At the age of 17, I never thought that I would have the opportunity to explore one of the world’s most beautiful countries with my best friends. Pomelo gave me that chance. In 2019, Pomelo offered a $450 round trip flight to Bangkok, Thailand, a place that I had dreamed of visiting for YEARS.
Two of my closest friends at the time saw the email listing and immediately bought their tickets. At the time, I was in the middle of my senior year at high-school, and leaving for a 2 week trip to Asia is far from the norm with all the stress of school.
After some time, I immediately joined them in purchasing a ticket especially after wondering if I would ever stumble across a deal as good as this one any time soon. With my parents full support, my friends and I were off to Thailand, where we were able to enjoy a foreign country, its culture, and its people.
We made lifelong friends that we still keep in contact with now, island hopped, ate delicious traditional foods, visited places of worship, and gained experience that we will never forget.
Not even 2 months later, the first news of COVID-19 started making ways in parts of China. Thanks to Pomelo travel, not only did I have the trip of a lifetime with close friends, but I also got to experience my final out of the country visit for a while before the pandemic. For this memory I am forever thankful to Pomelo!!
The Pomelo team thinks that we’ve still got plenty of things to discover on this small planet, like hidden Nintendo Cafes and Turkish castle-themed ghost towns. So we’re not ready to start offering cheap space flight deals quite yet!
Need to Know
The best news for the intrepid traveler (especially those with a vaccine) is that countries continue to loosen restrictions. Besides the already mentioned Ireland and Canadian news, Malta has also announced that Americans can enter with an EMA-approved vaccine and a valid vaccine certificate.
JetBlue has added new routes,(35 to be exact) which should be welcome news for those in the northeast, where the routes are mostly located. With new routes to London, Honduras, and Canada, the expansion may open up new opportunities for cheap travel.
Health passes are becoming more common across Europe, with several countries such as Italy and France announcing efforts to require health passes for certain venues. With these countries and places like Greece also requiring vaccination proof to enter places like restaurants, flashing your vaccination I.D. might become almost as commonplace on your next Europe trip as awkward queries about the location of the nearest restroom.
The French Bee,a low-cost airline, has begun offering service from New York to Paris. That means that your dream of a slice of pizza in Brooklyn in the morning and a baguette for dinner could be closer and closer to reality. We support your travel food dreams.
British Airways will allowtravelers to order in-flight dining during their flight from their mobile devices, starting July 19th. Every day, we become closer and closer to the future predicted by WALL-E.
Swiss Airlines becomes among the first, airlines to fly with sustainable fuel. Now, if we could only get the auto industry onboard.
Travel Tips
Traveling to San Sebastián, Spain
By Kameryn Clark
San Sebastián, Spain
When I traveled to Spain at first, I was really only familiar with Barcelona and Madrid. I had no idea San Sebastián even existed! After talking with some locals in Barcelona, my friends and I knew we had to take a trip to San Sebastián and see what everyone was raving about! Nestled way up in the north corner of the country, close to the border of France, is Spain’s best-kept secret. San Sebastián is the perfect blend of quiet surf town, arts, and culture, along with the most amazing culinary experience you could find. Oh, and there’s also a mini amusement park on top of the mountain overlooking the ocean? Pretty rad. We only spent a long weekend in Basque Country, but left with full hearts (and bellies) and already planning out our next visits. It surely is a place I want to return to one day.
Arguably some of the best food in the country (maybe even the world?) this small town has multiple Michelin-starred restaurants and creative foods to try. Take your tastebuds on a journey through the city and dive into some of the best pintxos (another type of small tapas), cheesecake, and cider! I recommend going to La Viña for the best cheesecake of your life. Bergara and Borda Berri (order the risotto!) are just a couple of the top restaurants we enjoyed. Gilda. Some famous favorites to taste are the “Spanish tortilla,” solomillo, anchovies, txuleta, and pantxineta. Don’t be afraid to go bold!
Lastly, the good news is Spain is now open to U.S. travelers, vaccinated or not! This country is allowing U.S. travelers to enter with a QR code from the Spain Travel Health Portal. Travelers can download the SpTH app for all information needed. Current restrictions within Spain include mask-wearing in some locations, socially distancing, and limited capacity. However, most businesses and attractions are open to tourists! Circumstances are subject to change, but overall Spain is ready to welcome us back! Read more details here!
