Summer is here - but travel is quite difficult right now! From surging prices to flight cancellations and the ever-present thread of COVID, the much-awaited return of travel is proving elusive.
Are you traveling this summer? If so, where? And what are your concerns? Comment below and I’ll be answering your questions live for the next few hours.
I will also make a video responding to the best questions - just for my Substack readers.
Comment below and have a great rest of your week!
— Marko
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We went to Ireland from mid-June to Mid-July, from Canada. Flights and airports were complicated but once there, we forgot all about it.
Now heading to Vancouver island for the 1st 2 weeks of September, and we will be in CDMX for 15 days during xmas and new year. What we found the most difficult during Covid was the impossibility to travel (except within Canada). Not that we are gone all the time but when something is forbidden, we kind of want to do it even more.... Fun Fact: We actually met Bono in a pub (yeah yeah, the real one) in Dublin on our last day, he said hi and smiled at us, and until he was gone, I was certain I had just met a guy that looked a lot like Bono, until I saw people going crazy outside the pub ;-)
In October I’m traveling to Barcelona, driving to the Pyrenees Mountains to stay there for a few nights, and then heading up to Paris. I’ve been thinking about ditching the car and hopping on a train after the mountains and maybe incorporating the French Riviera in. I usually like the freedom of being about to stop anywhere I want with a car and explore, but have never done the European train thing and am thinking this might be a good opportunity to try it.
Sounds like an excellent trip! Which route are you going to take through the Pyrenees? I used to live in San Sebastian and can definitely recommend the area above Pamplona. This is where Hemingway set certain scenes from "The Sun Also Rises" and there is now a Hemingway trail there. From there, it's very easy to take the train to Paris from either San Sebastian, Irun, or Bayonne. Definitely ditch the car for the drive to Paris. The toll roads add up - not to mention the price of gas these days!
Amazing! I’ve only booked accommodations in Barcelona so far, so I’m open. Excellent recommendation, which I will take you up on! I appreciate the response, and wish you the best of luck on your platform. Looking forward to more of your content!
No travel for me now. I tested positive for Covid today 😔 after being briefly exposed by a family member. Although I dream of traveling again, it seems like I’d open myself up to ongoing exposures. Love your content and I’m waiting for your book 📚.
I'm sorry to hear that! It seems to be a common occurrence these days. Thanks for supporting my journey, I'll be sending more travel stories out soon to keep you entertained.
I’ll be traveling between US and Canada a lot for a relationship, friends and family. Already been effected by the flight cancellations to small degrees but its been annoying.
How do you think the airlines are going to fare with the seeming lack of pilots, or people wanting to become airline pilots?
That's a great question. My guess is that they will start offering more competitive compensation packages to attract new pilots. There is a fairly solid pipeline from the Air Force into commercial flying, so I don't think it's going to be a longer-term issue so much as a temporary shortage.
This, to me, is really the impact of COVID on travel. Now that we have vaccines and effective treatments, the risk is not as much in the individual traveler bringing it from one place to the next so much as how infections can spread quickly through crews, effectively creating bottlenecks.
Because the airline industry operates on razor-thin margins (due to their extremely high cost of business), every flight cancellation ripples through the system and creates a cascade that ends up impacting tens of thousands of travelers.
So what's the solution? As a non-medical professional, I can't speak to possible preventative measures to limit contagion. But as a seasoned traveler, I can give you one piece of advice - buy travel insurance!
Hoping to meet my wife's family in Hungary, then we are riding motorbikes through Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Italy. We married during covid and hopefully it won't wreck our honeymoon.
Wow, that sounds like an epic adventure! My only advice is to map out the natural hot springs in the area so you can soak your bones after a long day in the saddle.
I did the Camino Primitivo . I went mid April, so just ending the rainy season , crowds were small , I pretty much only saw a handful of people per day . Lots of country sides and hills . I did mostly private rooms , but did do some public rooms in albuerges. It was about 30-40 bucks for private room , 15 -25 bucks for coed rooms . Food was cheap with 3 ( how much offered varied per restaurant)course meals for about 10-15 euros. Since I only have American prices to compare to, seemed cheaper/ very reasonable payment for what you get.
Yeah , I remember watching your vagabrothers Camino video, which was one of the inspiration for my going. , I didn’t do the municipal, which were on the cheaper end , I tend to go for a little more privacy/ comfort . Oh great , I’m sure they will enjoy , super scenic .
Very cool! I did the Camino Frances in 2010. My aunt and cousin are walking the Camino Primitivo now. It's very cool to see that the prices for the "Menu Peregrino" haven't risen too much. It was about 12 euros on average 12 years ago... although I remember albergues being cheaper than you quoted. But I was doing it on a shoestring and typically stayed in public or Catholic albergues, the latter being the cheapest.
