What The COVID-19 Quarantine Taught Me About Domestic Travel

A lot of people, particularly readers of our blog, are anxious to get back to travel. Well, it’s up to each individual to decide when they feel comfortable to get back to travel. But for me, one of the things the COVID-19 quarantine taught me is to look forward to domestic travel and seeing the beauty of the United States. It’s taught me to look to destinations around our beautiful country. And so when the quarantine ends, I know I’ll be looking to more domestic trips in the months and year ahead.

Post-Quarantine Domestic Travel

Typically, my husband and I travel internationally. That’s been great, and we’ve been able to see many different parts of the world. We’ve visited 60 countries over 6 continents. Of course, there are people who have traveled more than that. But from a guy who grew up not getting the chance to really travel and never leaving the country (aside from Canada) until I was 24, it’s been an amazing personal experience. When we’re looking at vacations or trips over long weekends, we typically look for international destinations.

But with the limits on international travel that might exist post-quarantine for the rest of 2020 and possibly beyond, we’ll likely be able to travel domestically first. That’s got me thinking about many of the places I’ve never seen here in the United States. I’ve always wanted to visit the Grand Canyon and Sedona. I’ve never been to Austin, Texas, but I hear it’s wonderful. As I look at pictures of Wyoming and Montana, I can’t wait to walk around the National Parks there. I’m dying to see Mount Rushmore, and I’ve always wanted to see Charleston, South Carolina. Aside from spending a day for work in Hawaii, I’ve never experienced Hawaii’s beauty. Sadly, coronavirus canceled our trip there in June. But that’s okay, we’ve already made plans to see it in 2021!

We’ve been lucky to see quite a bit in the U.S. too, but there are still plenty of areas we need to explore.

An Important Lesson

And that’s what I’ve learned during this quarantine: to look to domestic travel. International travel is great and it teaches you a lot, but so does exploring your own country. The United States has many different cultures and people to learn from. I can say for sure that the way of life in Casper, Wyoming is significant different than here in Washington D.C. Even driving five hours to rural Pennsylvania where I grew up, there is a significant change in way of life and the people.

So as travel ramps back up again (and likely domestic travel ramps up first), I look forward to the opportunity to see more of America’s beauty. Many people are uncomfortable getting on a plane after quarantine, but I think those perspectives will change. I think people will get the urge to move again. The quarantine teaches us that life is too short to put things off. After all, we live in a vast and beautiful country, and there’s many things to see.

Bottom Line

This lesson is something valuable that came out of the quarantine. It’s made me think more about domestic travel, and I think over the next year that will encourage me to see more destinations in the U.S. I look forward to exploring more of the country I call home, while also looking forward to seeing more of the world when travel restrictions are pulled back or end all together. We’re blessed to live in an age when travel is easy. It’s one of the great lessons from this COVID-19 quarantine that we shouldn’t take it for granted. Take the time to see your country and your world. You’ll be better off when you do!

Are there any domestic destinations you are looking forward to visiting? Are there any suggestions you have of places we should put on our list?