How soon will I travel when restrictions are lifted?
First of all, not every country is closed even now. One could go and try climbing Kilimanjaro, for instance, as Tanzania is open. You only need your COVID test negative 72 hours prior your arrival to the country.
You can also now travel from Russia to Turkey, taking into account the same requirements to enter. I’d probably go there in the summer but this is not for sure.
By the way, I’ve done my COVID-19 in early January: it wasn’t a nice thing to me. Thus, I believe I’ve had an immunity for at least half a year. Anyway, when the time comes, I’d get a vaccine, in my case this is going to be Sputnik V. Plus, the world is full of rumours that pretty soon we won’t be able to travel freely without the so-called ‘green passport’, i.e. without being vaccinated.
Despite the pandemic, you now could even fly to Namibia to see its Martian landscapes.
This is how we get to the point.
I’ve been following NASA/JPL Mars Odyssey since early 2000s when ‘Spirit’ and ‘Curiosity’ twin rovers landed there. I know all about ‘Monuments on Mars’/the Cydonia mystery, ‘The Face on Mars’, the Viking orbiters/landers achievements back in the 1970s.
I know about the meteorite from Mars found in 1997 in the Antarctic with the traces of something that looks very much like bacteria-turned-into-stone inside this cool rock.
Now the incredible Perseverance rover has just landed on the Martian surface to look for the microbial life, past or present.
We’re on the brink of one of the greatest scientific discoveries: an alien life.
The odds are very high that it would be found there during this rover’s mission. I only hope this would be present, not past life. I’m pretty sure Mars, with its ancient oceans, was once a habitat for life, this is exactly what NASA suspects, too. 
So yes, no matter what’s going on this Planet, I’d like to go the Red Planet.
To me, this is the only destination worth traveling now.
And in about 15 years, when first human mission is planned to land there.
Damn Virus
First, I love to travel, I like to see new stuff. When I fly I always put my camera under the seat in front of me so I can take pictures through the window. Do you wonder about the people who live in these little villages out in the middle of nowhere? I look down and see little houses in the snow and wonder about their lives.
I’m one of those irritating people who plays with that little screen on the seat-back in front of me. I like the little plane on the map. But I’m not content with it… I zoom in and out and never quite get the view I want. What’s the name of that town in the distance? Look, way out there. Why can’t this thing scroll?
And who the hell came up with the name Entertainment Center? The cheapest iPad can do much more. Am I the only one who thinks the name iPad is… unfortunate? How many miles until we land? Oh God!!! He laid his seat back! Who the hell sleeps at two in the morning. Punk! Now I’ll never know that name of that town. Hey, she’s pretty. I wonder if I can order some wine? And why the hell are you inside my head? Hey, she’s pretty.
How soon will I travel? I would be on a plane this afternoon if it were up to me, but it ain’t so I’m not. I read where there is a pent-up demand to fly; I certainly hope so. Tourism is important to so many economies and to go a second year…
I know some folks are afraid to fly and rightfully so. Apparently in the US, airlines are considering having passengers show they have had the vaccine before they can board. I don’t think I would be against it but the MAGAs will wee their knickers. Being forced to take a shot containing a location transmitter will incite Fox News to incite. Which happens to be legal if you’re curious. How much you wanna bet Mr. 
Murdock has already had his two shots? He’s no fool.
So, how soon do I want to travel? Now. Where do I want to travel? Anywhere. Will I travel? Probably not. I don’t really have an excuse to go right now and don’t have a couple thousand extra to throw on a trip. But I want to.
How soon will I travel when restrictions are lifted?
There are three times in 2021 where I am so hoping to travel from my home island of North Cyprus – a place I haven’t left now for a whole calendar year. In fact, I think it’s the first time in my adult life that I haven’t flown in 365 days.
In September, we have a holiday booked in Malta, postponed from 2020, with my side of the family. Two months later, I have a date to host an awards evening for disability sport on the island of Jersey, again postponed last year. And for Christmas and New Year, our aim is to visit our youngest son and family in Copenhagen; guess what, postponed last year.
Frankly, it’s debatable whether any of those plans will come to fruition. Let’s take Malta, the earliest to take place. September may be almost seven months away, but Covid-19 is going nowhere fast. Next week we receive our second jab, for which we are extremely grateful, but we don’t know yet whether we can still carry the virus and transmit it onwards. And airports seem like one of the places to avoid like the plague. In any case, direct flights to Malta from here have long since ceased, and who knows if they will ever return.
Our country remains very safe compared to most of the world, but that’s because of extremely strict measures, including enforced government quarantine for up to 14 days for all incoming travellers. That’s been described as being in prison but without any hope of time off for good behaviour! Sadly, Mrs B has many underlying health issues, and she would not survive 14 days without being able to leave a room.
Will things have changed by next Christmas, for our trip to Denmark? Well, maybe most people will have been vaccinated by then, and maybe it will feel a little safer. But is it worth the risk? Will 
we even be able to afford what are likely to be astronomical airfares? Maybe there’ll be a fourth of fifth wave of the virus, meaning we might not be able to get home. That’s a frightening thought that would be on our minds the whole time.
So I think it’s more likely that we will give 2021 travel a miss, and hope we can finally catch up with all our postponed visits in 2022. If it’s safe by then, and if there’s still an airline solvent to take us there.
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