First things first: All available expert advice suggests you stay home this holiday season and celebrate only with those in your own home. We know that travel itself increases the risk of transmission and that coming into close physical contact with those you don’t normally spend time with will increase the likelihood of viral infection for you and those you gather with. And while survey data suggests that 70% of us do not plan to travel for the holidays in the coming weeks, that still leaves a sizable number of us who are thinking about hitting the road and visiting loved ones. If you fall into that category, there are a number of considerations to think about before you finally book that ticket, including what’s your risk level and the level for those you’ll be visiting? What’s the caseload and hospital capacity at your destination? Will you be able to quarantine both before you depart and after you arrive? The decision calculus is complex and comprehensive, so if you’re thinking about going, first think about the consequences and click here to find out more.

For those of you with a passion for travel but a penchant for staying safe, this holiday season it might be better to fulfill your wanderlust with presents that keep you at home. For example, take a look at Inside Hook’s 15 Gifts for the Stuck-at-Home Globetrotter along with these suggestions for some of the best road trip movies to binge during the holidays. And if you really have a hankering to get back out there, there’s no harm in beginning to consider your possible destinations by looking at this new Conde Nast Traveler list of the 21 best places to go in 2021.

But the question is, will you actually be able to freely travel again in 2021? Surveys suggest there are some signs of optimism among the traveling public. For example, a new survey by Expedia reveals that half of us are optimistic about taking a trip sometime in the next 12 months, though we’d be more comfortable if a vaccine were widely available and if such public health measures as mask enforcement, contactless services, and flexible refund policies were in place at our destination. Certainly, an available, effective, and well-received vaccine is essential to opening up future travel, especially internationally. But that’s not likely the end of the discussion when it comes to taking to the road again. For example, it’s likely that countries will want to see “test certificates” along with vaccination certificates before allowing you to enter, and now there are companies that airlines are turning to, such as CommonPass, to make this a reality for travelers.

Moreover, some travelers will be leery of booking travel unless guides and groups give you the sort of flexibility to wait and see what the conditions are before you lock yourself into a specific trip. Fortunately, that sort of adjustability seems to be surfacing. For example, one tour group – Exodus Travels– has launched a “dateless departure program” that allows you to reserve a seat on one of their small group adventures without committing to a precise date (and while providing you with a range of safety protocols to assure your comfort). Or consider the program at Get Your Guide that allows you to plan your trip, book your guides and get ready to go whenever you want (while giving you a full refund as long as you cancel within 24 hours of your booking). This is the sort of “necessary flexibility” that will need to be in place in order for most of us to put aside our concerns and embrace our wanderlust for the foreseeable future.