How has traveling been for you?

It’s different out there isn’t it!

I’ve only done car trips lately and there are so many different aspects that have changed.

Of course the obvious, the price of gas is crazy, but there are a lot of subtle changes.
The lack of workers just about everywhere. On my recent road trip I was shocked how many stores and restaurants were closed. I imagine it’s a vicious cycle. No workers can’t open, can’t open, can’t stay open.

The ones that were open lacked employees across the board. I could tell that some places the employees were stretched so thin. It’s sad that people were taking it out one them. Long waits for everything seems to be the new norm.

I was at a tourist attraction and this place replaced kiosks with people and instead put up touch screens for ordering. The woman ahead of me had her cards declined three times, I was going to pay when her husband came and ordered instead. I’m afraid we will see more of that.
I noticed more beggars and people trying to sell whatever they can. I had to go out late at night and I saw a younger looking guy eating from the trash. That breaks my heart…

I noticed that hotels are stretched thin. One hotel had one front worker and she was gone most of the time.
Housekeeping is the worse I’ve ever experienced. Ive traveled a lot so I think I have a good point of reference.
I think these places are doing whatever it takes to stay afloat.

On any trip it’s normal to see the sad aspects of society, that’s not new, what is new is to see so much of it in so many different locations.

I’ve also hear that air travel is turning into a nightmare. Lots of missed flights, cancelled flights, long lines. If it is less than 7 hours we were told to just drive. In some areas rental cars are almost impossible to obtain.


What are you seeing in your travels?

a reply to: JAGStorm

Not noticing many closed stores or restaurants around Colorado, we take trips by car to Estes Park, Durango, Leadville etc, just mountain towns and all the stores and businesses are open and seem adequately staffed for the most part. Occasionally short on wait staff at restaurants but not super often.

The only exception like you mentioned is hotels. The housekeeping was terrible. Every room was booked and we had checked in on time but still had to wait almost 2 hours for our room to be ready. And when we got in the sheets were dirty. So we had them change them and the new ones were still kind of dirty.

Also no normal breakfast just grab and go. But I have a feeling they have gone back to normal in that regard, since that was like 5 or 6 months ago.

a reply to: JAGStorm


I wish I could afford to travel, interests rates, price increases have cancelled any chance I have to travel anywhere other than work 🥲

originally posted by: KTemplar
a reply to: JAGStorm


I wish I could afford to travel, interests rates, price increases have cancelled any chance I have to travel anywhere other than work 🥲

This wasn’t a real vacation but a work trip. I did a somewhat of a staycation a few weeks ago. It was just in another part of the state. I noticed a lot of the same things there.

Just did a 4000 km round road trip and other than the price of gas, things were almost prepandemic normal. Still a few die hard mask holdouts even in hot summer weather.
We packed our own food in coolers and didn't stay at hotels but I did hear from others that hotel prices have doubled.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Airline anecdotes from past 2 weeks:

Air travel recently was a bit challenging - canceled flight on a Thursday at 6AM due to weather, couldn't start vacation until a day later because of it.

Flight delays, one of the 4 aircraft was down for maintenance unexpectedly, and along the way saw a lot of unhappy passengers who had other flights canceled/delayed/missed connections and lost luggage.

originally posted by: AccessDenied
Just did a 4000 km round road trip and other than the price of gas, things were almost prepandemic normal. Still a few die hard mask holdouts even in hot summer weather.
We packed our own food in coolers and didn't stay at hotels but I did hear from others that hotel prices have doubled.

Masking or no masking doesn’t bother me one bit. I do think it’s weird when people wear them at the pool or when it is pouring rain, yes i’ve seen both.

This is the great reset. Expect a true post apocalyptic world soon.

Yes hotel prices are sucking balls now. A $120 room is now like over $200. so it's largely not worth it.


a reply to: AccessDenied

a reply to: JAGStorm

Back to flying regularly since August. I've done a few international trips with four more lined up for the remainder of the year. Only major issues are staff shortages, particularly ground crews so the delays pushing back or pulling into a gate are pretty much every flight at my home airport and the United hubs. I have some personal travel since I want to guarantee my United status for next year after a couple of years where they carried it over.

