March 14, 2025 • 34 mins
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been five years since the world hit pause—since our passports collected dust, grocery store runs felt like high-stakes missions, and we all learned the true value of toilet paper. Travel as we knew it came to a screeching halt, leaving cruise ships stranded, borders slammed shut, and entire industries scrambling to survive.
Fast forward to today, and while the world is open again, travel is far from what it was pre-2020. The pandemic didn’t just disrupt our vacations—it rewrote the rulebook. From the rise of digital nomads redefining “office views” to the comeback of travel advisors who can decode ever-changing entry rules, the landscape of travel has shifted in ways we never saw coming.
Some of these changes have been for the better—think the explosion of wellness travel, a renewed focus on sustainable tourism, and a shift away from last-minute deals in favor of more intentional, well-planned trips. But let’s be real—some things still aren’t quite back to normal (looking at you, airport chaos and customer service shortages).
More than anything, the pandemic changed us as travelers. It reminded us that “someday” isn’t promised, pushing many to finally take that dream trip instead of waiting for the “perfect time.” It made us rethink how and why we travel, prioritizing experiences that truly matter.
So, what about you? Have you noticed these shifts in your own travels? Are you booking differently? Traveling with a new perspective? We’d love to hear your pandemic travel stories—because let’s be honest, we all have a wild one.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hi guys, so welcome, welcome.
Today's episode we are actuallygoing to be talking about.
It's the five-year anniversaryof COVID, the pandemic when the
world shut down.
So, looking back, do youremember where you are, cheryl?
It was just a regular day forme, so nothing too crazy, but I
(00:36):
really couldn't believe what Iwas hearing on the news, are we?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
really, I have a specific day that I remember
where the school.
It was a Friday and a bunch ofthings happened that day.
The school made their officialannouncement that they were shut
down for the next several weeksand we were actually packed to
go camping with my Girl Scouttroop and that got canceled.
Even though it was camping andwe were one of few troops in
(01:00):
that area, we didn't but nobodyknew but everybody was in panic
mode.
right, they were, yes, so wepivoted and actually camped in
the backyard of one of the mom'shouses and the following month
we were.
This is when we began to see,in April, like the changes in
travel, the changes in thingswere going.
Spring break.
(01:21):
Well, kids were remote by thispoint, and we had a New York
trip scheduled with the schoolthat got canceled.
We also had a Girl Scout tripthat we had been planning for so
long and Alaskan cruise in Junethat also got officially
canceled.
That April Travel just changedbig time.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I do remember we were scheduled to go to Clearwater
to go see winter.
The dolphin and Clearwateraquarium locked down quarantine
so we had to cancel that springbreak trip and then we never got
to see winter.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
She passed away so I have still yet to go on my
Alaskan cruise.
I've planned it twice sincethen and it's fallen apart.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So it's one thing yeah, for sure.
Well, I'm super excited becauseVirgin Voyage just announced
yes, and that's where I'm goingnow, but that's either here or
there.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
This is to Alaska now , so but yeah, it's hard to
believe that it's been fiveyears since the lockdown.
I, I know.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
So let's go back to when it all early happened.
So the what?
The here's the things that Iremember being like, so bizarre,
like people were hoardingtoilet paper and Lysol wipes.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
And the toilet paper memes were hilarious.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
They were funny and but I would.
It was so bad that I would getlike get in touch with the stock
people that they're like we'vegot a truck of toilet paper,
because I was I wasn't hoarding,but I was getting to the point
where we were going to be out oftoilet paper and it was nowhere
to be found.
Like it was like.
It was like crazy, it was crazyand and going to the store and
(03:05):
bringing your groceries home andwiping everything down with
Lysol wipes Now, but you didn'tknow you didn't know, it was
better to err on the side ofcaution, which is what we saw in
the travel world too.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
So many things changed and then so many things
kind of came to the forefrontlike Zoom Zoom blew up.
During the pandemic.
Zoom blew up and the wholething was business on top'm
(03:42):
dressed from the top and thenI've got my PJ pants on on the
bottom usually, or depending onwhat time of the day it is, I'll
have some leggings or somethingon.
But yeah, I rock the CovaCouture still five years later.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well, and I was the one that refused to do that.
I just always got dressed anddid my thing.
I never took the free pass tojust hang out in your pajamas or
whatever.
That just wasn't my style.
I always felt more prepared ifI was dressed.
Yeah, you know, that's just me.
I guess everybody's different,but it was very popular to you
(04:14):
know, be professional on top andthen, like virtual tours, ended
up being really popular.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
During that time, museums and any destination that
could do that started to dothat because people were logging
in and people were gettingonline and touring museums they
hadn't seen and creating dreambucket list of where they wanted
to go.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Well, the remote education partwas you know that was rough
Cause if your kids can't likeReese thought it was great.
Alex, he really needs to be inperson to learn.
Like and then they thought itwas almost a joke.
Like people, we were sounderprepared, like the school
systems in general, for for tobe learning online and they
(05:01):
weren't.
It was difficult.
That part absolutely wasdifficult.
I don't know how your childlearns, but if you had a child,
that was that, it wasn't.
It was two years, easily twofull years for online learning
and that's a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
That's a lot, which is why we chose to homeschool
the next year instead of sendingto remote.
We created a Corona pod and acouple of families got together
and pulled their kids for thatyear and we homeschooled them.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
There were high schoolers mostly so in that, and
it's difficult in high schoolto well, I mean, it was
difficult for all of them.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
It was difficult for all children.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I still feeling the effects.
I think so.
I think we absolutely are.
I think so.
I think we absolutely are.
I think we lost some someeducation there, because not
everybody's able to do thatonline.
But um, the other huge thing inthe beginning was cruise ships
like that were out to sea.
I listened to a couple of themwhere they're like one was on
(06:01):
their honeymoon and they were.
It was like a 10 day cruise andthey were out in the ocean for
30 days but then the ports wereall closing.
So then this other couple there, so they were out there, for
they were quarantined for twoweeks.
And if you had an interior room, imagine like two parents and
two teenagers or whatever a kidin an interior room and you're
(06:22):
quarantined in there.
They were like they had to takeshifts of when they could come
out and get fresh air because itwasn't and they were having to
ship people's medicine on boardand it was a real, it was a, it
was a problem and some cruisesbecause you're so in such close
quarters they were it wascatching like wild fire, right.
(06:43):
So that was very difficult.
I don't know if you've been ona cruise during that time.
Thank God I wasn't.
I wouldn't want to be lockedout at sea for 30 days.
I don't think not under thoseconditions.
Um, because they weren't evenlike.
The buffets weren't open.
You got.
You got a very scaled down menuof what you you know what I
mean.
So, um, and and this is anotherthing that you probably didn't
(07:08):
think about they were bringingin nicotine patches for people
that were smokers.
Because they were not, theycouldn't.
