Places you can still travel to in the USA right now (if you are already in USA)

in #travel3 years ago

For the most part travel is basically suspended no matter where you are in the world. Very few international destinations are accepting anyone coming in without some really important reasons for doing so. For example: People with exceptional qualifications in certain fields would be allowed in very controlled situations but I would imagine that this does not apply to a vast majority of people other than foreign dignitaries.

A friend of mine was recently allowed to fly from USA to Australia because he is a college physics professor and even he had to go through extensive testing as well as 14-day quarantine. The situation was rather luxurious for him because he is an esteemed professor at a highly-regarded university that I will not reveal for the sake of not accidentally doxing my friend.

As for the rest of us mere peasants with a normal amount of credentials, I'm afraid our options are a bit more limited. However, if you can find that place that is still open and part of the country that you are already in, tremendous deals can be acquired in places that would otherwise be expensive to visit.

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One of the things that should be on every American's checklist of places to visit is the Grand Canyon. It was confirmed just a week ago that the National Park service has really gone out of their way to make as much of the park available for tourism as possible. Some more popular areas have limited or no availability but for the most part, the park is open. There are restrictions and social distancing is being enforced, but in my opinion, the times I have been there it was actually way too crowded anyway. These days, you can really get the feeling that you have the place to yourself and some campgrounds are open as well.

Hotels in these areas (the Grand Canyon is huge hence the name so I am not going to focus on any particular ones) are going at massive discounts. Normally and especially during the holidays these rooms would be going to hundreds of dollars a night. You would have to work pretty hard and be looking for something ultra luxurious in order to even spend $100 a night. You will need to expect that a most of the dining options are not going to be available but room service is still very much available. We gotta try to make lemonade out of these lemons and now might actually be a fantastic time to visit one of America's most amazing natural environs.


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Most of the ski resorts in Colorado and surrounding Rocky Mountain areas are still open and as you would expect some level of social distancing is being enforced. However, those who bother to look will find that Brekenridge, Vale, Crested Butte, and many others are fully-operational and once again, packages staying at lodges and primarily private villas are open to everyone and going at a fraction of the normal price. I have been skiing in Colorado on a number of occasions and it was an absolutely amazing time. The only downside was that it broke the bank going to visit them during "normal" years and once again, this price is tripled during the holidays. If you can manage to get to Colorado and rent a car at the Denver airport, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity with a massive lack of crowds and far diminished prices.


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While most people would probably choose to visit Yosemite in spring or fall, the park is open for all of winter as well - just plan accordingly. Dining is open in the valley and as far as I could tell with just a cursory search, most hotels are as well. There are tons of availabilities and just like the other two things I mentioned on this list, the room rates are FAR LESS than they would normally be. We can chalk this up to the fact that virtually no international travel is allowed and as strange as it might sound, the United States is actually one of the most heavily visited tourism destinations in the world. Now that all of that has been cut off, the supply far exceeds the demand.


Prices for virtually anything in the world is driven by the simple economic principal of supply vs. demand. Now that a very high percentage of the demand is eliminated by international travel to USA being all but banned, you can really get your hands on incredible deals at places that were likely "reserved" for people that probably make considerably more money than you do.

While all city destinations such as New York City (which I consider to be overrated anyway) are not viable options now but the natural wonders of the USA are very accessible and very inexpensive at the moment.

So while things still seem pretty dire as far as Covid is concerned, it might be a novel time to get involved in enjoying some of these places that otherwise might be beyond your financial means. Personally, I have booked a trip to go skiing in Colorado for the first time in over a decade and it is going to end up costing me less than half what it did way back when. When you consider inflation being a natural part of the progression of time, this makes this opportunity even more outstanding.