Where Can Americans Travel? - 35 Countries Open to U.S. Tourists

Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests.

Kristin:    00:00:23    Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Badass Digital Nomads. I am your host, Kristin Wilson from Traveling with Kristin. And this is episode, I believe, 68 or 69 of the show. And as you know, we do a mix of business advice, entrepreneurship advice, remote work, travel, a whole mix, a whole blend of, you know, this new age of technology and mobility that we're living in, pandemic or not. Um, I know we've had all had a pause on travel lately, but on August 6th, the State Department announced that it was lifting its level four, do not travel advisory for US citizens. And I've been doing a lot of research on places that Americans can travel to, uh, because we have kind of been the kind of pariah of the world we've been really cut off with from everything from every country almost because of the high COVID-19 infection rate.  

Kristin:    00:01:35    But as of August 15th, I have uncovered at least 35 countries that Americans can now start traveling to. So of course, this information is still changing pretty frequently, but this is a really good guide for you guys to go off of if you are thinking of going somewhere before the end of 2020. So this is good news that airlines and airports and hotel operators and tourism operators and everyone is coming together to create guidelines for travel that are generally safe. Of course, there's gonna be some risk of contracting coronavirus if you leave the house, but, um, it, it seems that people have been traveling quite safely and that according to studies and research that the air and airplanes, uh, could be cleaner than other public places or is cleaner than other public places. And so the risk is quite low of, of contracting the virus in an airplane.  

Kristin:    00:02:47    So if you do wanna travel right now, this episode is for you. But first I just wanted to give a little bit of a personal update because the first two months of August have been pretty crazy. I had the work from home burnout, which I talked about two episodes ago. I then came back to Miami and had to move unexpectedly to a new house because of some, uh, construction work and an insurance claim here. Um, it's a very old property that I was living in and, um, they're doing some work on that. So I moved out and then, uh, two days later or a day later, I got really sick and thought, actually thought that I had COVID-19, but it luckily turned out to be strep throat. So I've been homesick for about a week and did not publish a video this week on Traveling with Kristin on YouTube.  

Kristin:    00:03:48    But, um, if you're not subscribed, by the way, head over there and subscribe for my weekly travel videos and Coronavirus travel updates. But I did film two videos this week, so we will have some new ones coming out soon, and one is on the safest countries to travel to during COVID and also more details about countries that Americans can travel to. So keep an eye out for that. And if you are going to be traveling or if you do business in other countries and work remotely with clients, customers, freelancers, contractors in other countries, make sure that you have a borderless account with TransferWise. I've been using it for I think about seven years or more now, and I use it almost every day to send and receive money from anywhere around the world. Um, you can get a debit card depending on which country you're from, and if you use my affiliate link in the show notes of this podcast, you can get your first transfer for free up to 500 British pounds.  

Kristin:    00:04:57    So make sure to check that out. So just to recap on this State Department travel advisory on March 19th, that, well, on March, I believe 11th or 12th is when the Trump Europe travel ban went into place or travel restrictions. And then on March 19th, the State Department followed up with an advisory for US citizens to avoid all non-essential international travel due to the impact of COVID-19. So it has been months that this do not travel advisory has been in place. And finally on August 6th, it was listed, uh, or lifted around the same time that a lot of countries were reopening their borders to international tourists, um, but also now US citizens as well. So even though countries have been reopening since May or June, um, US citizens have kind of been, um, restricted from entering, and that is still the case in Europe, but there are quite a few, uh, countries as, as you'll learn today, where you can go.  

Kristin:    00:06:09    So to get all of the updated information, make sure to check out travel.state.gov just as a disclaimer. And then another website that I really like is SafetyWing's flatten the Curve Global. The State Department also still has advisories for each specific country. So if you go to the link in the show notes description, you can actually see what the travel risk is for the country that you're interested in going to if it's open. So these are classified level two, three or four. So two being the safest and four being the least safe. And the only two countries on the level two are Macau and Taiwan, which are not open to US citizens right now. So all of the countries on the list that I'm gonna give you now on the podcast are either a level three or four according to the State Department, but if you check out my YouTube video that's coming out, I explain the, the difference in how safe each country is based on its State Department advisory ranking, its CDC ranking and also its number of COVID infections.  