Humanitarian Spotlight
Have you ever wanted to take a trip from one of our deals but couldn’t find someone to go with? Or maybe you know exactly where you want to go and who you’re going with, but you’re worried about personal safety once you get to your destination?
As for personal safety tips and how to feel confident going out into the world, we suggest you check out Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) Global! ESD Global is a US-based nonprofit organization (NGO) that envisions a world where people can live safe, violence-free lives. To aid this vision, ESD Global offers self-defense instructor training to women and men from all over the world.
These instructors then have the tools to teach their communities how to “listening to their intuition, assessing their options, asserting boundaries, using de-escalation strategies, and provides tools for a range of mental, verbal, and physical responses.”ESD Global has trained 100 instructors who have in turn taught 6,540 individuals, including survivors of trafficking, girls at risk, rural women, social workers, refugees, students, mothers, daughters, hotel workers, and more. Visit their website to see their online course offerings and upcoming instructor training programs. Consider making a donation as well to help ESD Global offer scholarships for instructor training.
We’ve also created this resource to help you know where you can travel now and any requirements of your destination. Shoot us an email at [email protected] with any travel safety questions!
Also, feel free to reach out to [email protected] (our resident ESD instructor) with any questions on how to get in touch with your local ESD instructor! Good Vibes.
Subscriber Story
Never in our wildest dreams did we think we could afford Grand Cayman for our vacation destination. Somehow, just at the right moment, an email from Pomelo arrived. It boasted of roundtrip flights to Grand Cayman in the $200 range. I couldn’t believe it…but I had to find out.
After doing about 2 minutes of searching, I found the perfect flight and times, all for $198 roundtrip! The best part was this fit into our spring break vacation dates.
What a great surprise and definitely made our premium subscription worth it!
Welcome travelers, to the Pomelo Travel Forecast! We’re excited to share this new format for travel news with you. This is your place for up-to-date travel information, with a little bit of fun thrown in for good measure.
This week was definitely exciting, with more countries in Europe opening up, meaning it’s time to finally dust off your passports! It looks like the travel world is finally thawing out, just in time for summer.
Need To Know
Many European Countries have opened, or are opening soon to vaccinated and nonvaccinated US travelers. The EU also added the US to its safe travels list. Finally, we’ve cleared the naughty list. Here are some recently announced openings:
Ireland – July 19th – See the travel tips section below!
Rejoice border hopping travelers!If you’re looking to border hop on your next trip, the EU has plans to make it easier for tourists to travel between European Union countries this summer. That’s a relief to all involved.
The Delta Variant continues to keep us on our toes. Of course, as with what seems like almost all news lately, there’s a caveat of sorts. There’s been some concern about the Delta Covid-19 variant, which could have an impact on entry requirements for some countries. If you have an upcoming Europe trip, be sure to keep up with these ever changing requirements.
Around The World
Phuket’s open (kinda)! For those interested in getting back to Thailand and learning to cook Thai food, or see a Thai boxing match, Phuket’s “Sandbox” plan starts on July 1st! International travelers from low to medium-risk countries (including the US) can enter Phuket and skip the mandatory quarantine. Thailand itself wants to fully open in 120 days.
Bali continues to isolate. Bali fans will have to wait a little longer to enjoy the beaches of this province in Indonesia. Due to Covid-19 concerns, Indonesia is delaying reopening plans. The end of July and August are possible reopening options if Covid-19 cases start to decline.
Around The World Vaccinated travelers can start to once again flood into Mauritius. On July 15th, the close to Africa tropical island of Mauritius will open to vaccinated tourists. Bad news for nonvaccinated travelers. No entry is allowed yet but if you’re vaccinated and bring your nonvaccinated children under 18, they will be allowed entry and will receive a PCR test.
The islands are opening!Anguilla, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and the British Virgin Islands recently made it much easier for vaccinated US tourists to enter. Each island dropped quarantine requirements. Unvaccinated travelers will still have to jump through a few hoops to enter.
Americans might be able to look forward to enjoying hockey and maple syrup once again. Rumor has it that Canada is planning to lift border restrictions with the US in a few weeks.
Israel has pumped the brakes and will delay reopening to fully vaccinated tourists until August 1st. With the recent diplomatic tensions, I wouldn’t be surprised if you weren’t too anxious about visiting anyway.
