This was published 2 years ago
Young travellers take overseas holidays despite pandemic: 15-year-old travels alone to UK with McDonald's job money
By Sheriden Rhodes
Hugo Beavis prior to boarding his flight to London.
While many Australians wait for more certainty before booking their overseas holiday, Hugo Beavis got sick of waiting.
The 15-year-old high school student just returned from a solo trip to London after saving up the money from his jobs working at McDonald's and walking his neighbour's dog.
Beavis, from Newcastle, snared a $1000 return fare with Singapore Airlines the moment the reopening of Australia's international borders was announced.
Hugo Beavis checks in. Tired of waiting for the pandemic to end, the 15 year old used money saved from part-time jobs to purchase his own fare to London.
The most daunting part of the trip was boarding the flight at Sydney Airport, he said.
"That's when it hit me. I was flying to the other side of the world on my own."
Beavis is one of many young Australians desperate to travel overseas again, who have had their adventures curtailed by travel restrictions and border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seeing the sights in London.
Ebony Feros, 22, and her partner have recently moved back home to save for a trip to Europe.
"We are going to save hard by living with our parents, go and enjoy an extended holiday, come home, save up and go again. We want to do multiple trips to make up for the past two years of not being able to travel. We can't wait for everything to be completely safe with COVID. It's now or never."
The couple are hoping to visit Italy, Greece and Croatia later this year or early next year.
"We just have to get on with it. If we leave it too long, we'll be having kids and will have missed our chance," she said.
Adam Armstrong, chief executive of tour company Contiki, which only allows travellers aged 18 to 35, said while most Australians are desperate to travel again, they're seeing greater confidence among younger travellers booking holidays for the northern summer.
"In spite of the noise around Omicron, they appear to have decided to just get on with things and not put off their travels any longer," he said.
Armstrong said Contiki, whose biggest market is Australia, is seeing a strong recovery with bookings almost back to normal.
"Most of our business in normal times is taking Aussies to Europe and now they are booking again, big time."
The company's recent Boxing Day sale broke booking records, he said.
Armstrong said young travellers were taking advantage of flexible booking conditions, discounted rates and were skewing to longer trips. He said Contiki's 45-night 'Ultimate European' tour visiting 15 countries, 26 cities and islands is again a top-seller for Australians in 2022.
"I think they're planning to travel for longer this year and really make up for lost time," he said.
Meanwhile, Beavis has returned home in time to start year 10 after his two-week trip to the UK, where he stayed with his grandparents on a canal boat and took in the main attractions of London (along with a side trip to the birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford-upon Avon).
"Flying into London was incredible, seeing the lights below. There weren't many people at Sydney Airport but there were thousands at Heathrow," he said.
"When I saw the cheap fare to London I just made a split decision to go. My parents were supportive although mum said she got a stomach ache every time she thought about me travelling alone."
See also: Travelling during the pandemic? Here's what you need to pack
See also: Which countries can we visit right now? Aussie favourites remain closed
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