There's no more.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
So once you ran out, you're, you're quitting now I
wonder how many people actuallywere able to take advantage of
that and be like all right, thisis my call to quit.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Think about that.
Yeah, yeah, I do know that thecruise ships and they were in
the travel world.
They were, like, really one ofthe first kind of hit with and
not having any kind of idea ofhow to handle it, because
they're stuck out there.
Now there were people that gotstranded in other countries as
the airline shut down and wewere trying to keep people where
(07:48):
they were to stop the spread.
So it did change the policy andprocedures of travel moving
forward.
Even to this day, we still seesome of those things in place.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Well right, and they had to get really flexible for a
bit.
Their cancellation policy hadhad to be like waived and
obviously future credit cruising, like the one couple that they
were on there for 30 days and itwas their honeymoon.
They gave them like're, like,for us it was fine because we,
we are young and healthy and andwe were able to, so they were
(08:30):
then helping the older cause Iguess the princess one was the
one where they were out to seafor a long time and a lot of
people died on that ship becauseit was just spreading.
But they were kind of likesaying like if you're young and
healthy, you can, you can getthis and you'll be fine.
But if you're older or haveautoimmune or respiratory issues
, then those are the people thatwere really really affected,
(08:51):
you know, hit the hardest.
So, um, I think that a lot ofpeople had to cancel their trips
and get in, postpone them, um,and then we just were locked
down for a while.
Um, so during that lockdown Iremember we talked to Maddie
with RV, um chair, and that'swhen you saw the rise of people
(09:15):
wanting to.
Just they were like we can't belocked in here forever, we have
to get out and do something.
So then that's when, instead oflike all inclusives or cruises,
people started getting creativeand renting RVs and doing more
camping and more outside stuff,because visiting the national
parks and going they got a hugeboost, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, and then the policies and procedures where
you mentioned cancellations andstuff.
That's still they, the industry, the travel industry still kept
a lot of that the way that theyhandle cancellations and things
, that they're now betterprepared for it, so they have
more, more steps in place toprotect against things like that
(09:59):
, and a lot of that has stayedthe way that they've handled
that, which has been really nice.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
And if you are lucky enough I shouldn't say lucky
enough, but there was a pointwhere, after they were, they
were giving like great cruisesand prices on cruising just to
try to get people back in themarket, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah, I went on a cruise.
Yeah, november of 2021.
It was Thanksgiving.
Actually, it was my very firstcruise ever and it was super
cheap.
It was on Princess.
Being my first cruise, I wasspoiled.
They set the bar high, becauseI really love Princess Cruise
Line.
It was an amazing experience.
(10:40):
The ships weren't packed, theyhad to follow a protocol.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yes, they had limited protocol.
We, the ships, weren't packedUm cause they had to, they had
to follow a protocol.
Well, you know, they hadlimited protocol, um, we had an
amazing cruise.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
But I also noticed other places like, uh, amusement
parks and venues.
They started limiting when westarted opening the world,
started opening back up.
They were limiting the numberof people, Cause I know I went
to um Carolina Panthers game andwe were set it was just Daniel
and I and then the whole row infront of us was empty.
(11:11):
The row behind us was empty andthen two seats separated two,
or it might have been four seats.
Actually I think it was four,yeah and the next group.
Awesome.
It was because that was mysecond time going to a game and
I don't love it, because I don'tlike the crowds, I don't like
the seating You're right on topof each other, right, that was
(11:31):
probably the best experience,having that much space.
I do wish we'd go back torespecting the spacing of all of
that, where, when you go to anevent or you go to an amusement
park, or I wish we did have alittle bit more um, control or
what's the word I'm looking forcap on the number of people that
(11:51):
were going, but the, theexperience itself, the way that
they handled that.
Um, when we were opening backup because we travel, then in
December of 2021, I traveledwith students to Hawaii from
Charlotte and that wasinteresting because we were
still dealing with.
That was 2020?
(12:12):
.
That was 2021, december 2021.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
So we were trying to come out of it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, but they still had COVID protocols.
Like you had to either haveyour vaccination card or you
couldn't go into certain placesyou had.
Like you had to do the wellnesschecks before you go into
Hawaii.
Even when we flew into LA,before we got to the airport we
had to fill out a health formbefore we could, before we
landed, I think it's before weeven took off.
I don't remember, it's been acouple of years, I don't
(12:39):
remember, but there were so manysteps we had to take and add on
to our travel plans that and Itook 80.
We took 81 people on this trip.
That is so many.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So navigating that and that's before you were a
travel agent, right, that wasbefore I was a travel agent.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
That was when I should have been getting paid
for a travel agent.
So much information on that Iplanned travel for years without
being a travel agent andgetting paid for it, but that
was very interesting to navigate.
Um, I do like that they've kepta lot of the safety and
sanitation policies in place.
Yeah, that is day going to ahotel and knowing and seeing the
(13:16):
remote control still wrappedbecause they've cleaned it and
then they wrapped it.
I feel like the sanitizingprocess has stepped up its game
when I travel.
So I do appreciate that they'vekept some of the procedures in
place.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Right, Well so, and then everybody had to shift to
work from home, work from homesetting.
And you know who benefited themost out of that?
Our animals, our doggos.
Yes absolutely, and I feelsorry, sorry.
It is actually a thing.
They got so used to having usbe there that when people
started going back, the dogswere like depressed.
(13:53):
I feel so sorry for them yeah,um but yeah, that was a real
thing, working remotely andnavigating all of that um in a
lot.
I think a lot of places had toshift the way they did stuff and
then they weren't making, theyweren't building houses, they
weren't making cars, like a lotof production was shut down.
(14:16):
So if you were in that industrylike a realtor, I mean that had
to have been hard, a hard hit,you know.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
For we had a friend that was buying and selling
their house during the lockdownand that was an adjustment for
them.
But yeah, there was a lot ofthings that kind of you you saw
where you could have trouble incertain careers because even the
travel agency, travel agentstook a big hit because people
(14:44):
weren't traveling, canceledtrips, the income you were
counting on, like um, thehairdressers, anyone that worked
on a commission-based style job, uh servers.
It really hurt a lot of peopleand they're still recovering
from that because that was a atleast a year years worth of uh
(15:07):
change in their salary, in theirincome.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
So that was a big thing.
It was good to see peoplegetting creative, though, with
as far as, like you know, oh,there was a lot that, instead of
dining in, it was all order out, and you know what I mean.
You just had your food broughtto you or you went and pick it,
or it was pickup.
You know what I mean.
They found a way to, eventhough they didn't have
(15:30):
customers in their seats inside.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
They found a way to pivot, and that's Right, and
that was a big deal when we weretraveling, especially to hawaii
, because they did still haverules in place where certain
restaurants you couldn't come inunless you had their um had a
vaccination.
So we had to like order food tobe delivered to our hotel or we
(15:53):
had to eat at the food trucksor we would go out and get food
for as a group, like we wouldhave.
