The world is reopening, and with it comes a travel surge, which we are already beginning to see in the U.S. after airports reached record numbers of fliers over the Memorial Day weekend. The domestic travel surge has led to record-breaking car rental rates, expensive hotel rates (depending on location) and soon, it could lead to expensive plane tickets, too.
However, a lot of Americans are still hesitant about going abroad, even with being completely vaccinated.
That's why you should go to Europe this year.
Plane tickets to Europe are relatively cheap right now and will get even cheaper as each country's "off-season" begins (Rome's off-season, for example, begins in November and ends at Easter, not including the time around the holidays when travel typically surges everywhere).
Furthermore, you now have a large number of countries allowing travelers from the United States to enter, provided they satisfy the entry requirements, which usually include some combination of vaccination and negative COVID-19 test. Greece, Spain, France, Germany and Croatia are just a handful beginning to reopen to Americans.
However, you might be thinking that traveling to Europe will be trickier this year than it ever has before, and that's true if you're thinking of traveling the way many Americans usually travel Europe, trying to stuff in as many countries and attractions as they can during their time abroad.
That's why I suggest visiting just one: slow it down, take it in and completely immerse yourself in a different culture, place and perhaps even a different language.
Bear with me here: perhaps you've been dreaming of riding a bike down the streets of Paris for years or have spent the last year imagining yourself working remotely from Tuscany for a month or two, or maybe you've been dying to try out the Spanish you learned in high school or college by actually speaking it instead of just watching Spanish telenovelas (guilty as charged).
Now is exactly the time to do that! Single-country vacations will be the easiest to plan and the most rewarding because they'll give you the opportunity to meet locals, make friends and ultimately learn more about the world and about yourself in the process. It's also likely that the usual barrage of American tourists won't be as dramatic, giving you easier access to your destination's most beloved attractions, which I think is a definite win.
Now is the best time to immerse yourself in the country of your choice. The only question is, which country will you choose?
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