I really miss traveling! In the last few months, I’ve exchanged a credit for a canceled Norwegian coastal cruise in May to a small group adventure trip to New Zealand at the end of 2021, moved a Christmas markets river cruise from 2020 to 2022, and I’m preparing to reschedule a Spring 2021 trip to the Amazon and Peru from 2021 into 2022. My “how I spent my summer vacation” essay will be titled “Rearranging All My Vacations”. But we are healthy, can still plan for the future and so far, none of the payments we made already are “lost”, just deferred.
While I was whining about all these travel changes, something strange happened this summer. My social media feeds started filling with people going to beautiful places and doing fun things! How could this be, I wondered? And as I watched my friends experiencing the world, i realized, they were seeing and doing things in their very own back yards! Friends from Missouri out in a sunflower field, friends from Massachusetts and Florida discovering beaches in their home state they had never explored before. A friend with a garden membership is taking advantage of the reciprocal admission benefits to explore other gardens within driving distance of her home. A travel advisor friend grounded in Minnesota posts photos of lakes and wildlife from her morning runs that made me want to put Minnesota on my “wander list” soon!
Exploring the mountains in ANP
I’m used to being a person who introduces many of my friends to far away and adventurous places, but the tables have turned, my friends have showed me that I could still have the thrill of travel, just closer to home! I stopped moping and started planning again…this time, planning hyper local, and with an eye to safety!
Here are my tips for “hyper local” travel:
1) Travel Hyper Local
You get to sleep in your own bed, you get to explore things you probably wouldn’t take the time to see in your own hometown and biggest bonus of all- there are fewer out out of town guests crowding the tourist attractions, so you can enjoy them and support your local businesses and organizations.
We recently took a tour, run by the Surry Historical Society, in a neighboring town close to where we live, exploring “Ghost Wharves” in the local bay. This “donations requested” tour involved walking around in boots at low tide to see the remnants of 19th century wharves in the mud, left from a time when schooners carried timber, granite, bricks and other goods, in and out of parts of Maine that were inaccessible by land.
We knew our coastal home has a rich maritime tradition, but we never had this much time to explore it before! We did get to explore with the Surry Historical Society and were delighted by the experience! If you are in the area and would like to take this tour- there are several more opportunities this summer, click here for more information.
2) Vacation in Your Home State
If you stay in your home state, you probably won’t have as many hoops to jump through in terms of testing and quarantine, and you probably already know your own state’s rules in regards to masking, distancing and what attractions and restaurants will be open and if you need reservations. We have Acadia National Park in our back yard, most summers, we don’t go near the place because of the huge and growing crowds, but this summer, we have been able to explore safely due to lower crowds and knowing the area well enough to pick trails further afield where fewer people go.
We had the peak of Bald Mountain to ourselves on a recent hike, because being local, we knew it was not as popular as other places in Acadia National Park.
3) Call the establishment directly if you plan to visit
An Inn in Bar Harbor, ME
This is no time to book online with faceless internet booking engines! They might not be able to keep up with all the changes at a property, and they can’t tell you directly how Covid -19 safe procedures are being followed at that attraction or property. Also, cancelling your plans with an online booking agency can get very complicated, when trying to recover your deposits or make changes.
When you talk to the proprietor, or your Travel Advisor does (see #5 below), you may hear about some specials being offered to locals or unexpected cancellations. Jeff and I just booked a 4 night bucket list North Woods Maine wilderness trip that was always put off till “someday” and when I called, we were able to jump into a last minute cancellation at a camp that is usually booked out all season a year in advance!
A direct call will also let you know what services and amenities are not available because of Covid restrictions, such as communal breakfast or closed dining rooms. We discovered our wilderness camp has suspended evening group dinners and deliver dinner to your cabin instead.
You’ll also want to make sure they are adhering to the rules and keeping guests safe and to ensure you understand the rules and limitations of the property or attraction you are visiting. We have friends who have called campgrounds where the website said all the right things about Covid 19 safety, but the person on the phone downplayed restrictions, which didn’t inspire confidence that you could stay there safely!
4) Confirm attractions you want to visit are open and safe
Acadia National Park Carriage trails
Check online to see if the services or attractions you want to visit have updated their hours, rules and closures on their website. If not, place a call to ensure attractions you hope to see are open, it’s hard for organizations to keep their websites up to date. When we visited Acadia National Park early in the season, no bicycles were allowed on the carriage paths, while an August trip seemed to have lots of bicyclists out on the paths. Knowing the restrictions ahead of time will prevent disappointments.
5) Use a Travel Advisor
I know I have saved thousands of dollars by working with trusted travel advisors on my travel over the last several months. Advisors have had good advice about when and how to make the changes I’ve needed to make and one personally saved me hundreds of dollars by negotiating on our behalf with a travel partner they have a good relationship with, so we didn’t lose a deposit.
No matter where you are going, your travel advisor might know what rules you need to follow, and where you can go safely. The travel advisors will be “going and posting” first as things continue to open up so you will feel safe following in their footsteps. They often have relationships with travel providers, and properties and know who is offering unadvertised “specials” to fill their property or offering generous refund policies to entice guests.
It might seem “weird” to call a travel advisor to book a hotel in your home state, but give them a chance to show you the value they can bring by helping you with your vacation plans!
6) Get out in your own back yard, really…YOUR back yard!
The Milky Way, a wilderness above our heads!
Most of us have parks or a yard within walking distance of our homes. We discovered so many new trails and places we had never explored right from the back door of our apartment home in MA. this past spring In Maine this summer, we have more space and have enjoyed gardening, and campfires in the back yard (check permitting first!) We even explored the sky ABOVE our backyard recently, turning out all the lights and directing our attention to the awesome world that sits above our heads on every clear night!
These are scary times and it has been hard for those of us who are vagabonds not to travel, but with some creativity and safety planning, there are places close to home to explore all around us to satisfy our wanderlust!