Kristin:    00:07:25    So even though, even if the US is giving a warning to travel somewhere, I personally think if that country has a really, really low covid infection rate with like less than a hundred cases or less than a thousand cases, then I don't see how it could be more dangerous than staying in the United States where we have the highest infection rate in the world. So, you know, everybody use your judgment, make your decision, but that's just my opinion. Um, it's kind of weird for the US to be giving out these dangerous warning labels to other countries that have lower infection rates, but whatever <laugh>. Um, all right, let's get to the list. In the interest of saving time, since there are about like 34 or 35 countries, I have combined a lot of the countries together. So any country that is an island in the Caribbean or near the Caribbean Sea, I have put together because it would just take a really long time to explain the entry requirements of each country in this podcast.  

Kristin:    00:08:33    It would be like two hours long <laugh>. Um, but I'll link to to, um, a medium article that I'm writing with all of the information and the links for each country if you wanna check the specific entry requirements and quarantine requirements for those countries. So let's just start with the Caribbean, uh, since there are so many countries open there right now, and it's because these countries are dependent on tourism for their economies and they also being remote islands, they were able to shut down their airports and borders really early on in the pandemic. And so they kept those covid infection rates really low anywhere from 10 cases to over a little over a thousand cases per island. So it's a pretty safe bet if you're gonna be traveling in 2020 to, um, head over to an island. And although it's hurricane season right now, so be careful.  

Kristin:    00:09:27    The countries in the Caribbean that are allowing Americans right now include Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Granada, Jamaica, St. Barts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines and the Turks and Caicos. And there could be more opening up soon, but probably up almost a hundred percent of these Caribbean islands are gonna be open to US tourists. So that's great news and some are allowing you to stay for up to one year like Barbados if you apply for that digital nomad visa. Others allow you to stay for up to one month, three months, six months. It just depends on the island. And for the most part, none of them are requiring a quarantine. They're just requiring you to show a negative COVID-19 test. Some of them are testing again on arrival, and some are requiring either proof of travel insurance or to buy an insurance policy provided by the government, but it looked pretty affordable.  

Kristin:    00:10:40    I think it was about $15 a day for a Aruba, for example, for their COVID-19 coverage. And you can also check out the link in this, uh, podcast show notes for other Trav--  International travel insurance through SafetyWing that covers COVID-19. So that's really good news once we move out of the Caribbean. Um, let's go into alphabetical order just for ease of listening and referencing each country. And Albania is one of the first countries to reopen back in May, and it is now allowing Americans apparently, but it's not official. However, word on the street is that Americans have been coming and going. So I scoured the internet and the government websites trying to find explicit permission for Americans to go there, but I couldn't find it. However, uh, one of my friends is from Albania who lives in Miami and she also said that Americans have been able to go.  

Kristin:    00:11:44    So I think that's a pretty safe bet. Albania also allows you to stay for up to one year, which I did not know before and I really wish I knew that because it's a really affordable place to live and it's really beautiful. Like if you like the Adriatic Sea, if you like Croatia, if you like Greece, if that kind of lifestyle appears, um, appeals to you, then I think you'll really like Albania. It's, it's beautiful, beautiful beaches like Rocky coastline kind of looks like Italy in a way like Sicily and has really good food and yeah, really cheap. So check that out. They've had about 7,000 covid cases so far. Cambodia is another one that has been featured on my YouTube channel in the past few months because they reopened really quickly during the pandemic back in May. They've had less than 300 cases and no deaths, but they have a really long complicated list of things to do if you wanna go there.  

Kristin:    00:12:42    But they are accepting us travelers. You just have to pass a COVID test, another onsite test, have a $50,000 insurance policy and quarantine if you go there. And you also have to deposit $2,000 to cover any COVID-19 related costs should you get sick while there. Although it seems like with all of these requirements that in the low infection rate, it seems pretty unlikely that you would get it there. Back over in Europe, Croatia reopened in July and they had been allowing, uh, European visitors to come in, but they're also one of the few countries in Europe that is allowing Americans. You just have to present proof of accommodation and fill out the online form at Enter Croatia and present a negative PCR test and also email the border control if you wanna go in, which is kind of funny. I've, I've crossed through the Croatia border a few times, uh, over near Dubrovnik.  

