We Are Not Out of the Woods Yet But We’re Seeing a Clearing in the Distance

It has been a tough year for travelers. The Covid-19 pandemic made traveling dangerous and led to the closure of most venues. Like most of you, we stayed home in 2020 and so far in 2021 and waited for some relief. Those of you in Atlanta, Cleveland, Gainesville, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Reno who read our column know that we have been revisiting many of our past columns and updating them with as much current information as we would find.

Fortunately, some relief has arrived in the guise of vaccines and other preventive measures. We had both doses of our vaccines by late March and are now ready to venture out again…carefully. Though we are not scientists, we listen to those who are, especially medical and public health specialists, and are heeding their best current advice for our future travels.

So what are they advising, as of late April, 2021 and what are our plans?

Based on scientific advice, airlines, trains and tourbus operators are beginning to resume more widespread service. Cruise lines will soon follow. Should you go? Are we going? Our answer is a qualified yes, but it depends.

O.K., you’re probably asking, what does it depend on?

*Our advice is to stay home if you are not fully vaccinated. If you want to travel, get a vaccination..

*Keep your proof of vaccination with you. Make a copy and laminate the copy. Keep the original in a safe place.

*Don’t let your guard down. You should still wear masks indoors, on planes, trains and buses, in places with large crowds and indoors.

*Wash your hands often and stay outside as much as possible as you travel.

*Where you ae going makes a difference. Check CDC and State Department advisories before making specific plans. Avoid covid hot spots. As the subtitle title of this note declares, we are not out of the woods yet.

Taking our own advice, we are planning to take a long-deferred U.S.road trip this summer and we have a carefully-selected overseas jaunt in the planning stages for the autumn shoulder season. Check back with this web site since we will be updating things as they come along.

Be safe and enjoy your simply smart travels.

The post Travel in 2021 appeared first on Simply Smart Travel.

Here are some of the many Simply Smart Travel columns published in print and on the web.
New columns added periodically

Enjoy and Bon Voyage.

Barcelona   A Cosmopolitan Gem On The Mediterranean

Costa Rica   Volcanos, Rainforests And Crocodiles

Charleston  History And Southern Hospitality

Glacier N.P. & Canadian Rockies  Scenic Grandeur In Two Countries

Montreal  A Cosmopolitan Bi-Lingual City Worth Visiting

Ottawa  A Sophisticated And Scenic Seat Of Democracy

Plymouth  Plymouth Rock And Great Architecture

Quebec French Charm In North America

Portland, Oregon Eclectic, Beautiful And Just A Little Weird

Temecula  The Best Wine District You Never Heard About  

San Diego   Far More Than A Navy Town   

Washington, D.C.  A Magnificent National Capital

Wilmington  A DuPont-Dominated Place of Wonder      

Exploring Florida Series

JAX Beach Where Jacksonville Goes To Play

St. Augustine  Nature, History And Architecture

All Material on this page is copyright Simply Smart Travel, Inc. and may be used by written permission only.

Editors: You Can Carry Simply Smart Travel … The Syndicated  Column

NEWS: You can now see Simply Smart Travel articles on the Voyage Report. We are pleased to welcome the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia, Real Magazine in Sarasota, Fl., Beacon newspapers (Washington, DC, Baltimore  and Palm Springs, California), Senior News (Youngstown, Ohio), Senior Spectrum (Reno,  Nevada),  Hometown News (Daytona Beach,  Ormond Beach and Volusia County,  Florida), The Pelican (Deerfield  Beach, Florida) and Senior Times (Gainesville, Florida) to the growing and eclectic family of quality media that run the  Simply  Smart Travel column.

We are over  490,200 verified circulation and,  using a standard  industry reader  multiple,  we touch well-over 1.5 million readers…and  that doesn’t even counts the multitudes of online readers including  www.After50Living.com and www.VoyageReport.com.

It is available to reputable publications around North America and is currently published in quality magazines, newspapers and web sites in nine states. We reach readers in Reno, St. Louis, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Sarasota and many places in between. Shouldn’t we be reaching your readers?