Hotels are still mostly doing housekeeping on demand only which doesn't bother me. Meals and dining options are back to where they were at hotels as well.

I don't rent cars anymore so I couldn't tell you what that's like but I know I don't miss it.

I don't get it; there were plenty of people employed before the lockdowns. Many businesses ended up closing due to mandates and supply chain issues, causing a lot of people to become unemployed. Now we're told unemployment is at a 3.6%, yet everybody still in business can't find enough staff to meet customer needs.

How do they fudge the numbers to show such low unemployment rates? Is it because of all the new homeless people and those who have given up registering with the unemployment office not being counted?

Lots of fast food restaurants are hiring for 3-4 hour shifts, but with the high gas prices it doesn't begin to make employment feasible. What am I missing?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Hotels are still mostly doing housekeeping on demand only which doesn't bother me. Meals and dining options are back to where they were at hotels as well.

I don’t mind housekeeping on demand either. What I mind is that none of my rooms were at the level of clean I would like or have had in the past. I’m somewhat of a germaphobe so staying in a hotel isn’t that great for me in the first place.
I notice little things that probably wouldn’t bother most people.
Before covid I think hotels took it up a notch to compete with Airbnbs, but now it is bare minimum

a reply to: JAGStorm

I haven't had any issues with that, they've all been clean enough for me and I'm up to 80-90 stays so far.

The aircraft on the other hand of been grosser than normal, I constantly find crap by my seat and I don't fly in steerage so I expect better.

originally posted by: nugget1
I don't get it; there were plenty of people employed before the lockdowns. Many businesses ended up closing due to mandates and supply chain issues, causing a lot of people to become unemployed. Now we're told unemployment is at a 3.6%, yet everybody still in business can't find enough staff to meet customer needs.

Around 6,000,000 people took early retirement or packages to leave during the Vid. There is a very pronounced worker shortage, we cannot find enough people and it's been like that for over a year.

I recently traveled out of state for three days, and I can relate to the hotel/housekeeping aspect. All I asked them to do was to empty the trash and give us updated towels, called the front desk at about 6:30 AM to make that request. Had to come back to the room a few times. It took them until after 5:00 PM to give us new towels, but the trash wasn't touched, and the old towels were still on the floor where we left them!

We drove, five hour drive one way. Roads were crowded despite high gas prices. Restaurants were short staffed. We knew we would have to wait longer and did. Food was still good. Everything was more expensive. So I don't have any plans to do any more traveling this year. One and done. I really don't know how families can afford to travel.

a reply to: JAGStorm

We've been taking short day trips up and down the Pacific Coast so my wife can see the lighthouses. We do this every summer. 

We normally take a trip to Japan in the late summer or fall, but haven't done so since 2019. We are thinking of going this summer, but traveling seems so unpredictable still. Heathrow airport was the latest airport to cancel about 30 incoming flights. Some people didn't even find out that their flight was cancelled until they checked in at the airport on the day of their flight. I'd have to take a short vacation away from my wife if that happened to us. She would be in a foul mood for at least a week.

Exactly.

it was gross

I think there was blood.

a reply to: JAGStorm

My ex can't travel 'un-vaccinated' from Europe to the US
We are good friends still, have a child together, I'd love for him to come , but our corrupt government wants to make more $$ demanding useless damaging 'vaccines'

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I see a lot of people between the ages of 18 and 30 not working and just stumbling around smoking vapes. Not much of a shortage. usually they are homeless.

Are you telling me you get no job because you have no address?

I watched Will Smiths 'magnum opus' something about 'Happiness'

originally posted by: KTemplar
a reply to: JAGStorm


I wish I could afford to travel, interests rates, price increases have cancelled any chance I have to travel anywhere other than work 🥲

Same here... Vacation this year will be hanging around at home for a week and swimming in the heat of the day. We'll all probably be up until 1 or 2am playing card and board games. Better than risking wrecks out there anyways I guess.