2021: Travel Might Not Be the Stress-Reliever You Hoped For

Above, a social-distanced Delta flight in 2020. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

2020 was a stressful year in many ways besides the pandemic and 2021 is starting out somewhat better. Still, people are looking for an outlet to relieve the stress. Travel is seen as a major way to do so.

But is it?

St. Louis Post-Dispatch posted that travel might not be the stress-reliever it is hoped for in 2021.

They begin with:

The entirety of 2020 was brutal for most people, and the first few months of 2021 wasn’t exactly the panacea many hoped for. But now, you might've been lucky enough to snag a vaccination appointment — and may be feeling more confident.

Old-Unvaccinated-You wouldn’t get on an airplane, even if airfare was dirt-cheap. New-Vaccinated-You is ready to jump aboard a 40-hour, two-leg journey (plus stopover) in Dubai to finally check that Kenyan safari off your bucket list. You might have a two-year-old vacation fund to spend, not to mention a heckuva lot of stress to let go of. And on that note, a whopping 78% of respondents in the March 2021 American Express Global Travel Trends Report indicated wanting to travel this year to relieve stress from 2020.

Yet even if you’re vaccinated, 2021 travel might not be the stress-reliever you’re hoping for. In many ways, travel has only become more stressful.

Here’s what you can expect when traveling this year — and what you can do to be prepared or sidestep the added stress.

To read more, go here. 

Lincoln Library May Have To Sell Artifacts To Pay Debt

Above, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum may have to sell some artifacts in order to pay off a loan.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The foundation that supports the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum says it might have to sell artifacts if it can't pay off a decade-old loan that financed items related to the 16th president. 

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation has revealed it owes $10 million on a 2007 loan it used to buy the Barry and Louise Taper Collection, which includes a stovepipe hat Lincoln purportedly wore, bloodstained gloves he wore the night he was assassinated and an 1824 book containing the first known example of his handwriting. 

The foundation paid $25 million and borrowed $23 million. The note comes due in October 2019.

Above, the Lincoln family stands in the main lobby of the museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here. 

Teardrop Trailers Are Making A Comeback

Above, my grandmother cooking a meal behind the teardrop trailer my grandfather built.

The first time I ever heard of a teardrop trailer was when I was a kid and my mom was showing me photos of a teardrop trailer that my grandfather built back in the late-1930s or early-1940s.

While many people are buying motorhomes, large travel trailers and fifth wheels, the little teardrop trailer is gaining popularity with a growing segment of camping enthusiasts.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

It’s the type of streamlined practicality that could make you cry. 

Teardrop trailers, which got their start in the 1930s when do-it-yourself magazines published floor plans and then peaked in popularity among post World War II families, are making a comeback. 

Young families looking for a practical, fun way to travel like them. Singles traveling alone who need something to easily maneuver like them, too. And older couples or families weary of navigating a behemoth family RV around the country’s twists and curves like the idea of downsizing. 

The National RV Dealers Association, which doesn’t keep specific information on teardrops, says travel trailer shipments are up as a whole since 2009.

To read more, go here.