We had to plan differently umfood trucks, or we would go out
and get food as a group, like wehad to plan differently.
So it was a lot of adjustmentsand things.
But I feel like the industry isbouncing back.
We had a big travel boom from21 to 23.
Like people were like, let's go, let's get back out.
(16:15):
A few words.
When I was looking up someinformation, some statistics
about the travel industry forthis episode I hadn't heard
these, but maybe you had.
Oh, let me see what it was.
It called biz travel orbizcation, I think is what it
was for.
It was like business travelslash vacation, because they
(16:37):
were letting everybody work fromhome.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
So people were taking advantage of that.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Like if I'm going to work from home anyway and I'm
going to be on zoom, then whynot be at the beach and yeah
there was the um, and thenpeople who had been planning
like their bucket list trip theywere actually taking those
trips that I think we allrealized we can't keep saying,
well, one day we'll go or youknow, when we retire we'll go.
(17:03):
People were like let's go now.
We don't know, we're neverprobably we're gonna yeah and
and that was such a shock beinglocked down for so long and
people were like I'm getting out, I'm taking these trips.
So we did see a boom in thetravel industry um 21 through 23
, and it's still kind oftrending that way.
Um, we oh, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I think what I noticed is, when everybody did
come back, it kind of it kind ofworked out for us as travel
agents, because I think thatpeople were realizing there were
.
Well, first of all, there'salways going to be scammers out
there.
So when people are starting totravel again and get back in,
get planning these trips, somepeople they were not getting the
(17:49):
trips that they thought theywere getting and so people
started saying, hey, well, if Iam going to go, if I'm taking
this bucket list challenge, youknow what?
I think I maybe need a travelagent because I'm not planning
this all to specs with all ofthe, because different countries
have different protocols andyou had to have certain
vaccinations, and so that becamea little more challenging for
(18:09):
the average Joe to book travel.
So I think that's when peopledid start reaching out to travel
agents to come back to be like,okay, here's where I want to go
, what do I need to do?
What vaccinations do I need tohave?
You know what is the protocol?
So I think that in as anindustry of travel agents, that
kind of did help us uh, you know, around 22, 23, because people
(18:32):
were like I'm getting out andI'm traveling, but I need a
little bit of help and guidanceto do that.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So, um, and I think the pricing changed.
The way they, the way travelwas priced, was different.
We had a when we first openedback up and everybody was
traveling.
We were at the industry wasjust trying to get people back
in destinations.
So, there were some deals whenthe boom started.
(18:57):
Supply and demand kicked in andyou weren't getting those great
as good deals and this is stillaccurate to this day.
Last minute deals on cruiselines and things are not as
popular as they used to bePrevalent.
Yeah, it used to be where youcould be like, all right, the
ships aren't always full.
(19:18):
I can usually maybe check itout a week or two before and get
a good deal If you wereflexible in your travel like
that.
There are still some of thoseout there.
However, they're not as there,but there's not an abundance of
them, Correct, Because peopleare proactively booking out like
a year out, and so there's notsupply and demand.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
You're not going to find those heavily discounted
rooms because you're lucky to begetting.
If you're booking two or threemonths out to try to get on a on
a cruise ship, these days,you're lucky.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Especially if you're traveling with a group.
Even in a group is if you'retrying to get two or more cabins
, you are going.
Especially if you want themclose together on the same floor
, you've got to book further out, yeah you really do.
I have a harder time booking mygroup trips on the cruise three
to six months out, versus ayear to 18 months out, like, and
(20:11):
the cruise lines are steppingit up.
They're releasing their datesfurther out so people can plan
better, but those dates go soquickly.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Yeah, One thing I will say railbookers, you can
book two years out withrailbookers.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
So if you like to be really prepared and plan those
big bucket trips.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
They're one of the few.
I don't know many othercompanies that will book two
years out and secure your seatsand all of your travel
arrangements.
So shout out to Railbook orsomething.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Yeah, and you had mentioned earlier about working
from home and stuff and remotework and the digital nomad
lifestyle boomed during thepandemic.
I mean, it really became thego-to.
A lot of people were workingfrom home those that could did
and then they would go, theywould rent that RV, they would
go out to the national park,they'd go out to the beach and
(21:00):
they'd work from there so thatthey could be out of their home.
But they were still gettingtheir work done and I'd say that
that's still a thing peoplelike to do.
But I will one of the things thedestinations, the hotels, the
all-inclusives all of them kindof caught onto that trend and
they stepped up their game.
They created space for digitalnomads people so that they would
(21:23):
have a nice place to sit andwork with their computer.
They would offer advanced orhigher end Wi-Fi kind of thing.
These places caught on and theykind of definitely tapped into
that market and were catering tothose that wanted to travel
while working and it became abig thing and it's still.
A lot of places still havethose um features and what's the
(21:48):
amenities and I think it's agreat thing because we work
remotely and we travel a lotwhen we work.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So yeah, yeah, I think the businesses had to
pivot to be able to stillfunction and and you do see a
lot of people still workingremotely, more so than I don't
know that we'll ever go back toa brick and mortar setting A lot
of companies are just going tosee that you were able to
(22:15):
function and function and notpay the overhead of having an
office.
I think it just depends on thebusiness, but I think that and
workers are also.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Employees are like look, I saved money by not
having to commute to work dealwith my food.
I know I can bring it from.
There's a cost to drive to workor to get to work.
Whether you're driving, takingpublic transportation or
whatever, the environment wasbetter because we didn't have as
much pollution.
Yeah, so all around, there weresome a lot of positives and I
(22:49):
understand.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I wouldn't want to go back and do it again.
No, I mean the things that allbad came out of it.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yes, yeah, we learned a lot about what we can handle
um as a people.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
We learned about what we can't, so the and a huge
shout out to the health careworkers that were working around
the clock, 24 hour shifts, like, yeah, you know that they
embraced the fact that it was acrisis and they, they just do
what they know to do.
But I can't even imagine beingin their shoes.
(23:20):
So huge shout out to thembecause, you know, not everybody
has the same gifts as otherpeople, so they really were
miracle workers for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
And speaking of that, like one of the things that
also started to rise and becamea big trend when travel really
picked up again was wellnesstravel.
People really started takingcare of their mental health,
their physical health, in thesense of not just outside of
exercising but just being moremindful in themselves, and that
(23:51):
became part of their travel,their trips, their intentional.
They were intentional on wherethey were going.
So wellness travel became a lotmore popular and a lot of
places really stepped up theirgame there and offered and we
did an episode on this as well.
So if you want to know moreabout wellness travel and all
the amazing things that are outthere, make sure you check that
(24:11):
episode out.
But that became really big andpeople became more intentional
in their travel.
Like you were saying, they'reeither planning and grabbing
those cruises that are usuallyfilling up a year out.
