Traveling with Renewed Courage

During and after this pandemic, fulfilling our travel dreams will require us to think differently about how we will get away. Though fear has driven most of our decisions, we are starting to pull back the Covid curtains and peek into options with a little more courage and a new focus: safety, healthy protocols, and outdoor experiences.

In a study conducted by Moca+'s Design Insights Forum comprising 456 respondents, 52% said they would travel in the next four to six months. Top destinations include national and state parks, beaches, and mountains, where people can remain outdoors, and camping offers a safe lodging option, ideally suited for physical distancing.

Sheltering Away

I joined the crowds of people who found safety and convenience in camping last year. When forced to cancel a trip to Italy last summer, I presented Plan B to my daughter: camp at Lake Siskiyou, a place we’d never been but heard was gorgeous. Situated at the base of Northern California’s Mt. Shasta, a nine-mile mountain bike path encircles Lake Siskiyou, and the beach affords unobstructed views of the 14,000-foot snow-capped mountain.

“The industry is making a concerted effort to accommodate our needs to feel safe, healthy, and protected while we “shelter away.”