{"id":7116,"date":"2021-08-11T08:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T12:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/?p=7116"},"modified":"2021-08-12T09:26:36","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T13:26:36","slug":"on-the-road-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/2021\/08\/11\/on-the-road-again\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Road Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s been a conversation starter for more than a year: When it\u2019s safe to travel, what\u2019s the first place you\u2019ll go? Some people have grand plans \u2014 Paris! Venice! Others are more low key \u2014 national parks, or a visit to Grandma. As deputy travel editor at the New York Times, Elisabeth Goodridge \u201997 has mulled the question over for a while. \u201cWe really want to create the most inspiring stories for people in terms of where they should go, what they should do to improve and enhance their world,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel is becoming safer for people who have received vaccinations. And, with your next trip waiting to be planned, get some travel ideas and helpful tips from Goodridge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trip ideas:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Revisit your honeymoon destination.<\/strong> Bring on the nostalgia while making new memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a road trip<\/strong>, even if it\u2019s just down the road. \u201cCars are the ultimate social distancing vehicle.\u201d Drive across the country to a different climate, or take a day trip to a drive-in movie theater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit the great outdoors.<\/strong> \u201cEurope is pretty amazing, but so is our country… Americans are so different across the board, but there\u2019s probably a national park that fits your bill, whether it\u2019s petrified forests, or it\u2019s the national seashore, or you want to go to Roger Williams Park in Providence.\u201d Book ahead \u2014 other people have the same vacation idea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tips for planning your trip:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Be flexible.<\/strong> The pandemic will still affect your travel plans, especially if you\u2019re going abroad. \u201cIf you are planning a trip right now, you should really be flexible with your travel plans. You should make sure you book at a location that has flexible rebooking policies. You should get an air ticket, if you do choose to fly, one that you can either get reimbursed or credit for.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rent your car first.<\/strong> At the beginning of the pandemic, many rental car companies sold their fleets. Now cars are hard to come by. \u201cIt\u2019s usually the third or fourth thing you do when you plan a trip. But now you\u2019ve got to really figure out if you can get a car at your destination, and then book your ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be prepared with masks.<\/strong> \u201cAll of these practices that we took to keep people safe, even if you\u2019re fully vaccinated, you\u2019re going to continue to do this and you should not let your guard down when you\u2019re traveling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weigh your risks, even if you\u2019re fully vaccinated.<\/strong> For example, are you OK traveling to a place with a low vaccination rate? And what\u2019s it like to travel with your unvaccinated kids? Are you OK with bringing them to visit fully vaccinated grandparents? \u201cSome people are going to make that decision. Other people are going to say, \u2018You know what? Until there\u2019s a children\u2019s vaccine, I\u2019m not going to do it.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about the positive impacts of travel.<\/strong> If you feel comfortable and safe traveling, you might be helping others. \u201cMore than 60 million jobs were lost last year in tourism and travel worldwide. So there are people who are desperate to feed their children because tourists have not come to their home [countries].\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider hiring a travel agent.<\/strong> \u201cTravel agents have survived because they have connections and relationships with people with boots on the ground. There are slews of travel agents, for example, who focus only on family travel or LGBT travel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More about Goodridge:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Elisabeth Goodridge<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She was named deputy travel editor in January 2019. <\/strong>In March 2020, with travel halted, she was pulled into service desk news. \u201cWe did so many stories about how to live in this new pandemic world,\u201d she says, from entertaining kids at home to recipe recommendations. Now, she\u2019s back on the travel desk, greenlighting pieces like \u201cThe Caribbean Conundrum: United by Tourists, Divided by Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her favorite travel memory<\/strong> is from age 6. Her parents bought a Coleman pop-up tent trailer and drove the family from West Hartford, Conn., to Denver, Colo., for a month, stopping at national parks along the way. \u201cWe swam in Lake Powell. We went to Wall Drug. We did the American adventure road trip.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it\u2019s safe to travel, what\u2019s the first place you\u2019ll go? NY Times deputy travel editor Elisabeth Goodridge \u201997 has some tips and ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1222,"featured_media":7035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,292],"tags":[553,117],"coauthors":[168],"class_list":["post-7116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni-updates","category-in-the-know","tag-covid-19","tag-travel"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-1QM","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2021\/05\/iStock-118337061.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7116"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7256,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7116\/revisions\/7256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7116"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}