They're making those plans nowand then they are going.
They're not waiting.
If it's a trip they can takethis month, a lot of people are
(24:31):
going out and about and takingit and not putting off the
travel as much.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Right, yeah, absolutely, and traveling with
sustainable companies isdefinitely more relevant now and
prevalent.
Virgin Voyages is known forbeing a very eco-friendly, clean
cruise line.
Friendly, clean cruise line,very little trash, and then the
hammocks are a resource and therecyclable bands are all
(24:57):
definitely a very green companyand I think people like that
People will go to Virgin Voyageswith the understanding that,
well, not only is it an adultsonly cruise line, which is
amazing, but they're very greenand they care about their carbon
footprint on the world and Ithink that's you know, I think
more companies are stepping upand and doing that as they
(25:21):
should be, so shout out.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Do you feel that as a whole, like the industry is
pretty about pretty muchbouncing back, like with the
airlines and the hotels, and areour staff back?
Are we seeing shortages there?
We, how's our customer servicein the industry as a whole like,
are we back to?
Are we back to where we were?
We ever going to get back towhere we were?
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 1 (25:45):
I mean I feel like we've pretty much bounced back.
I don't know that we'll ever beback to where we were before,
because the world's not the sameworld as it was Right and we
can't change that.
We can only just move forwardand and you know it is what it
is and do the best that you canwith what you know now.
So, yeah, I mean I think Ithink it's pretty much bounced
(26:10):
back.
What do you think?
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
I think financially, probably for those companies in
the most part, but I do thinkthe staff shortages are still an
issue across the board and alot of things not just in the
travel industry but across theboard.
I feel like some companiesfound they could run with
shorter numbers.
Just because you can doesn'tmean you should, because I do
(26:33):
think customer service hasbecome an issue on both ends.
I think the customer servicethere they went through a lot
during the pandemic.
If you worked in the customerservice industry, if you worked
in a people-facing industryperiod, both sides got burned
and burned out and then now,coming back, there's less
patience on.
(26:54):
I think the customers can bejust as bad as the customer
service and we don't give asmuch grace.
We don't have as much patience.
It's a lot of, and I think partof that is people have an issue
with hey, this may be taken forI might not be able to do this.
It's going to be, something'sgoing to happen.
Part of that I think could bewhat's the word I'm looking for,
(27:18):
a fear left over from thelockdown, but that doesn't
excuse a lot of behavior.
I think also some of thepolicies and things that these
companies are initiating areirritating their customers and
and we got to look at it as awhole and navigate that and
figure it out.
But, like I think, five yearslater we're still figuring out
(27:41):
now no free bag I was trying notto call out southwest, because
we just talked about, like itjust announced this week and we
were we in our travel.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
People are upset because they are that was the
reason that people flewsouthwest was because of the
free bags.
And now that I mean I listen, Iwonder how they're gonna.
I wonder how that will impactthem.
Um so, yeah, I'm going to staytuned for and we'll uh we'll
have to.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
It's not been good on the socials.
People have not been veryappreciative of that, but I've
seen that across the board inthese industries where they've
had to change some of that forwhatever reason I mean the
economy the cost of everythingis going up.
So I don't know.
I'm not a financial person whenit comes to that, I don't think
(28:31):
in that brain, so I can't know.
I'm not a financial person whenit comes to that, I don't think
in that brain, so I can't tell.
But I would hope it's morebecause they had to and not
because they could.
But who knows, We'll see howthat plays out.
So what do we think is next fortravel?
What do we think it's going tolook like in the next five years
?
We're five years post COVIDright now, post lockdown.
What do we think it's going tobe like in five years?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
We're five years post COVID right now, post lockdown,
what do we think it's going tobe like in five years?
Well, I mean, I'm hopeful thatit's going to continue.
I hope there's not anotherpandemic.
I'm thinking positive things.
I hope that we continue to worktowards being green, having a
smaller footprint, um, choosingthose companies, travel
(29:16):
companies that are making aneffort to be green.
And um, and I, I don't seetravel going anywhere.
Everybody loves to travel.
I mean, that's what we do workhard so that we can go on
vacation and we can relax.
And um, I don't see thatchanging.
People love travel as long aswe can still, as long as, as
long as we're still friendly inother parts of the country, with
(29:37):
other parts of the country, aslong as they still like us and
we're allowed there.
I think that we, I look forwardto traveling abroad still.
Um, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
I think, um, I hope people are out there traveling.
I hope they are taking theadventure traveling.
I hope they are taking theadventure.
I hope they're taking the trip.
Yeah, um, I really, even ifit's an hour drive, I hope that
they go out and explore thatpart.
Um, I hope things change whereyou don't have to worry about
crossing the state lines in theUS and things like that.
(30:11):
I think that's something youand I have discussed, that I'm
curious to see how that's goingto travel agent.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
you know and I do a lot more like cruises,
international, like travelabroad and you have to worry
about now with you know that andwhere it's safe to go in
different countries.
But now even in the U S likeyou do a lot of national park
trips and within the UnitedStates and you have, I do a lot
of domestic travel I cause, I Ilove and we have a huge country
(30:41):
and we should, we should beproud and and go see it.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
However, like you said, when we, when we do, when
we have our clients gointernationally, we have to
learn and advise on the laws andthe culture there and know that
it's a fit.
Now, because I do a lot ofdomestic travel, I have to be
cautious of where I'm sending myclients.
Are they safe, accepted andwelcome in the state that we're?
(31:10):
They're going in the us?
So I have to treat each stateas it's an individual country,
because they are making up theirown culture I'm sorry, I
shouldn't say making up theirown culture.
They're creating their ownculture, um, and they're.
It's not a.
It's not a, it's not a united.
You can't cross, you can't justdrive across state borders
(31:31):
anymore and be expected to betreated the same.
So I have to be aware of thatwhen I am working with my
clients who want to travelwithin the states.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Yes, and we we are allies, we are very inclusive,
so this is stuff that we thinkabout as travel agents, um, and
I think in this, in this climate, that you have to be mindful,
so I think I mean just know whatyou're, know where you're going
, just as if you were travelingabroad.
Know where you're going.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Absolutely.
I think you have to do that inthe States.
That would probably be myrecommendation now.
No matter where you'retraveling, whether it's domestic
or international, you need toknow your destination, your
final destination and what theculture is like there.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Yep, absolutely, absolutely.
Well, I think.
That about wraps up.
You have any other takeaways?
I'm glad that you know we arewhere we're at.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
We survived, we have to be positive and we love
travel and we want everyone totravel and do your research.
We just want to make sure youguys are aware of everything
that's going on and make sureyou know the places, the
locations you're going to.
If you're looking for wellness,there are places out there.
(32:45):
If you are wanting to be green,there are places out there.
