Let's face it, 2020 has been hard on everyone and kind of a crap show. Not everyone is ready to travel yet and that is Okay. But, if you are ready to travel sometime in the near future, you should consider booking a trip to Aruba.

Having traveled out of the domestic U.S. more than once this year, I have to say Aruba is doing it right. In my opinion they are handing the pandemic better than we are here in the States. Aruba should be used as a model for destinations that depend on tourism. Last week they had only 15 reported cases despite being open to tourism.

Why Aruba is Doing Things Right

First off, Aruba requires a negative COVID test for entry, taken within 72 hours of departure. That seems to us like a perfectly reasonable requirement. We were actually asked for our test results four times on our trip; one when checking into our initial flight, twice at the airport and once when checking into our hotel.

Secondly, Aruba requires you wear a mask indoors, and requires you to use hand sanitizer upon entry to each store, restaurant or other location. By the end of the week we got very used to looking for the sanitization station when entering a building or shop. We stopped in Miami on our way home, and one of the first things we noticed was there are no hand sanitizer dispensers by every elevator door.

When outside you have to wear a face covering ONLY when you can't social distance by six feet (or 1.5m). You can also remove you face covering when seated in a restaurant. They are pretty strict in this regard, and some places have additional restrictions. For example the Renaissance Aruba Resort requires you to keep your mask on at all times when on the resort property and even while riding the water taxi to their private island.

We felt pretty safe the entire time we were in Aruba even while doing activities. We met a lot of other Americans, mostly from the east coast. Aruba is setup well for American tourism. All of the locals we met on this trip spoke English, and virtually everyone will accept and give change in U.S. paper currency. Keep in mind though they don't use U.S. coins so depending on the amount of change, you may end up with some Aruban coins.

Personally I know that Taunya and I will definitely be coming back to Aruba. So far this is our favorite Caribbean island. Everyone is so friendly and very happy. They don't call it One Happy Island for nothing!

Why You Should Book Right Away

So why should you book now? Everyone we have talked to recently is suffering from COVID fatigue especially in highly restricted areas like California. As more things start to open, rooms will become harder to book due to capacity restrictions. Flights will become more expensive again as demand increases.

Let's face it, we are going to be looking at travel restrictions well into 2021. If you do want to travel right now you have to do it within your own comfort level. There are some amazing deals available and you should take advantage of them. Call us and we can help you find a great deal that meets your travel comfort level.

There is so much to talk about regarding our trip to Aruba, way to much talk about here. Keep on the lookout for more articles where we discuss all the fun things to do in Aruba and talk about our honest personal experiences. So yes, you should consider visiting Aruba right now!

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek

Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on LinkedIn