Kristin:    00:13:45    And the email for the border control is UZ like zebra, G like girl do covid at M like Mary, U like unicorn, P like paul.hr, so UZG.covid@MUP.hr. And over nearby we have, uh, the United Arab Emirates that is also allowing us tourists and they require you to register a health declaration and proof of health insurance before your trip. And Nas Daily did a video about Emirates just a couple weeks ago, I think, saying that it was one, it could be one of the safest countries to travel to during Corona, although he didn't present any statistics on that. That was just the title of the video. But anyway, it looked like there were no tourists there right now and he was out in the desert. So it's pretty hard to get covid if you're in the desert. I guess also nearby Egypt has allegedly reopened to US tourists and depending on the sources that I found, some people were saying that they didn't get any questions or have to fill anything out or any tests when they got there.  

Kristin:    00:15:04    And it's another one of those gray areas where I couldn't find explicit permission for US travelers to go. But I saw in forums and comments of some articles that people were going there. And I did find somewhere online that on paper it said that you need to show proof of a negative test within 72 hours unless you're just transiting through. So also good to know that you can transit through Egypt without um, having a test and just, you know, I would say wherever you go, just make sure you're getting a, a negative test. Anyway, before you go. Next up we have French Polynesia, uh, otherwise known. That's where Tahiti is, which reopened also in July. They've only had less than 200 covid cases and it's one of the level two, uh, risk countries according to the State Department. So it is one of the lowest risk countries according to the US State Department.  

Kristin:    00:16:02    And you also need a negative COVID test to go there. Georgia over in Eastern Europe is accepting US citizens not as tourists, but as part of their new digital nomad visa program that they announced in July. So ironically, you can't go on vacation there, but you can move there for six months. So stay tuned for more information about that because I think I'm gonna do a full episode comparing and contrasting with like pros and cons of the new Digital Nomad Visa Programs and which ones are BS and which ones are legit and useful. Basically, which ones I think are like a PR stunt and which ones are really viable alternatives to go live somewhere over in Africa. Africa went on strict severe lockdown back when the pandemic started, so their case levels have remained pretty low in a lot of the countries there. And Kenya is now open to US citizens except from high risk states like California, Florida, and Texas, and you just need to pass a screening upon arrival.  

Kristin:    00:17:11    But it seems pretty mellow. The Maldive islands over in, uh, the Indian Ocean are also open to US tourists and you just have to fill out a health declaration and pass a temperature check when you get there. Mexico, it has been open the entire time during the pandemic and they don't have any sort of restrictions at all and you can just come and go. And my sister just went there last week and she was in Cancun and Playa del Carmen and she said everything was fine. Uh, next up Sri Lanka apparently is reopening this weekend. So maybe by the time that this podcast is live in a couple days, it could be reopened, but it is expected to reopen to US tourists in August. Turkey has also reopened. And to go to Turkey, you need something called an HES Code. This is one of those weird things just like Croatia, where they're making you jump through a few hoops to get there.  

Kristin:    00:18:14    And so to get this code, you text the number 2 0 2 3 with your nationality passport number birth year and the number of days that you're going to be staying there. And I will link to more information in the show notes. So you text HES to two zero two three with nationality, passport number, birth year and number of days you expect to be in the country. And that sounds very tempting. <laugh>, I've been wanting to go to Turkey forever, and especially when I lived in Bulgaria, everyone went because it was so close, you could just drive there and everyone raved about it. They're like, the people are so nice, the food is incredible, it's really affordable and the weather's good <laugh>, and like, it just sounds like a, like a really cool place. A lot of history, a lot of culture. Um, previously a lot of nightlife. I don't know what's open right now, but I would go just for the food alone.  