Hi Marko, unfortunately no real travel for me ~ at least for a while. My husband is immune compromised from cancer treatment. So I travel virtually. Planning trips I'll never get to take cause of course I 'go' Baller style (which is how I discovered you and your brother).
So my question is how does all the traveling you did manifest itself in your daily life?
I'm sorry to hear about your husband's health, but it seems like that is taking priority for now.
To answer your question, I'm also keeping my travel plans to a minimum at the moment. I'm focusing on getting this newsletter off the ground for the next two months so I don't have any major trips planned until I feel like I am comfortable with my workflow for Substack.
Luckily, I live in the largest city in North America and there are tons of incredible day trips to nearby places. I just went to Taxco and Cuernavaca and will be publishing reports soon.
It's hard to make generalizations about the relative costs of goods across various countries, but in general, the strong dollar should counter inflation in many places.
I'll stress that it's not just inflation that's raising prices - a lot it is a huge spike in demand as people finally release pent-up demand for travel plans that have been shelved for two years. There's also a shortage of workers in the airline industry, thanks to covid and staffing shortages spreading crews thin.
The combination of these factors means a lot of money is chasing after fewer goods, which raises prices. And in that situation, having dollars in your wallet puts you in a better spot than pretty much anyone.
Most importantly, the dollar has achieved parity with the Euro (and made huge gains against the pound) for the first time in 20 years. This is essentially a 20% discount for dollar-earners traveling to Europe, which makes it a good time to take that long-awaited trip.
My personal advice is to pick a destination using some rough napkin estimates to compare three main elements: 1) airfares 2) nightly hotel costs and 3) relative exchange rates.
For example, Argentina is really cheap right now - but the long-distance airfares from your city might make it an overall more expensive trip than a shorter flight across the Atlantic.
Overall, I think the key is to take as few flights as possible - both to lower the overall cost and minimize your risk of getting your flight canceled - and keep your destinations to a minimum.
Feel free to crunch a few numbers and respond to this thread showing me what you've found.
We went to Ireland from mid-June to Mid-July, from Canada. Flights and airports were complicated but once there, we forgot all about it.
Now heading to Vancouver island for the 1st 2 weeks of September, and we will be in CDMX for 15 days during xmas and new year. What we found the most difficult during Covid was the impossibility to travel (except within Canada). Not that we are gone all the time but when something is forbidden, we kind of want to do it even more.... Fun Fact: We actually met Bono in a pub (yeah yeah, the real one) in Dublin on our last day, he said hi and smiled at us, and until he was gone, I was certain I had just met a guy that looked a lot like Bono, until I saw people going crazy outside the pub ;-)
We traveled to San Diego and Palm Springs in May 2022
June 2022 we went to Oahu, Hawaii
November 2022 we are going to Japan
We are driving to locations when possible and skipping the airlines as much as possible.
In October I’m traveling to Barcelona, driving to the Pyrenees Mountains to stay there for a few nights, and then heading up to Paris. I’ve been thinking about ditching the car and hopping on a train after the mountains and maybe incorporating the French Riviera in. I usually like the freedom of being about to stop anywhere I want with a car and explore, but have never done the European train thing and am thinking this might be a good opportunity to try it.
Any opinions are welcome!
Sounds like an excellent trip! Which route are you going to take through the Pyrenees? I used to live in San Sebastian and can definitely recommend the area above Pamplona. This is where Hemingway set certain scenes from "The Sun Also Rises" and there is now a Hemingway trail there. From there, it's very easy to take the train to Paris from either San Sebastian, Irun, or Bayonne. Definitely ditch the car for the drive to Paris. The toll roads add up - not to mention the price of gas these days!
Amazing! I’ve only booked accommodations in Barcelona so far, so I’m open. Excellent recommendation, which I will take you up on! I appreciate the response, and wish you the best of luck on your platform. Looking forward to more of your content!
Hi Marko,
No travel for me now. I tested positive for Covid today 😔 after being briefly exposed by a family member. Although I dream of traveling again, it seems like I’d open myself up to ongoing exposures. Love your content and I’m waiting for your book 📚.
I'm sorry to hear that! It seems to be a common occurrence these days. Thanks for supporting my journey, I'll be sending more travel stories out soon to keep you entertained.
I’ll be traveling between US and Canada a lot for a relationship, friends and family. Already been effected by the flight cancellations to small degrees but its been annoying.
How do you think the airlines are going to fare with the seeming lack of pilots, or people wanting to become airline pilots?