Longing for beautiful Hawaiian beaches? 🏝️ Hawaii ended travel restrictions for fully vaccinated US travelers on July 8th!! In addition, Hawaiian vaccination rates have reached the 60% requirement, which bodes well for future visitors, and inter-island travel restrictions have already ended as of June 15th. Hawaii has also been flooded with tourists, so remember to be respectful to the locals if you visit.
Vaccine goals continue to be met by Iceland, the Netherlands, and the UK. The UK is planning to ease restrictions beginning July 19th. Countries like Iceland and the Netherlands have begun to reach specific vaccine goals and plan to drop or reduce domestic covid restrictions. These countries hope that by lessening mask mandates, curfews, capacity, and other restrictions, tourists will be more willing to visit.
Visiting Belarus soon? Those plans have likely changed. Due to Belarus’ decision to force a passing plane to land to arrest a journalist, the US has banned travel to the country.
Finland isn’t ready to welcome US and UK tourists yet. A shortlist of European countries can enter starting July 12. However, there’s no need to feel discouraged, Finland hinted that the US may be added to the list within the next month.
At A Glance
For those of you whose main exposure to new movies is an airplane ride, United has you in mind with their new fleet of 270 new planes that they plan to bring to the skies. Each seat will be equipped with a 10-inch screen and will “be pre-loaded with over 2,800 movies and TV shows, as well as podcasts, music, and games”. Why would we ever want to watch T.V. at home?
Rising travel demand has caused some major problems for carriers and travelers this summer. If you plan to travel with Southwest or American prepare for a “bumpy” ride. The good news? If you’re looking for a job, airlines are hiring.
Travel Tips
The luck of the Irish
After some of the strictest covid related travel restrictions in the EU, Ireland announces plans to reopen on July 19th! US tourists are included!
Details: travelers must have proof of vaccination, recovery, or a negative covid test to enter. Children 7-18 must have a negative covid test too. At the moment, all unvaccinated travelers (from outside the EU) will be required to take another covid test upon arrival.
In July, restaurants and pubs will be allowed to serve people indoors. Larger outdoor and indoor events will likely be allowed starting in August. It seems Ireland is planning to gradually reopen over the summer.
“Everyone at Tourism Ireland looks forward to getting back in full swing, to promote the island of Ireland as a safe, welcoming, and ‘must-see’ destination across the world.”
For our first Spotlight, we chose to feature our long-time friends over at Akin Clothing!
Akin is a clothing company that helps remove barriers to education for children all over the world. Akin is currently based in the UK and is operated by Pomelo’s Marketing Director, Ben Howells.
Through every clothing purchase, Howells and the Akin team can help provide school supplies and uniforms to children in the developing world. Over 64 million children are unable to attend school because they cannot afford the basic supplies.
Akin focuses on providing uniforms, as they are the most expensive part of supplies needed. All school uniforms are sourced locally in the community where they are delivered, which helps further empower the local community.
So far, Akin has helped thousands of children in 15 countries and counting. If you’re interested in finding out more about Akin, purchasing clothing (Akin ships their products worldwide including the US. The US is also one of their biggest contributors/markets.), or making a contribution, visit Akin’s website, and be sure to check them out on Instagram @akinclothing!
Good Vibes
Subscriber Story
A Passion for English Football…
When I first registered for your site I had hopes and dreams of traveling. I hadn’t traveled out of the country at all. I had a friend reignite my passion for English Football (soccer for us here in the States). I had wanted and dreamed to go see my favorite team in the English Premier League. Well, shortly after subscribing to pomelo, I saw a sale on tickets to London from SLC for only $300.
I fought internally if I should go or not. I would be going by myself. I eventually booked but not only was I going to England I was going to make it a Europe Trip. I ended up going to England, France, and Germany… It ignited the fire to travel more by myself and I have not stopped since.
Since then, I have added 12 additional countries and saved thousands of dollars through your website. I got married in April 2020 during COVID and my wife has the same passion as me for travel. We had hoped to travel more during our first year of marriage but COVID stopped that. But we have already started booking more trips, and we are excited about our Greece trip in a few weeks. Cheers to the Pomelo team and traveling the world! Thank you for inspiring me to get out and see the world. Carson W. ~ Premium Subscriber
https://pomelotravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Gail-Dutton-Free-Subscriber-Norway5-scaled.jpeg16002560admin/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/logo_black_hor-300x67.pngadmin2021-07-06 19:25:192021-07-19 19:56:33What’s Happening in the Travel World: June 25-July 9, 2021
Pomelo gave me a heads up on flights to Norway at half the normal fare. I always wanted to go there to try to find a farm that was once owned by my family nine generations ago before they emigrated to America in 1839. My brother and I booked the tickets for us and our wives and away we went. We spent a couple days seeing the sites in Oslo then we embarked on an adventure that changed our lives.
