Happy Sunday to all our travel friends, both near and far. Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, so we’re passing them along.
- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, most people have decreased how much they travel or totally stopped traveling due to health and/or financial reasons. Because of this, hotel loyalty programs have been extending the points expiration dates for people with no account activity over the last year. Wyndham Hotels has extended points through June 30, 2021, but several program members have reported their accounts flagged as inactive and do not have access to their points. Here’s what Wyndham has said about this issue.
- International travel always had certain things you needed to think about before visiting a new country: visas, currency, customs and health requirements. A new thing on this list is f there are COVID-19 restrictions upon entry and exit of the country. Just because we’re all focused on COVID, it doesn’t mean that other diseases, like Malaria, have gone away. Unfortunately, one traveler found this out the hard way and ended up in a hospital for several days with the disease. This is exactly why it’s more important than ever to buy medical insurance when traveling.
- Just as you can’t let your guard down when it comes to your health, you also need to watch out for your money. There are many legal ways banks will try to rip you off when using an ATM. We found this out with a certain brand of ATM that’s prevalent in Europe. It turns out, Mexico has its own set of ATMs that charge enormous transaction fees and horrible rates for currency conversion. Travelers beware.
- Throughout the last year, there’s been endless talk about what locations people around the world can visit. The issue with all of these plans of forming “safe bubbles” is that it takes very little for the bubble to burst. Signs of increased infections or new variants get governments worried and often, these plans crumble before they even took place. While we had seen a recovery with people traveling more, new restrictions are being put into place with countries cut off with almost no notice. We’re not flying at all at the moment, and this is only one of the reasons we’re not getting onto a plane for a while.
- Japan is one of our favorite places to visit. It’s a fascinating mix of old and new. We love visiting all of the historical sites and temples that are right next to the blinking lights and cutting-edge technology in use everywhere you look. One more thing we like to do while in Japan is visit theme parks. From the best Disney theme parks in the world, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, to the cheesiest ones (the now-closed Nara Dreamland), and ones we never figured out what the park was about (Shima Spain Village). One park we’ve not yet visited is Universal Studios Japan. We’re hopefully going to check off that box later this year and I’m glad we waited because now we’re going to get to see Super Nintendo World. All I have to do now is find a hotel in Osaka.
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#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
