Hands up if you love to travel? We’re gonna go ahead and assume that most of you have put your hands in the air like you just don’t care. Traveling allows us to escape from our own lives for a week or so, and it allows us to unwind from the stresses and the struggles that revolve around our careers, our home lives, and the general state of the world. Although the coronavirus pandemic has put many people’s vacations on hold, it seems as though the human race is always optimistic, and Americans are already looking at where they can travel when restrictions are lifted.

Staying at home

There’s a high chance that you have been staying at home for a while now. After all, many states have put stay-at-home orders in place, and lockdown is a word that we’re now all pretty used to. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, many countries have locked down their borders and are no longer allowing people to enter – at least not without a 14-day quarantine period after they land. With this in mind, it should come as no surprise to learn that people are longing for the day when restrictions are lifted, and cross-border travel is allowed again. It seems as though there are a few trends among the general public, as well.

Analyzing the data

Expedia.com is one of the biggest travel sites out there, and many people use this platform to search for their next vacation. In light of the ongoing situation, it seems as though Expedia has been receiving just as much traffic as it was before lockdown began – and they have now shared their data with Travel + Leisure. This data analyzes the destinations that people are looking at in different countries, and it’s been noted that American trends are pretty interesting.

Staying in the country

What’s interesting about this data is that eight of the ten most-searched-for destinations on Expedia over the past few weeks have been for destinations within the United States. It seems as though the general consensus among American nationals is that, while travel will be allowed once restrictions are lifted, it’s safer to stay closer to home than traveling across the globe. Those searching for flights between July and December were largely looking at tourist hotspots, including Orlando, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Heading across the globe

However, that doesn’t mean that people haven’t been looking at international options. The Expedia data also found that many travelers were looking at destinations outside of the United States – but also fairly close by. Destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean made up much of the top ten, with the Maldives making its mark as the only destination outside of these two areas. Once again, this shows that Americans are being pretty cautious – which is good to see.

Travel won’t be off the cards forever, but it seems as though these trends show us where Americans will be traveling to first.