STICKER SHOCK: Mandatory bucket list reset!

Wow to say life stopped instantly would be an understatement! The great news is life is moving forward quickly and the wanderlust for travel is more than just a fantasy of sometime in the future. Most of you have exciting trips booked and are looking forward to traveling again! 

A post about a bucket list reset had been on the list way before March of 2020 because of the drastic changes happening due to climate and modernization that I have witnessed over the last decade. However, this post could not be more different than the original one I had planned. 

STICKER SHOCK; be aware!

In the past few months, I’ve had many conversations with avid travel photographers and nearly every one of them is excited to go on new trips. Before March 2020, travel was moving into its peak since the crash of the global economy. Travelers were booking two and even three years out. Therefore, trips for 2020 were created and priced in 2018 and then the world went on pause. New trips for 2022 or 2023 are priced four or five years later than what was planned back in 2018. Normal is a 5% -15% increase from year to year. Therefore, it is easy to understand why new trips are giving people a sticker shock when they see prices %20 -40% higher. 

Many of us who had long and loyal relationships with our partners, were able to maintain our price on postponed trips; even some that were planned, but not yet released.  Spaces on these trips with pre-pandemic prices are limited and in high demand. Experienced travelers are on the prowl and grabbing these last great deals before they vanish in 2023. I have only a few of these types of spots left in 2022

VANISHING; it is not temporary 

Many of you have commented that you are finding new trips are shorter with fewer locations and yet priced the same or higher. Sadly, as you are excitedly browsing through new trips you may find those special trips, such as my Botswana Premier 2022, with three amazing locations each uniquely different, exclusive use houseboats for better access, private charters to airstrips minutes from camp saving precious time in the field, and two country safaris like the signature primate safari, becoming harder to find or will come at a premium in 2023.

This trend first started with the global economic crash. It took several years for travel to recover. To maintain premarket crash pricing many companies elected to cut days, locations and fringe, such as day-use rooms at the end of a trip. However, this time is much different. Custom-designed multiple destination wildlife safaris come with a lot of moving parts, which makes disruption and postponement of the special trips much more difficult; they have become high risk. Therefore, many tour companies are changing their itineraries to offer fewer locations in each safari and this may be here to stay for several years.  

THE NEW STRATEGY 

An increasing strategy, especially with big brand companies (offering more than 20 trips a year with multiple tour leaders) is to go with one ground operator that owns a collection of properties. These properties are named differently and appear to be owned by separate companies, but they are all under the umbrella of one company. When you book all properties that are owned by one company you receive better pricing and only have to deal with one supplier when a booking is disrupted.  Therefore, the itinerary is built on price and convenience rather than the best experience; disguised and the market as custom. Make sure to do your research because you can easily plan and arrange these types of trips yourself and save a lot of money.  

PRIORITIZING; quality over quantity 

Understanding these changes that you may have discovered when searching for your next trip can help you strategize your future travel planning; possibly a bucket list reset is in order. If the quality, uniqueness, and location of your experience are important, then you may want to choose higher-quality custom-crafted itineraries and spend a long time in an international location with fewer international trips and a mix of local workshops to improve your skills to be at the top of your game while traveling. Especially while testing remains in place, the more international countries you travel to, the more testing, arranging logistics of your test, and long lines at the airport due to all the new forms showing proof of test and vaccines that you will have to deal with. Therefore, you may have decided that, at least for the next few years, it is better to travel less and take those more special trips and extend your time in that destination.  

THE WORLD NEEDS YOU! 

No matter how you decide to travel I hope you are planning some special trips. Although I went to Kenya for three months over the winter, this is the longest I have been in one country for nearly 20 years. Other cultures around the world have greatly enriched my life and broadened my worldly views, and I miss this influence terribly. I am so grateful for WhatsApp (WIFI calling) and zoom so I was able to stay in contact with guides and friends around the globe constantly. Even though some of them have been able to work out in the field, they all miss you terribly. Most of them will not have the means to travel the way you do, and you bring them a part of another world. They may not be able to come to you, but the world comes to them and they miss all the international clients. This brings the world together and it is needed now more than ever. 

Hope to see you in Africa soon!