• Mexico has ‘nada’ Covid restrictions when flying in or out of the country. Not only are all resorts open for business, but they have waived their minimum stays during the festive holiday. Exciting new openings range from the Four Seasons Los Cabos Costa Palmas on Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, formerly known as the Resort at Pedregal, in Cabo San Lucas to the One & Only Mandarina, located 1 hour north of Puerta Vallarta in Nayarit, Mexico’s Riviera.
• The Dominican Republic wants you back and, as an added incentive, they are giving all visitors complimentary travel & health insurance until the end of 2020.
• And let’s not forget the ultimate comeback kid, St Barth—they are doing better than ever with almost 100% occupancy during the holiday season!

Before you even get to your destination, it can be daunting to try and figure out all the Covid requirements needed… the good news is you no longer have to.
We now have a COVID-19 Global Travel Regulations Desk that verifies all the protocols and procedures needed for each destination. When you contact me for a trip, I’ll make sure you have all risk, safety, health and documentation information because that’s one less thing you have to worry about.

In the words of Aerosmith, ‘Walk This Way’ applies to ViewRanger, the brilliant navigational app for anyone that’s into the outdoors, especially hikers or bikers. Not only do you get satellite views of the surrounding landmarks, but you appear as a moving dot so you always know where you are. The app gives you access to maps, trail guides and powerful GPS features as well as the ability to plan, navigate, record and share your adventures-it even works offline without mobile or data signals. And now you never have to walk alone because there’s a feature called BuddyBeacon so you can share your real-time location with friends and family.

Looking towards the future…while only in the testing stages now, look for the CommonPass digital health pass app for travelers to document their certified COVID-19 test status on a transatlantic flight. The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum have joined forces to provide a global framework for lab results and vaccination records to be certified and eventually replace travel bans and quarantines with safe air and cross border travel. I’ll keep you posted on new developments.

It’s safe to say we can’t go to Italy at the moment, but I can deliver Dolce Vita to your doorstep! Piemonte, the region in northern Italy, is known for their white truffles—we’re working with the best truffle hunters and purveyors in the region and the process of selecting your truffles can be as interactive as you want it to be from meeting virtually with the purveyor and learning about the origin of the truffles to selecting and witnessing them being weighed. We can have them shipped to you within 2 business days just in time for Thanksgiving. Bellisimo! Contact  jodyb@beartvl.com for the details.

I’m honored to once again be included on the Travel + Leisure A-List for 2020. Travel is about being creative, thinking outside the box and safety. Trust the A-Listers!