Here & There - July 217, 2020
Still here.
Here & There is a weekly email from Kyle Frost about travel/tourism, remote trends, and other stuff. If you’ve been enjoying these updates, please forward it to a friend, or share with your network. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing (it’s free!).
First off…I’m still here. Sorry for the lack of emails the last two weeks — I was on a river trip from Friday-Friday. It was a much needed escape and I don’t regret being completely disconnected from the world for a week. I’m getting back on the wagon, and posts should resume their weekly cadence as usual — hopefully getting back to a few more in-depth style topics.
I was up on the Selway River in Idaho, one of the most difficult river permits to get in the US, and it was just amazing. Incredible scenery, whitewater, and friends. I’ll probably do a full Exposure post soon, but here are a few highlights.
There’s not much to be excited about, travel-wise.
Halfway through July now, I don’t personally have a high level of optimism about the travel industry. With COVID cases in the US back at record highs, the future is incredibly uncertain. In particular, if these trends continue we’re looking at a non-existent or extremely constrained ski season, as well as long-term impacts on international travel (both confidence-wise and other countries extending bans/quarantines on US travelers). Currently there are only a handful of countries that US citizens can travel to with restrictions, and an even smaller amount without restrictions. The Caribbean is pretty desperate for any kind of tourism to resume, but notably, the list does not include most of Europe (with the exception of the UK).
A few headlines:
We’ve seen recoveries in short-term rentals, with Airbnb seeing it’s first 1 million booking night since March. About half of the nights booked are for destinations within 300 miles of the guest’s location, and two-thirds are for destinations outside cities.
Barbados is trying to attract visitors with their new “Barbados Welcome Stamp” which allows remote workers to work from Barbados from up to a year.
Camping continues to surge, along with RV purchases and rentals, as people look for ways to get outside.
Despite the increase in camping, there’s not a super positive outlook for retailers. REI laid off 400 furloughed retail employees this week, as well as 300 people at their headquarters. The in-store experience has always been key for REI, and they’re still unable to fully open any of their stores.
American Airlines plans to furlough 25,000 employees. Yes, you read that correctly.
Around the web
Looks Like You Need Iceland - Need to blow off some steam about the last few months? A new website lets you scream into the void, and have those screams "released" into the vast, remote landscapes of Iceland via a network of speakers around the country. Time to just let it all out.
WindowSwap is a website that lets you enjoy live streams of window views around the world.
Climbing in the Outer Hebrides - I’ve been following a lot more adventure/outdoor content from the UK recently, for a lot of reasons, partially because it’s the only place we can fly right now 😭. This mission to climb sea cliffs on a remote Scottish island, while waaaaay outside of anything I’d ever do, looked pretty amazing.
If you’re looking to both drool over amazing cabins/houses and also get super depressed about real estate, Cheap Nordic Houses is the instagram account for you. BRB, planning my move to Skutvik, Norway.
Stay safe, stay healthy. As always, feel free to reach out with ideas, feedback, or stuff you think I should talk about via email, Instagram, or Twitter.
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Cheers,
Kyle