That's a great question. My guess is that they will start offering more competitive compensation packages to attract new pilots. There is a fairly solid pipeline from the Air Force into commercial flying, so I don't think it's going to be a longer-term issue so much as a temporary shortage.
This, to me, is really the impact of COVID on travel. Now that we have vaccines and effective treatments, the risk is not as much in the individual traveler bringing it from one place to the next so much as how infections can spread quickly through crews, effectively creating bottlenecks.
Because the airline industry operates on razor-thin margins (due to their extremely high cost of business), every flight cancellation ripples through the system and creates a cascade that ends up impacting tens of thousands of travelers.
So what's the solution? As a non-medical professional, I can't speak to possible preventative measures to limit contagion. But as a seasoned traveler, I can give you one piece of advice - buy travel insurance!
Hoping to meet my wife's family in Hungary, then we are riding motorbikes through Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Italy. We married during covid and hopefully it won't wreck our honeymoon.
Wow, that sounds like an epic adventure! My only advice is to map out the natural hot springs in the area so you can soak your bones after a long day in the saddle.
I did the Camino in April/ May, so no major travel as of now . I may visit local site in my area .
Which route of the Camino did you do? And how were the crowds and prices?
I did the Camino Primitivo . I went mid April, so just ending the rainy season , crowds were small , I pretty much only saw a handful of people per day . Lots of country sides and hills . I did mostly private rooms , but did do some public rooms in albuerges. It was about 30-40 bucks for private room , 15 -25 bucks for coed rooms . Food was cheap with 3 ( how much offered varied per restaurant)course meals for about 10-15 euros. Since I only have American prices to compare to, seemed cheaper/ very reasonable payment for what you get.
Will you travel more , now that borders are opening up , to get more inspiration for your book ?
Yeah , I remember watching your vagabrothers Camino video, which was one of the inspiration for my going. , I didn’t do the municipal, which were on the cheaper end , I tend to go for a little more privacy/ comfort . Oh great , I’m sure they will enjoy , super scenic .
Very cool! I did the Camino Frances in 2010. My aunt and cousin are walking the Camino Primitivo now. It's very cool to see that the prices for the "Menu Peregrino" haven't risen too much. It was about 12 euros on average 12 years ago... although I remember albergues being cheaper than you quoted. But I was doing it on a shoestring and typically stayed in public or Catholic albergues, the latter being the cheapest.
Hi Marko, unfortunately no real travel for me ~ at least for a while. My husband is immune compromised from cancer treatment. So I travel virtually. Planning trips I'll never get to take cause of course I 'go' Baller style (which is how I discovered you and your brother).
So my question is how does all the traveling you did manifest itself in your daily life?
I'm sorry to hear about your husband's health, but it seems like that is taking priority for now.
To answer your question, I'm also keeping my travel plans to a minimum at the moment. I'm focusing on getting this newsletter off the ground for the next two months so I don't have any major trips planned until I feel like I am comfortable with my workflow for Substack.
Luckily, I live in the largest city in North America and there are tons of incredible day trips to nearby places. I just went to Taxco and Cuernavaca and will be publishing reports soon.
The dollar is strong but inflation is high everywhere. Is this actually a "cheap" summer to travel for Americans or anyone paid with dollars?
Food, drink & other was still very cheap in Portugal this summer!
Thanks for the intel! Any Portugal travel tips?
Hi Leks! Great to see you on this platform.
It's hard to make generalizations about the relative costs of goods across various countries, but in general, the strong dollar should counter inflation in many places.
I'll stress that it's not just inflation that's raising prices - a lot it is a huge spike in demand as people finally release pent-up demand for travel plans that have been shelved for two years. There's also a shortage of workers in the airline industry, thanks to covid and staffing shortages spreading crews thin.
The combination of these factors means a lot of money is chasing after fewer goods, which raises prices. And in that situation, having dollars in your wallet puts you in a better spot than pretty much anyone.
Most importantly, the dollar has achieved parity with the Euro (and made huge gains against the pound) for the first time in 20 years. This is essentially a 20% discount for dollar-earners traveling to Europe, which makes it a good time to take that long-awaited trip.
My personal advice is to pick a destination using some rough napkin estimates to compare three main elements: 1) airfares 2) nightly hotel costs and 3) relative exchange rates.
For example, Argentina is really cheap right now - but the long-distance airfares from your city might make it an overall more expensive trip than a shorter flight across the Atlantic.
Overall, I think the key is to take as few flights as possible - both to lower the overall cost and minimize your risk of getting your flight canceled - and keep your destinations to a minimum.
Feel free to crunch a few numbers and respond to this thread showing me what you've found.