NEWS


According to the latest YouGov poll, 77% of Britons say they do not feel that their lives have yet returned to normal following the lifting of Covid restrictions. Well, I bring good news! We’ve just closed the


latest round of research with our Silver Travellers and 55% of respondents told us they expect to take their next trip before the end of 2021. Clearly, we are still an optimistic bunch. Unsurprisingly, many will be sticking with the


Lisa McAuley SILVER TRAVEL ADVISOR


Normality is still some way off but people are eager to travel again


UK this summer, but a good number are looking at travelling overseas. And there is better news still on travel and holiday intentions for 2022, with some 70% planning to take a trip and actively researching. Curious minds will be around longer than the pandemic. I’ve had my own holiday intentions come


to fruition, squeezing in a break to Palma and a few days’ camping in Norfolk, and now I’m busy planning a cruise before the summer is out. But my long-awaited trip


saying he “understands that people care very much about their holidays, people want to go abroad”, and he “understands how much people plan and prepare for the summer holidays”. Yet I’ve heard very little about the plight of families who have been separated by the pandemic. All of us in travel understand it’s not just about


“a summer holiday”, it’s much more complex and diverse than that. I fear that the UK government’s continued lack of understanding of our sector, with no dedicated minister, will be an ever-present battle for our industry.


“There is better news still on travel


to see my brother and his family in the US still seems some way off. I last visited him more than two years ago, in December 2018, taking over our dad, who had been diagnosed with cancer, to see him – a trip which gave us all a much-needed morale boost. We’ve been planning another trip to Minnesota


Travel appetite It’s also worth saying that none of my recent travel escapades have been in any way easy to arrange. So it comes as no surprise that being stranded overseas, fear of quarantine, complexity of testing and likelihood of cancellations are cited as concerns in our Silver Traveller research. Yet, despite all these


intentions for 2022, with 70% planning a trip and actively researching”


for over a year now. To coin a well-used phrase, I’ve been having to continually kick the can down the road, and having heartbreaking conversations with my dad every month or so, explaining why it’s still not possible for him to visit his son. Time is precious, and every month’s delay to the reopening of the US is a month we can’t afford.


Transatlantic upturn It’s heart-warming, though, to see recent reports of families reunited as people from the US and EU are allowed to travel back to the UK if double- vaccinated. While it is still not a solution for us, it feels like a step closer to a McAuley family reunion. The prime minister has recently been quoted as


travelweekly.co.uk


frustrations, the appetite and determination to travel is very much evident. Travel is something that can


completely engross you, and studies show that being immersed and ‘in the moment’ can combat mental health issues. There’s a name for this: it’s called being in a ‘state of flow’.


A state of flow is said to bring on a sense of losing track of time; thoughts and feelings about the past begin to fall away and one’s mind is focused on what is happening right now. Thinking more about this, I realised I’ve


achieved being in a state of flow recently. Firstly, as I was cycling along the Norfolk coastal path in the sunshine, and secondly while out at sea off the coast of Palma surrounded by turquoise waters. I also know that I’ve never achieved a state of


flow while on a Zoom call. So I ask myself, where can I travel to next, and soon?


Read more columns by Lisa McAuley: go.travelweekly.co.uk/comment


12 AUGUST 2021 13


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52