When will I get my European summer holiday?

Why are we still unlucky in love with international travel?

Hands up if you, like me, believed you’d be on an Airbus A380 come this winter, en route to anywhere European. And keep those sad little hands up if you, like me, are still sitting in your unheated sharehouse bedroom in the middle of winter left wondering, ‘Where did it all go wrong?’.

My greatly desired Euro summer adventure plans were left grounded. I sadly didn’t make it over the pond (let alone to the airport). If you’d asked me what my (now-obviously-uncommitted) New Year’s resolution was, I would’ve wholeheartedly said: be frugal and thrifty so I could be on a northern hemisphere pilgrimage. But alas, despite my best beliefs, I’m not. 

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So why now, four years since our last interrupted European summer, are we still unlucky in love with international travel? Inflation is through the roof and it’s affecting just about everything, travel included. The aviation industry is dealing with rising costs, extreme demand and post-lockdown balance sheets. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a triple-whammy, and this unwanted trifecta is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Today, boycotting Aussie winter is no easy feat. We Australians are looking at dramatic 50 per cent increases for some of our favourite overseas destinations. Gone are the days of the pre-pandemic, cheap-as-chips return flight averages. Don’t even think about comparing today’s Skyscanner search to the good ol’ days of $300 Europe flights.

So considering the above, this year’s international era isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Despite what you might see on your Euro-filled social media feeds, data from NAB suggests a lot of us are actually here at home, moored in the same domestic, going-nowhere boat. This year alone, two in three Australians have either cancelled or postponed their travel plans.

But bafflingly to me, many have somehow done it. Made my mission impossible, possible. They’ve moved mountains and are living the dream – the 2023 Euro summer. They’re drinking limoncello like it’s water, being overly possessive of their patch of pebbly beach and were definitely at Dekmantel. We see them, day after day, as we’re tasked with waking up on these cold winter mornings to envy-inducing social media content. 

This time of year has always been predictable; it’s the Euro Insta season we know to expect. But while the bombardment of content usually sparks the ‘I wish I was there’ feeling, this year’s overwhelming thought is, ‘Ummm, did they win the Powerball?’. Because in the promised post-lockdown world, we were assured that planes would be flying and borders would be open and we would be back just like before. But it’s just not that simple.

The passport full of stamps I was banking on to compensate for three-ish years of nada is not happening. I thought I’d finally be living the life of a Getaway host but my wanderlust is still a mere fantasy. So if you, like me, thought this year was the year of jet-setting, not Jetstar-ing, don’t fear. 

We can try to give every cloud a silver lining, so here’s a friendly reminder to look in our backyards. According to the latest census data, we’re more culturally diverse than ever so it’s not surprising you can find the best of abroad here at home. We’re able to dabble in a smörgåsbord of sceneries that can be mistaken for European vistas. 

You never know what you might find! While the whole rekindling with Europe might not have happened this year, our European dream could very much come true next year… or the year after. And when this girl can finally globetrot, best believe you’ll know about it. But for now, it’s okay to stay a little bit salty.

To hear more about how people deal with travel FOMO, try this.