It is another day and yet another change to our travel plans for this year. In some ways, I can only blame myself because all of the warning signs were there when we first booked our travel. However, it would be a gross understatement if I said that I am tired of the COVID-19 travel restrictions at this point. My frustrations go well beyond that right now. Put aside the fact that I have had to, yet again, cancel my travel plans because of COVID. These travel restrictions are having a devastating effect on the tourism industry. It is especially tragic to see less fortunate countries that rely on international tourism struggle to survive because of these restrictions.
In this post, I am going to discuss the events that have led to our most recent changes in travel plans, as well as discuss what new travel plans that we are planning for this year. We are trying to do our best to make lemonade from lemons and redirect our tourism dollars to an industry that has been significantly impacted by the global pandemic and the COVID travel restrictions. I will discuss those efforts in more detail and let you know what travel planning posts you can expect to see from me in the coming months as I start to plan this new adventure.
Update On Our Middle East Trip
Because the land borders between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Jordan are not yet completely opened, and there are no concrete plans to completely re-open those borders anytime soon, we have made the decision to cancel our upcoming trip to the Middle East. We had the option of significantly altering our travel itinerary to work around those restrictions, or to push our tour back again to the Autumn, but we decided it would be best to hold off on this trip for a few years until all of the COVID restrictions are lifted. It is difficult enough to plan travel to this region without having to navigate COVID restrictions, and nearly impossible to do so with them.
It is really unfortunate that we had to postpone this trip because all three of these countries are destinations that are high on my travel bucket list. Seeing the Great Pyramids, Petra, and the Holy Land will have to remain bucket list items on my list for a bit longer, it seems. If you don’t follow my blog closely and are interested in seeing what we had planned, I have included a link below to a post I did on our early trip planning.
Our New 2022 Travel Plans
Since I had to cancel my travel plans again because of COVID, I have quite a few dollars in airfare and tour credits that we have to use this year. So, we decided to book another trip that we have been longing to book for some time. This autumn, we will be traveling to the countries of South Africa, Zimbabwe, and possibly Botswana. It is a trip that I am absolutely overcome with excitement to start planning. Ever since I returned home from Tanzania several years back, I have been longing to return to Africa.
These countries are open but do require testing for entry. This is something that we will have to account for as we start planning for this trip. We plan on doing most of the planning for this trip on our own instead of using a tour company, so the travel planning process should be exciting. I will be able to share more details as I start to plan the trip, but here is a high-level list of the places we are looking to visit on this trip.
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Kruger National Park, South Africa
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Garden Route National Park, South Africa
- Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
- Chobe National Park, Botswana (if we have time)
Stay tuned for more updates soon!
Don’t Forget to Subscribe to My Adventures!
I’m so sorry, Josh. I know how much you were looking forward to that trip. If you read my most recent post, you’ll see that we have put money down on a bigger travel trailer that we will have to wait YEARS to take possession of… all due to the pandemic. It’s getting so old, isn’t it? Since it may be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I think you were smart to postpone. Better to wait and see it exactly how you want than compromiseand then wonder, “What if we’d just waited?”. You’re “substitute” plans sounds wonderful.
Thanks so much for reading and for commiserating with me. It is indeed a bummer. I will check out your post for sure and I am so sorry to hear that you have had more pandemic travel frustrations as well.
I am so over these restrictions! 😩
Actually, I’d recommend reading the post about how the husband contracted COVID in England over Christmas. It’ll make you feel better about your decision to cancel.
😮
Prior to the current viral outbreak I was visiting a different Asian country every 6 months so I empathize with your frustration. I live on the best island in the world (as awarded by renowned Travel + Leisure Magazine) and tourism has always be a huge part the economy here. It grieves my heart to see the numerous Tour Offices that have gone out of business due to the unnecessary restrictions that have been placed on travelers.
The good news is there has been a continual reduction of those restrictions over the month. But the requirements for testing and face masks need to be immediately eliminated. If you want to wear a face mask that is your choice, but the mandates need to end and end today! Testing is so inaccurate that people are afraid to travel to another country that requires testing to exit that country, only to supposedly test positive for the virus and then being forced to quarantine. That can be extremely expensive.
I believe by the end of July those countries with failing economies will open up to travelers and eliminate the draconian regulations that wrecked their economies, created high rates of unemployment, destroyed businesses, place undue burdens on families and caused their citizens to fill the streets in public protests.
Thank you SO MUCH for your comment David!! I agree with everything you said!
That’s super frustrating that we’re still having to cancel things two years into this pandemic. It sounds like it was the right decision though. In addition to the added stress, the restrictions take some of the fun out of traveling.
I totally agree Diana!!! It is long past due for governments to start lifting the restrictions. They do no good, only hurt the travel industry and infuriate travelers.
Oh no! I’m sorry that happened. Africa seems like a pretty nice compromise to your cancelled Middle East trip (not that it really makes it better).
Thank you for reading and for your kind comment! We are super excited about visiting Africa again, but will definitely be re-visiting plans to see the Middle East in the near future 😃
In my case, there was a so called an aviation company Tairs Luxury (https://tairsworldwide.com/), which took my money and cancelled the trip. When I asked for my money, they refused. They treated me in a rude manner. This incident happened post pandemic.
That is absolutely horrible! I am so sorry to hear that you had such a horrible experience.
Indeed it is horrible when such thing happens.
I hope you have better experiences in the future! Safe and happy travels!
Sorry to hear your trip was cancelled. Please check out my blog,I’m a wanderlust too,and subscribe. Also,do you know about affiliate marketing? I’m trying to do it