Admit it. You’re probably giving it some thought, if not daydreaming of the day in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future when you can take off again and travel out into the world. In fact, this week was the newly anointed holiday, “National Plan For Vacation Day!” Did you celebrate? Pick a destination? Pack your bags? If so, you’re not alone. A recent survey from the US Travel Association said 63% of us are “desperate” for a vacation and a full 97% of us affirmed that simply having a trip planned makes us happier.

But before you spend your dollars or commit your points, you need to know about the current travel conditions and how vaccinations may affect your travel options. Right now, given the Covid variants that are surging worldwide and the limited number of individuals who have been vaccinated, travel restrictions are not only still in place, but in many areas, are being reinstituted after they were previously lifted. Countries such as New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan are all utilizing entry and travel restrictions to keep down the transmission of Covid and keep out foreigners who may cause a rise in infection rates after cases were recently falling. And cruise lines that thought they were on the cusp of starting up have once again put a halt to resumption plans at least for several months if not indefinitely.  As one prominent epidemiologist bluntly states, “Travel is the hallmark of the spread of the virus around the world.” Thus you need to be aware of new limits and enhanced regulations governing travel at this time.

In the United States, whether you plan domestic air travel or overseas air travel, passengers need to be aware of enhanced precautions. For example, anyone coming into the United States, whether a foreigner or American Citizen, will need a negative Covid test before boarding and will need to quarantine upon entry into the US. And the TSA has instituted new procedures to limit physical contact with TSA agents, including face shields (in addition to masks) for agents unless they are behind acrylic barriers and scanning of luggage with 3D imaging rather than physically searching bags. All food items to be taken on board will also need to be placed in clear bags and separated from other luggage so that TSA agents can inspect without needing to touch your provisions.

Does any of this make you less likely to want to travel in the near future? Perhaps for many, the biggest factor will be whether, once you’re vaccinated, you can feel more confident heading out, at least to visit the loved ones you’ve likely not seen for over a year. But should you travel remains the question. Remember, while you may be in a safer position once you’ve received the 2 dose vaccination, we still don’t know whether you can infect others, even if you yourself don’t suffer the consequences of infection. So what’s the expert advice about this? If you’ve been vaccinated and you continue to wear a good mask (there is now even the suggestion that all of us should be wearing the gold-standard N95 mask), there is probably little risk of you transmitting the virus to others or becoming infected yourself. But while driving will still be safer than flying and you’re safer if everyone is wearing a mask, you’ll still court some risk until 70-85% of the population has been vaccinated (right now we are only at about 6% of the population having received the first shot). So, overall, the advice continues to be to proceed with extreme caution, always wear a mask, and don’t come into indoor contact with people you don’t know.

And if these many months have worn you down and physically challenged you in ways that have tested your strength and stamina, beware, as some are even raising the consideration of whether you may just be too old to travel at this point! While surely whether or not you can travel is more a function of your physical status than your age, there are now apparently some countries putting restrictions in place as to who is too old, for example, to rent a car. So, while many of us are eager to get back out there, some of us need to recognize that we’ve been through so much in the past year that as a consequence, our ambitions may outstrip our abilities- at least temporarily. So plan accordingly.