That’s why I decided to book hotels rather than Airbnb for my next trips because I know that hotels will go through more controls than private-owned apartments. In France, for example, the government is working hard with hotels to ensure they meet the health and sanitary standards to reopen again. The hotels that will open in France and Paris after lockdown will do it because they passed the controls and they are OK. Will it be the same for private-owned apartments? I don’t think so.

In addition, the hotels and their staff have been struggling a lot during all this time so I prefer to give my money to places that create many jobs than to a single hand.

Submitted by Elisa, World in Paris

In response to the recent pandemic my upcoming travels will take place much closer to home and primarily in the outdoors. Since I live in California I’m planning to take a few roadtrips over the summer to some of the local national parks. I’ll be starting with a Yosemite road trip in June and ending with a Joshua Tree road trip in July.

Beyond July 2020, I have international travel plans that I’m not yet sure will be possible. My plan is to wait until the fall to determine if it’s reasonable and safe to visit these destinations. Current travel plans include Cuba and London in September and Russia, Estonia, and Poland in October. At this time I plan to take these trips if it’s safe to do so, but will refrain from booking airfare until about 2 weeks before departure. However, I’m hopeful we’ll be back to safely exploring the world again soon.

Submitted by Eden, Rock a Little Travel

I used to travel spontaneously – booking my flights 3 days before departure, including research for accommodation, activities, and itinerary for my trips (both local and international). Although this has been my style, traveling this way won’t work at least in the remaining months of the year 2020. After the changes that we’ve gone through because of the pandemic, I have accepted that last-minute travels won’t be as spectacular as it is before — knowing that many lives are at stake. To prevent this, I will focus on being a responsible traveler and invest at least 6 months of comprehensive planning and research before I consider booking a flight. This is to avoid canceled flights and to give time for any changes that might happen. Along with this is preparing myself both physically and mentally healthy within that time frame.

Submitted by Mikaela, Low Maintenance Traveler

No one doubts the fact that the way we travel will change at least in the short term. I cannot wait to be able to resume my adventures, but with a few adjustments to stay safe. One of them is consciously choosing lower-key places over popular, busy tourist hot spots like Paris, London and New York. I think we can turn the situation into something positive and use it to explore off the beaten track destinations. I believe there are a lot of advantages of doing so. Accommodation in lesser-known places is bound to be cheaper, and by staying in small, family own hotels, you support the local community too. Also, overtourism has become a big issue in the recent years, with the most popular places like Boracay and Maya Bay having to close for the whole year in an attempt to save what’s left from their eco-system! By not going to the most popular places you can contribute towards saving the planet, stay safe from catching the virus and who knows perhaps discover a real gem!

Submitted by Mal, Raw Mal Roams

How can you get your cultural geek on, lose yourself to wanderlust or pick up a new travel-related skill from home? Virtual tours online via Zoom!

Many tour companies have moved their in-person tours online. You can now learn to cook with an Italian chef, visit bucket list attractions such as Sagrada Familia (Barcelona) or take a Harry Potter tour of Edinburgh, Scotland.

This new move to help generate sales for tour companies while fulfilling travel fans need to escape may continue after travel restrictions are lifted. Why? Because these tours are cheap to run. All you need is a video calling software (Zoom), photographs or the skill and a talented guide. These online tours also tap into the accessible travel market which creates inclusivity.

Plus, household budgets are going to be stretched so some will be travelling from home for a while.

Submitted by Gemma, Two Scots Abroad

Until February 2020, travel was something I took for granted. Quarantining in my house, I began researching COVID-19, and other possible viruses that could bring the world to its knees. Life is so fragile, and traveling is precious.

Now that things are opening up, my plan for July 2020 and onward is to travel as much as possible, as far as possible. Who knows when another COVID-19 will strike, but until it does, I want to try and go everywhere that I can before my movements are restricted again.

Of course, this summer I will do more research. I want to ensure that the places I go to are legally open for travelers, as well as ensure that they want tourists in their country. I’ll research how that country handled COVID-19 and how safe it is to travel there. I will take precautions and wear a mask when I travel, and try to avoid huge groups.  But overall, I will be traveling as far and wide as I can in the upcoming months!

Submitted by Kelly, Snap Travel Magic

Before the pandemic, I was a full-time traveller. I was travelling through Southeast Asia and intended on visiting Europe for the first time later in the year.

Amid the pandemic, I was lucky to be able to make it back to my home country of New Zealand before flights were suspended. As you’d imagine, life in New Zealand is more financially demanding than living in Southeast Asia, so I’ve had to change my lifestyle drastically, which has really affected how I travel.

Now that lockdown has been lifted in my country, I’ve started full-time work (and part-time work on my travel blog), which gives me limited spare time to travel. I have weekends off, so I’ve been making the most of this time by taking short road trips (for example to Wanaka from Queenstown). For now, it’s a lovely change – New Zealand is a beautiful country to explore.

One day, when it is safe to travel again, I’ll resume my journey around the globe.

Submitted by Delilah, Our Travel Mix

As a dog travel blogger, I had hopes to travel around the USA this summer, and to Europe this fall. Due to Covid though, I’m stuck in my native New York City, and feeling a bit of wanderlust. I’ve made zero concrete travel plans for the future, since so much is up in the air.

Instead, I’ve hunkered down and started focusing on local travel. New York City is so large and varied, and there is so much to see and do. I’m tackling neighborhood by neighborhood, and treating each one as if I were in a new place.

This will keep me in travel mode, even if it’s local, and give me new things to write about. I’ll be able to continue to produce content and get to know my hometown better. Plus, it’s fun!

Submitted by Candy, Boogie the Pug

Usually, I am a massive travel planner and I’m planning a few trips at once up to 12 months away because I love booking and planning travel and being stuck with school holiday travel means much cheaper prices if I book in advance.

However, for the foreseeable future, I will not be booking until the last minute. This has taught me the dangers of booking so far in advance as I have so many trips to cancel with so many companies not being willing to give refunds. I will not take this risk again especially as I think the danger of more waves of coronavirus are very real and that countries may shut borders even faster in future.

Here in Australia, it seems likely our borders won’t even open this year so I am definitely expecting more regional travel especially as most state borders are shut too. Hopefully by waiting to book until the last minute, I won’t just make it less likely my travel will need to be cancelled but that I will have more opportunity to go further away since state and national borders are likely to be opened again with little notice.

Submitted by Sharon, Dive into Philippines