If you're a digital nomad,there are places you can go that
will cater to that, that haveamenities to fit those needs.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
So, yeah, and if you don't know and you don't want to
do the research, then reach outto us, because that's our whole
job is to know that's whatwe're preening on every day of
our lives.
We're constantly getting newinformation and so, yeah, reach
out to a travel agent if you areuncertain and want guidance.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, but just keep traveling because it is worth it
.
It is fun, and we don't everwant to not be traveling again.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Correct.
We always want to be able totravel and that's where we're
going to leave that, so I hopethat this was an eye opening and
then reflect where were you andare you in a better place?
We'd love to hear your thoughtsand if you have any special
COVID stories that you want toshare, we'd love to hear those
(33:47):
too.
Bye guys.
Hi guys, so welcome, welcome.
Today's episode we are actuallygoing to be talking about.
It's the five-year anniversaryof COVID, the pandemic when the
world shut down.
So, looking back, do youremember where you are, cheryl?
It was just a regular day forme, so nothing too crazy, but I
(00:36):
really couldn't believe what Iwas hearing on the news, are we?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
really, I have a specific day that I remember
where the school.
It was a Friday and a bunch ofthings happened that day.
The school made their officialannouncement that they were shut
down for the next several weeksand we were actually packed to
go camping with my Girl Scouttroop and that got canceled.
Even though it was camping andwe were one of few troops in
(01:00):
that area, we didn't but nobodyknew but everybody was in panic
mode.
right, they were, yes, so wepivoted and actually camped in
the backyard of one of the mom'shouses and the following month
we were.
This is when we began to see,in April, like the changes in
travel, the changes in thingswere going.
Spring break.
(01:21):
Well, kids were remote by thispoint, and we had a New York
trip scheduled with the schoolthat got canceled.
We also had a Girl Scout tripthat we had been planning for so
long and Alaskan cruise in Junethat also got officially
canceled.
That April Travel just changedbig time.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I do remember we were scheduled to go to Clearwater
to go see winter.
The dolphin and Clearwateraquarium locked down quarantine
so we had to cancel that springbreak trip and then we never got
to see winter.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
She passed away so I have still yet to go on my
Alaskan cruise.
I've planned it twice sincethen and it's fallen apart.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
So it's one thing yeah, for sure.
Well, I'm super excited becauseVirgin Voyage just announced
yes, and that's where I'm goingnow, but that's either here or
there.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
This is to Alaska now , so but yeah, it's hard to
believe that it's been fiveyears since the lockdown.
I, I know.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
So let's go back to when it all early happened.
So the what?
The here's the things that Iremember being like, so bizarre,
like people were hoardingtoilet paper and Lysol wipes.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
And the toilet paper memes were hilarious.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
They were funny and but I would.
It was so bad that I would getlike get in touch with the stock
people that they're like we'vegot a truck of toilet paper,
because I was I wasn't hoarding,but I was getting to the point
where we were going to be out oftoilet paper and it was nowhere
to be found.
Like it was like.
It was like crazy, it was crazyand and going to the store and
(03:05):
bringing your groceries home andwiping everything down with
Lysol wipes Now, but you didn'tknow you didn't know, it was
better to err on the side ofcaution, which is what we saw in
the travel world too.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
So many things changed and then so many things
kind of came to the forefrontlike Zoom Zoom blew up.
During the pandemic.
Zoom blew up and the wholething was business on top'm
(03:42):
dressed from the top and thenI've got my PJ pants on on the
bottom usually, or depending onwhat time of the day it is, I'll
have some leggings or somethingon.
But yeah, I rock the CovaCouture still five years later.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well, and I was the one that refused to do that.
I just always got dressed anddid my thing.
I never took the free pass tojust hang out in your pajamas or
whatever.
That just wasn't my style.
I always felt more prepared ifI was dressed.
Yeah, you know, that's just me.
I guess everybody's different,but it was very popular to you
(04:14):
know, be professional on top andthen, like virtual tours, ended
up being really popular.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
During that time, museums and any destination that
could do that started to dothat because people were logging
in and people were gettingonline and touring museums they
hadn't seen and creating dreambucket list of where they wanted
to go.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Well, the remote education partwas you know that was rough
Cause if your kids can't likeReese thought it was great.
Alex, he really needs to be inperson to learn.
Like and then they thought itwas almost a joke.
Like people, we were sounderprepared, like the school
systems in general, for for tobe learning online and they
(05:01):
weren't.
It was difficult.
That part absolutely wasdifficult.
I don't know how your childlearns, but if you had a child,
that was that, it wasn't.
It was two years, easily twofull years for online learning
and that's a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
That's a lot, which is why we chose to homeschool
the next year instead of sendingto remote.
We created a Corona pod and acouple of families got together
and pulled their kids for thatyear and we homeschooled them.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
There were high schoolers mostly so in that, and
it's difficult in high schoolto well, I mean, it was
difficult for all of them.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
It was difficult for all children.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
I still feeling the effects.
I think so.
I think we absolutely are.
I think so.
I think we absolutely are.
I think we lost some someeducation there, because not
everybody's able to do thatonline.
But um, the other huge thing inthe beginning was cruise ships
like that were out to sea.
I listened to a couple of themwhere they're like one was on
(06:01):
their honeymoon and they were.
It was like a 10 day cruise andthey were out in the ocean for
30 days but then the ports wereall closing.
So then this other couple there, so they were out there, for
they were quarantined for twoweeks.
And if you had an interior room, imagine like two parents and
two teenagers or whatever a kidin an interior room and you're
(06:22):
quarantined in there.
They were like they had to takeshifts of when they could come
out and get fresh air because itwasn't and they were having to
ship people's medicine on boardand it was a real, it was a, it
was a problem and some cruisesbecause you're so in such close
quarters they were it wascatching like wild fire, right.
(06:43):
So that was very difficult.
I don't know if you've been ona cruise during that time.
Thank God I wasn't.
I wouldn't want to be lockedout at sea for 30 days.
I don't think not under thoseconditions.
Um, because they weren't evenlike.
The buffets weren't open.
You got.
You got a very scaled down menuof what you you know what I
mean.
So, um, and and this is anotherthing that you probably didn't
(07:08):
think about they were bringingin nicotine patches for people
that were smokers.
Because they were not, theycouldn't.
There's no more.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
So once you ran out, you're, you're quitting now I
wonder how many people actuallywere able to take advantage of
that and be like all right, thisis my call to quit.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Think about that.
Yeah, yeah, I do know that thecruise ships and they were in
the travel world.
They were, like, really one ofthe first kind of hit with and
not having any kind of idea ofhow to handle it, because
they're stuck out there.
Now there were people that gotstranded in other countries as
the airline shut down and wewere trying to keep people where
(07:48):
they were to stop the spread.
So it did change the policy andprocedures of travel moving
forward.
Even to this day, we still seesome of those things in place.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Well right, and they had to get really flexible for a
bit.