• Proven appeal to over-50 and millennial readers and travel-oriented advertisers
• Subject matter: Practical and interesting trip reports and travel tips for over-50 travelers.
• Standard column length:  850-1,000 words including sidebars.
  
• Includes: 4-6 high-res photos and captions.
• Format: E-mailed in Word with accompanying jpg photos the 15^th of each month.

To arrange to carry Simply Smart Travel, please email jorenstein@simplysmarttravel.com.

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Katz Catstle on the Rhine at St. Goarhausen, Germany. Simply gorgeous!

San Francisco’s Golden gate

Scroll down to see some photos we took on our recent trips.

Please check this page regularly as we update it as the spirit moves us.

Peaks and meadows in Yosemite National Park

The Old Mill Wheel at Martha Berry College in Rome, Georgia

Cherry trees in bloom at beautiful Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

The canals in Copenhagen are very similar to those in Amsterdam.

Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley

The mighty Mississippi at Memphis

Golden Gate Sunset From The Oaikland Hills

Point Lobos on California’s Pacific Coast

A gorgeous Canadian Glacial Lake

Mt. Baker, Washington as seen from the Straits of Juan De Fuca

Glacier National Park’s Lake McDonald

Sarasota Florida Bayfront

The westbound Via Canadian crosses a trestle on Canada’s great prairie as the train makes its way to Vancouver.

Cypress tress in Florida’s Babcock Wilderness

Two herons fly low over the Matanzas River in St. Augustine soon after dawn. Taken from the Eco-Tour boat.

Ronda, Spain is a delightful town filled with history and gorgeous vistas.

The view of the Lake Lure valley from North Carolina’s Chimney Rock is incomparable.

The Mayflower II replica in the harbor at Plymouth, Massachusetts, just steps from Plymouth Rock.

The post Photos From Our Recent Trips appeared first on Simply Smart Travel.

Tips, Trips and Tid-Bits for the Savvy Over-50 Traveler.

Why are there so many over-50 travel companies and tour operators? Because being 50 or older (sometimes a lot older) today is not what it was in when your parents and grandparents were that age. Today, those of us in the second half of our lives live longer, work longer, stay fit longer, have more disposable income and travel far more for business and pleasure than our ancestors ever dreamed about.

We’re also better educated, are able to easily access more information and are more adventuresome than previous generations.

The old over-50 travel largely focused on quiet luxury resorts, cruises that were long on leisure and short on activities and sightseeing and gentle bus tours that started late in the day and got everybody back to the hotel in time for dinner. Boring!

That’s not the over 50 travel we’re talking about! Over-50 travelers like us are out there. We’re exploring the world, looking for new tastes and sights, soaking up learning and culture and not afraid of a little adventure.

So what set us apart from the under-50 set? Frankly, not that much. Still, age has its privileges and we do have some relevant characteristics and interests that define us and make us such a desirable travel market.

• First, while we like to hang out with our contemporaries, we also enjoy and relate to folks of all ages. Senior-only tours and groups appeal to only some of us.

• While we’re not quite as athletic as some (by no means all) twenty-somethings, we’re a pretty fit and adventuresome bunch who are not afraid to bike, hike, climb and explore on our way to adventure.

• Though we’ve finished our formal education, we’re committed to lifelong learning and yearn to absorb as much as we can in our travels.

• Because we’ve climbed the ladder through at least one career (and many of us are in our second or third), we’ve got some money in our pocket and are willing to spend on what we deem to be good values.

• We’ve also honed our tastes so we’re always on the lookout for excellent food, drink and attractions, especially those just off the beaten path.

• Many of us travel with our children and grandchildren so we wind up at the Disney World’s of the World but look for more than roller coasters while we’re there.

As we blog about over-50 travel and bring you trip reports and travel tips, we’ll cover health and fitness as it pertains to travel and keep today’s senior traveler in mind.

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