Kristin:    00:19:18    <laugh> also in Africa, um, Tanzania is reopened to US tourists and also the islands of a Zanzibar, you need to provide a negative PCR test and fill out a health declaration card, um, before going in. But no quarantining, the only country I found that's requiring a quarantine is Cambodia. Actually we got out of alphabetical order, but there's a couple more. Oh, Dominican Republic, I forgot. In the Caribbean, they're also open. Haiti apparently is also reopening to US tourists, Rwanda, Serbia, which has been open for a few months now, including to Americans and also South Korea has been open for months, but you have to, the, the requirements change a lot, but they were requiring a quarantine. They're definitely requiring negative test results and then possibly other tests upon arrival. So if you're gonna go there, then be prepared. Uh, Ukraine as well. Ukraine is in my video from May or June.  

Kristin:    00:20:24    They reopened really early and also Belarus reopened to Americans, so they're not, uh, Schengen countries, but they're over in Europe. So those are interesting places to check out their really low cost of living, kind of off the beaten path so to speak. But since western Europe and the Schengen is still pretty much closed off to Americans, then it's a good entry point just to get over onto the continent and and enjoy Europe at a lower cost. And the United Kingdom has also been open pretty much the whole time. And Ireland technically, although they have been discouraging tourists from coming in, so you could probably go there, but you might not be very welcome. But the UK for sure, I don't know if they're still requiring the 14 day quarantine, but probably, and then also remember as US citizens, you can visit still the US territories, so anywhere that you don't need a passport to go to like the US Virgin Islands, uh, Puerto Rico, Guam, and you know, if you wanna go off the continent to like Alaska or Hawaii, the airports have remained open and there haven't been any restrictions on domestic travel.  

Kristin:    00:21:49    I read that Puerto Rico is having a spike in cases and they were asking only essential travelers to come in. So it's good to heed those requests, <laugh> from those, uh, governments and agencies. You know, don't be a jerk and go there if they're like, please don't come in. But technically they are open to us tourists. So that's a lot of places that Americans can travel to now. So if you've been going a little bit stir crazy, staying at home for the past few months and you're looking to go and kind of self isolate in another country, but just have a change of scenery, you have a lot of options for you and a lot of those places are really affordable. Uh, airfare has kind of been up and down at, I checked some flights and they were really expensive if you're gonna book last minute, but if you book a few weeks out or a month out and you know, make sure you get a ticket that can be canceled or changed if anything changes in the, in the interim.  

Kristin:    00:22:53    But you can get some good deals right now. And I think the real cost savings is with the hotel accommodations and Airbnbs because there's just a really low occupancy rate right now. So you can get really good long-term deals. Airbnb is even doing a special on long-term rentals where it's easier to search for monthly rentals. And uh, one of the guys in my Facebook group sent me, um, Brandon, it was actually, he sent me a house that he found in Serbia, I think it was in the city of Nice. It was like a five bedroom house for $700 a month. And that's very realistic in in places like Albania, Serbia, Belarus, I don't think Bulgaria is open right now, but um, in a lot of the eastern European countries it's really, um, possible. And the Balkans, I wonder, maybe Turkey as well. I'm not sure how expensive it is there because I haven't been yet, but the Caribbean, I would say is gonna be your more expensive place to go.  

Kristin:    00:24:00    However, it is the off season for travel to the Caribbean. Their high season is in the winter, so after hurricane season ends. So if you want to take your chances and go during hurricane season, during the off season and during COVID, then you can probably get some pretty good deals right now. Although generally like the food and the rent is more expensive, I think even than the US but you could get some like maybe one time really good deals that you won't see in the, in the upcoming years. For more information on these countries and the safest countries to travel to during coronavirus, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel Traveling with Kristin. And whether you work remotely, internationally, or are traveling internationally, make sure you have a TransferWise borderless bank account, which you can get your first transfer free for up to 500 British pounds using the link in this podcast description or going to TravelingwithKristin.com/transferwise. Thanks for tuning in and supporting and see you guys next week. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, you can support the podcast and look cool while you're doing it by checking out our new merch Over on teespring.com/stores/TravelingwithKristin. We have t-shirts, tank tops stickers, coffee mugs, hoodies, cell phone cases, bags and more. Again, that's at teespring.com/stores/TravelingwithKristin.