Their cancellation policy hadhad to be like waived and
obviously future credit cruising, like the one couple that they
were on there for 30 days and itwas their honeymoon.
They gave them like're, like,for us it was fine because we,
we are young and healthy and andwe were able to, so they were
(08:30):
then helping the older cause Iguess the princess one was the
one where they were out to seafor a long time and a lot of
people died on that ship becauseit was just spreading.
But they were kind of likesaying like if you're young and
healthy, you can, you can getthis and you'll be fine.
But if you're older or haveautoimmune or respiratory issues
, then those are the people thatwere really really affected,
(08:51):
you know, hit the hardest.
So, um, I think that a lot ofpeople had to cancel their trips
and get in, postpone them, um,and then we just were locked
down for a while.
Um, so during that lockdown Iremember we talked to Maddie
with RV, um chair, and that'swhen you saw the rise of people
(09:15):
wanting to.
Just they were like we can't belocked in here forever, we have
to get out and do something.
So then that's when, instead oflike all inclusives or cruises,
people started getting creativeand renting RVs and doing more
camping and more outside stuff,because visiting the national
parks and going they got a hugeboost, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Yeah, and then the policies and procedures where
you mentioned cancellations andstuff.
That's still they, the industry, the travel industry still kept
a lot of that the way that theyhandle cancellations and things
, that they're now betterprepared for it, so they have
more, more steps in place toprotect against things like that
(09:59):
, and a lot of that has stayedthe way that they've handled
that, which has been really nice.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
And if you are lucky enough I shouldn't say lucky
enough, but there was a pointwhere, after they were, they
were giving like great cruisesand prices on cruising just to
try to get people back in themarket, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah, I went on a cruise.
Yeah, november of 2021.
It was Thanksgiving.
Actually, it was my very firstcruise ever and it was super
cheap.
It was on Princess.
Being my first cruise, I wasspoiled.
They set the bar high, becauseI really love Princess Cruise
Line.
It was an amazing experience.
(10:40):
The ships weren't packed, theyhad to follow a protocol.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yes, they had limited protocol.
We, the ships, weren't packedUm cause they had to, they had
to follow a protocol.
Well, you know, they hadlimited protocol, um, we had an
amazing cruise.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
But I also noticed other places like, uh, amusement
parks and venues.
They started limiting when westarted opening the world,
started opening back up.
They were limiting the numberof people, Cause I know I went
to um Carolina Panthers game andwe were set it was just Daniel
and I and then the whole row infront of us was empty.
(11:11):
The row behind us was empty andthen two seats separated two,
or it might have been four seats.
Actually I think it was four,yeah and the next group.
Awesome.
It was because that was mysecond time going to a game and
I don't love it, because I don'tlike the crowds, I don't like
the seating You're right on topof each other, right, that was
(11:31):
probably the best experience,having that much space.
I do wish we'd go back torespecting the spacing of all of
that, where, when you go to anevent or you go to an amusement
park, or I wish we did have alittle bit more um, control or
what's the word I'm looking forcap on the number of people that
(11:51):
were going, but the, theexperience itself, the way that
they handled that.
Um, when we were opening backup because we travel, then in
December of 2021, I traveledwith students to Hawaii from
Charlotte and that wasinteresting because we were
still dealing with.
That was 2020?
(12:12):
.
That was 2021, december 2021.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
So we were trying to come out of it.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, but they still had COVID protocols.
Like you had to either haveyour vaccination card or you
couldn't go into certain placesyou had.
Like you had to do the wellnesschecks before you go into
Hawaii.
Even when we flew into LA,before we got to the airport we
had to fill out a health formbefore we could, before we
landed, I think it's before weeven took off.
I don't remember, it's been acouple of years, I don't
(12:39):
remember, but there were so manysteps we had to take and add on
to our travel plans that and Itook 80.
We took 81 people on this trip.
That is so many.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So navigating that and that's before you were a
travel agent, right, that wasbefore I was a travel agent.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
That was when I should have been getting paid
for a travel agent.
So much information on that Iplanned travel for years without
being a travel agent andgetting paid for it, but that
was very interesting to navigate.
Um, I do like that they've kepta lot of the safety and
sanitation policies in place.
Yeah, that is day going to ahotel and knowing and seeing the
(13:16):
remote control still wrappedbecause they've cleaned it and
then they wrapped it.
I feel like the sanitizingprocess has stepped up its game
when I travel.
So I do appreciate that they'vekept some of the procedures in
place.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Right, Well so, and then everybody had to shift to
work from home, work from homesetting.
And you know who benefited themost out of that?
Our animals, our doggos.
Yes absolutely, and I feelsorry, sorry.
It is actually a thing.
They got so used to having usbe there that when people
started going back, the dogswere like depressed.
(13:53):
I feel so sorry for them yeah,um but yeah, that was a real
thing, working remotely andnavigating all of that um in a
lot.
I think a lot of places had toshift the way they did stuff and
then they weren't making, theyweren't building houses, they
weren't making cars, like a lotof production was shut down.
(14:16):
So if you were in that industrylike a realtor, I mean that had
to have been hard, a hard hit,you know.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
For we had a friend that was buying and selling
their house during the lockdownand that was an adjustment for
them.
But yeah, there was a lot ofthings that kind of you you saw
where you could have trouble incertain careers because even the
travel agency, travel agentstook a big hit because people
(14:44):
weren't traveling, canceledtrips, the income you were
counting on, like um, thehairdressers, anyone that worked
on a commission-based style job, uh servers.
It really hurt a lot of peopleand they're still recovering
from that because that was a atleast a year years worth of uh
(15:07):
change in their salary, in theirincome.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
So that was a big thing.
It was good to see peoplegetting creative, though, with
as far as, like you know, oh,there was a lot that, instead of
dining in, it was all order out, and you know what I mean.
You just had your food broughtto you or you went and pick it,
or it was pickup.
You know what I mean.
They found a way to, eventhough they didn't have
(15:30):
customers in their seats inside.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
They found a way to pivot, and that's Right, and
that was a big deal when we weretraveling, especially to hawaii
, because they did still haverules in place where certain
restaurants you couldn't come inunless you had their um had a
vaccination.
So we had to like order food tobe delivered to our hotel or we
(15:53):
had to eat at the food trucksor we would go out and get food
for as a group, like we wouldhave.
We had to plan differently umfood trucks, or we would go out
and get food as a group, like wehad to plan differently.
So it was a lot of adjustmentsand things.
But I feel like the industry isbouncing back.
We had a big travel boom from21 to 23.
Like people were like, let's go, let's get back out.
(16:15):
A few words.
When I was looking up someinformation, some statistics
about the travel industry forthis episode I hadn't heard
these, but maybe you had.
Oh, let me see what it was.
It called biz travel orbizcation, I think is what it
was for.
