Travel In A Brave New World

The world has changed, but travel won’t stop. Here’s how both tour operators and travellers alike are solving the problem of seeing the planet in the time of COVID-19

- Sarah Baxter & Paul Bloomfield

Bubbles. Time was, not so long ago, we delighted in bursting them: it’s why we travel – to break out of our comfort zones, to discover strange sights and exotic cultures, to meet new people, to try unfamiliar foods, to sleep in beds that are not our own.

Today, though, we’re exhorted to stay within that very comfort zone – to maintain ‘bubbles’ within and across households. Yet for the foreseeable future, travel will be tricky without at least a bit of bubble-busting. At some point you may need to board a plane, train, bus or boat, eat in a restaurant, stay in a hotel room. Of course, risks can be mitigated: airlines reduce passenger numbers, mandate facemasks, disinfect cabins. Restaurants space tables. Hotels boost deep-cleans and online check-ins, with the buffet breakfast a (hopefully temporary) casualty.

There are, of course, ways to make your travels more ‘bubbly’. A private jet can be yours – if money’s no object: Air Charter Service quotes £7,250 for a London-Edinburgh flight in an eightseater Hawker Beechcraft 800. Or let the train take the strain: at time of press, the Rail Safety and Standards Board estimates that the chance of infection in England is around one in 11,000 passenger journeys, and many sleeper trains offer private cabins. Self-drive adventures are booming, as are exclusive hires – booking entire lodges, safari camps, boats, even hot air balloons for your bubble.