It was like business travelslash vacation, because they
(16:37):
were letting everybody work fromhome.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
So people were taking advantage of that.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Like if I'm going to work from home anyway and I'm
going to be on zoom, then whynot be at the beach and yeah
there was the um, and thenpeople who had been planning
like their bucket list trip theywere actually taking those
trips that I think we allrealized we can't keep saying,
well, one day we'll go or youknow, when we retire we'll go.
(17:03):
People were like let's go now.
We don't know, we're neverprobably we're gonna yeah and
and that was such a shock beinglocked down for so long and
people were like I'm getting out, I'm taking these trips.
So we did see a boom in thetravel industry um 21 through 23
, and it's still kind oftrending that way.
Um, we oh, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I think what I noticed is, when everybody did
come back, it kind of it kind ofworked out for us as travel
agents, because I think thatpeople were realizing there were
.
Well, first of all, there'salways going to be scammers out
there.
So when people are starting totravel again and get back in,
get planning these trips, somepeople they were not getting the
(17:49):
trips that they thought theywere getting and so people
started saying, hey, well, if Iam going to go, if I'm taking
this bucket list challenge, youknow what?
I think I maybe need a travelagent because I'm not planning
this all to specs with all ofthe, because different countries
have different protocols andyou had to have certain
vaccinations, and so that becamea little more challenging for
(18:09):
the average Joe to book travel.
So I think that's when peopledid start reaching out to travel
agents to come back to be like,okay, here's where I want to go
, what do I need to do?
What vaccinations do I need tohave?
You know what is the protocol?
So I think that in as anindustry of travel agents, that
kind of did help us uh, you know, around 22, 23, because people
(18:32):
were like I'm getting out andI'm traveling, but I need a
little bit of help and guidanceto do that.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So, um, and I think the pricing changed.
The way they, the way travelwas priced, was different.
We had a when we first openedback up and everybody was
traveling.
We were at the industry wasjust trying to get people back
in destinations.
So, there were some deals whenthe boom started.
(18:57):
Supply and demand kicked in andyou weren't getting those great
as good deals and this is stillaccurate to this day.
Last minute deals on cruiselines and things are not as
popular as they used to bePrevalent.
Yeah, it used to be where youcould be like, all right, the
ships aren't always full.
(19:18):
I can usually maybe check itout a week or two before and get
a good deal If you wereflexible in your travel like
that.
There are still some of thoseout there.
However, they're not as there,but there's not an abundance of
them, Correct, Because peopleare proactively booking out like
a year out, and so there's notsupply and demand.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
You're not going to find those heavily discounted
rooms because you're lucky to begetting.
If you're booking two or threemonths out to try to get on a on
a cruise ship, these days,you're lucky.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Especially if you're traveling with a group.
Even in a group is if you'retrying to get two or more cabins
, you are going.
Especially if you want themclose together on the same floor
, you've got to book further out, yeah you really do.
I have a harder time booking mygroup trips on the cruise three
to six months out, versus ayear to 18 months out, like, and
(20:11):
the cruise lines are steppingit up.
They're releasing their datesfurther out so people can plan
better, but those dates go soquickly.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Yeah, One thing I will say railbookers, you can
book two years out withrailbookers.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
So if you like to be really prepared and plan those
big bucket trips.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
They're one of the few.
I don't know many othercompanies that will book two
years out and secure your seatsand all of your travel
arrangements.
So shout out to Railbook orsomething.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Yeah, and you had mentioned earlier about working
from home and stuff and remotework and the digital nomad
lifestyle boomed during thepandemic.
I mean, it really became thego-to.
A lot of people were workingfrom home those that could did
and then they would go, theywould rent that RV, they would
go out to the national park,they'd go out to the beach and
(21:00):
they'd work from there so thatthey could be out of their home.
But they were still gettingtheir work done and I'd say that
that's still a thing peoplelike to do.
But I will one of the things thedestinations, the hotels, the
all-inclusives all of them kindof caught onto that trend and
they stepped up their game.
They created space for digitalnomads people so that they would
(21:23):
have a nice place to sit andwork with their computer.
They would offer advanced orhigher end Wi-Fi kind of thing.
These places caught on and theykind of definitely tapped into
that market and were catering tothose that wanted to travel
while working and it became abig thing and it's still.
A lot of places still havethose um features and what's the
(21:48):
amenities and I think it's agreat thing because we work
remotely and we travel a lotwhen we work.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So yeah, yeah, I think the businesses had to
pivot to be able to stillfunction and and you do see a
lot of people still workingremotely, more so than I don't
know that we'll ever go back toa brick and mortar setting A lot
of companies are just going tosee that you were able to
(22:15):
function and function and notpay the overhead of having an
office.
I think it just depends on thebusiness, but I think that and
workers are also.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Employees are like look, I saved money by not
having to commute to work dealwith my food.
I know I can bring it from.
There's a cost to drive to workor to get to work.
Whether you're driving, takingpublic transportation or
whatever, the environment wasbetter because we didn't have as
much pollution.
Yeah, so all around, there weresome a lot of positives and I
(22:49):
understand.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I wouldn't want to go back and do it again.
No, I mean the things that allbad came out of it.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yes, yeah, we learned a lot about what we can handle
um as a people.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
We learned about what we can't, so the and a huge
shout out to the health careworkers that were working around
the clock, 24 hour shifts, like, yeah, you know that they
embraced the fact that it was acrisis and they, they just do
what they know to do.
But I can't even imagine beingin their shoes.
(23:20):
So huge shout out to thembecause, you know, not everybody
has the same gifts as otherpeople, so they really were
miracle workers for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
And speaking of that, like one of the things that
also started to rise and becamea big trend when travel really
picked up again was wellnesstravel.
People really started takingcare of their mental health,
their physical health, in thesense of not just outside of
exercising but just being moremindful in themselves, and that
(23:51):
became part of their travel,their trips, their intentional.
They were intentional on wherethey were going.
So wellness travel became a lotmore popular and a lot of
places really stepped up theirgame there and offered and we
did an episode on this as well.
So if you want to know moreabout wellness travel and all
the amazing things that are outthere, make sure you check that
(24:11):
episode out.
But that became really big andpeople became more intentional
in their travel.
Like you were saying, they'reeither planning and grabbing
those cruises that are usuallyfilling up a year out.
They're making those plans nowand then they are going.
They're not waiting.
If it's a trip they can takethis month, a lot of people are
(24:31):
going out and about and takingit and not putting off the
travel as much.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Right, yeah, absolutely, and traveling with
sustainable companies isdefinitely more relevant now and
prevalent.
Virgin Voyages is known forbeing a very eco-friendly, clean
cruise line.
Friendly, clean cruise line,very little trash, and then the
hammocks are a resource and therecyclable bands are all
(24:57):
definitely a very green companyand I think people like that
People will go to Virgin Voyageswith the understanding that,
well, not only is it an adultsonly cruise line, which is
amazing, but they're very greenand they care about their carbon
footprint on the world and Ithink that's you know, I think
more companies are stepping upand and doing that as they
(25:21):
should be, so shout out.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Do you feel that as a whole, like the industry is
pretty about pretty muchbouncing back, like with the
airlines and the hotels, and areour staff back?
Are we seeing shortages there?
We, how's our customer servicein the industry as a whole like,
are we back to?
Are we back to where we were?
We ever going to get back towhere we were?
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 1 (25:45):
I mean I feel like we've pretty much bounced back.
I don't know that we'll ever beback to where we were before,
because the world's not the sameworld as it was Right and we
can't change that.
We can only just move forwardand and you know it is what it
is and do the best that you canwith what you know now.
So, yeah, I mean I think Ithink it's pretty much bounced
(26:10):
back.
What do you think?
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
I think financially, probably for those companies in
the most part, but I do thinkthe staff shortages are still an
issue across the board and alot of things not just in the
travel industry but across theboard.
I feel like some companiesfound they could run with
shorter numbers.
Just because you can doesn'tmean you should, because I do
(26:33):
think customer service hasbecome an issue on both ends.
I think the customer servicethere they went through a lot
during the pandemic.
If you worked in the customerservice industry, if you worked
in a people-facing industryperiod, both sides got burned
and burned out and then now,coming back, there's less
patience on.
(26:54):
I think the customers can bejust as bad as the customer
service and we don't give asmuch grace.
We don't have as much patience.
It's a lot of, and I think partof that is people have an issue
with hey, this may be taken forI might not be able to do this.
It's going to be, something'sgoing to happen.
Part of that I think could bewhat's the word I'm looking for,
(27:18):
a fear left over from thelockdown, but that doesn't
excuse a lot of behavior.
I think also some of thepolicies and things that these
companies are initiating areirritating their customers and
and we got to look at it as awhole and navigate that and
figure it out.
But, like I think, five yearslater we're still figuring out
(27:41):
now no free bag I was trying notto call out southwest, because
we just talked about, like itjust announced this week and we
were we in our travel.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
People are upset because they are that was the
reason that people flewsouthwest was because of the
free bags.
And now that I mean I listen, Iwonder how they're gonna.
I wonder how that will impactthem.
Um so, yeah, I'm going to staytuned for and we'll uh we'll
have to.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
It's not been good on the socials.
People have not been veryappreciative of that, but I've
seen that across the board inthese industries where they've
had to change some of that forwhatever reason I mean the
economy the cost of everythingis going up.
So I don't know.
I'm not a financial person whenit comes to that, I don't think
(28:31):
in that brain, so I can't know.
I'm not a financial person whenit comes to that, I don't think
in that brain, so I can't tell.
But I would hope it's morebecause they had to and not
because they could.
But who knows, We'll see howthat plays out.
So what do we think is next fortravel?
What do we think it's going tolook like in the next five years
?
We're five years post COVIDright now, post lockdown.
What do we think it's going tobe like in five years?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
We're five years post COVID right now, post lockdown,
what do we think it's going tobe like in five years?
Well, I mean, I'm hopeful thatit's going to continue.
I hope there's not anotherpandemic.
I'm thinking positive things.
I hope that we continue to worktowards being green, having a
smaller footprint, um, choosingthose companies, travel
(29:16):
companies that are making aneffort to be green.
And um, and I, I don't seetravel going anywhere.
Everybody loves to travel.
I mean, that's what we do workhard so that we can go on
vacation and we can relax.
And um, I don't see thatchanging.
People love travel as long aswe can still, as long as, as
long as we're still friendly inother parts of the country, with
(29:37):
other parts of the country, aslong as they still like us and
we're allowed there.
I think that we, I look forwardto traveling abroad still.
Um, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 2 (29:49):
I think, um, I hope people are out there traveling.
I hope they are taking theadventure traveling.
I hope they are taking theadventure.
I hope they're taking the trip.
Yeah, um, I really, even ifit's an hour drive, I hope that
they go out and explore thatpart.
Um, I hope things change whereyou don't have to worry about
crossing the state lines in theUS and things like that.
(30:11):
I think that's something youand I have discussed, that I'm
curious to see how that's goingto travel agent.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
you know and I do a lot more like cruises,
international, like travelabroad and you have to worry
about now with you know that andwhere it's safe to go in
different countries.
But now even in the U S likeyou do a lot of national park
trips and within the UnitedStates and you have, I do a lot
of domestic travel I cause, I Ilove and we have a huge country
(30:41):
and we should, we should beproud and and go see it.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
However, like you said, when we, when we do, when
we have our clients gointernationally, we have to
learn and advise on the laws andthe culture there and know that
it's a fit.
Now, because I do a lot ofdomestic travel, I have to be
cautious of where I'm sending myclients.
Are they safe, accepted andwelcome in the state that we're?
(31:10):
They're going in the us?
So I have to treat each stateas it's an individual country,
because they are making up theirown culture I'm sorry, I
shouldn't say making up theirown culture.
They're creating their ownculture, um, and they're.
It's not a.
It's not a, it's not a united.
You can't cross, you can't justdrive across state borders
(31:31):
anymore and be expected to betreated the same.
So I have to be aware of thatwhen I am working with my
clients who want to travelwithin the states.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
Yes, and we we are allies, we are very inclusive,
so this is stuff that we thinkabout as travel agents, um, and
I think in this, in this climate, that you have to be mindful,
so I think I mean just know whatyou're, know where you're going
, just as if you were travelingabroad.
Know where you're going.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Absolutely.
I think you have to do that inthe States.
That would probably be myrecommendation now.
No matter where you'retraveling, whether it's domestic
or international, you need toknow your destination, your
final destination and what theculture is like there.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Yep, absolutely, absolutely.
Well, I think.
That about wraps up.
You have any other takeaways?
I'm glad that you know we arewhere we're at.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
We survived, we have to be positive and we love
travel and we want everyone totravel and do your research.
We just want to make sure youguys are aware of everything
that's going on and make sureyou know the places, the
locations you're going to.
If you're looking for wellness,there are places out there.
(32:45):
If you are wanting to be green,there are places out there.
If you're a digital nomad,there are places you can go that
will cater to that, that haveamenities to fit those needs.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
So, yeah, and if you don't know and you don't want to
do the research, then reach outto us, because that's our whole
job is to know that's whatwe're preening on every day of
our lives.
We're constantly getting newinformation and so, yeah, reach
out to a travel agent if you areuncertain and want guidance.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, but just keep traveling because it is worth it
.
It is fun, and we don't everwant to not be traveling again.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Correct.
We always want to be able totravel and that's where we're
going to leave that, so I hopethat this was an eye opening and
then reflect where were you andare you in a better place?
We'd love to hear your thoughtsand if you have any special
COVID stories that you want toshare, we'd love to hear those
(33:47):
too.
Bye guys.
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