We had very little information about the family farm other than that it was in the Telemark province near Tinn Lake. We had traveled by car several hours by the time we reached Tinn Lake.
Beautiful Towns
Norwegian Architecture
It was time for a break. We found a small store in the forest above the lake. The owner, Thor, was curious why four Americans were so far removed from the major tourist sites. We told him our story and in no time this chance encounter turned into a travel nugget. Thor was able to take our vague descriptions and direct us to the family farm. He even called ahead to make arrangements for our arrival.
Stunning Mountain Valleys
We arrived at the farm about 30 minutes after Thor’s call. There, we met Gjermund. After we told him our story and showed him pictures, we quickly realized that we were cousins nine generations removed. The family farm was stillin the family! We spent two days in the area learning about our family. Gjermund shared his home and family heirlooms dating back to the 1700s.
Rural Areas
He and another cousin invited us to a Norwegian dinner of reindeer, mushrooms and berries from the local forests, local cheeses and vegetables.We finished our trip touring Bergen, cruising on the fjords, fishing in one of Norway’s many lakes, hiking in the mountains, and touring the magnificent countryside of one on the world’s most beautiful countries. Thanks to Pomelo for helping make this trip happen!
https://pomelotravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Gail-Dutton-Free-Subscriber-Norway1-scaled.jpeg14402560admin/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/logo_black_hor-300x67.pngadmin2021-07-06 14:31:112021-08-12 20:08:15How I Reconnected with Family in Norway
A couple of months ago I received an email from pomelo travel. I never overlook those emails, especially not now because it had the words Rome, Italy for $300.
I thought it was too good to be true. BUT IT WASN’T. There it was right there SFO to Rome for $288!! Adrenaline shot
through my body. Italy has and always will be my dream vacation. The sights, the culture the FOOD. Who wouldn’t love it?
Well, that was my exact problem. I had nobody to go with. So I put my Instagram to good use and posted a story
asking somebody to buy the plane ticket and go with me. It was mostly a joke but I was secretly hoping somebody would take the plunge. And to my surprise somebody did.
A girl from my town who I had never met before but had seen at bars occasionally. She said the magic words “I’m so down” for the next 10 minutes I blacked out because not only did I purchase a ticket to Italy but I did it with a total stranger. We didn’t stay strangers for long as the trip planning was coming full speed.
We hit it off immediately and became inseparable. We are counting down the days till our trip happens 75 days to precise. We have no doubts in our heads that this will be the trip of a lifetime, all thanks to Pomelo Travel.
https://pomelotravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/c965fa3c77964d4e971ca0921050e00b.jpeg-scaled.jpg17072560admin/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/logo_black_hor-300x67.pngadmin2021-07-01 13:58:202021-07-01 13:58:20Pomelo Travel found me my best friend
My husband and I have been on two trips thanks to Pomelo and we just booked our third.
We have been to Guatemala and just got back from Costa Rica and we are going to Spain in March. My husband lived in Guatemala for a couple of years doing service over there and built so many relationships so when he came back to the United States he felt like he lost some of his family because he grew to love the people there.
He always knew he was going to go back but it costs a lot and we didn’t have money to pay a ton for flights. That’s when we found Pomelo. We have always wanted to travel but the flights almost made it impossible with our budget. So long story short my hubs found a flight to the country he loves and I got to go fall in love with the people myself.
It was an experience that changed our relationship for the better. I understood the kindness and the type of humility a person gets after seeing others so happy with so much less. Costa Rica and Guatemala we’re both amazing in different ways, Guatemala helped me see the world in a better light but Costa Rica gave me an inner strength that I had been struggling with for a long time.
I have chronic anxiety that sometimes gets in the way of me living a life that seems fulfilling at times. In Costa Rica being in the middle of the jungle, with the love of my life I just felt so free and that I could conquer the world. That I could be the person I wanted to be without limitations.
And it was in Costa Rica that I skinny-dipped for the first time in a waterfall, in the jungle, without talking myself out of it. I felt free. I felt like the person I always admired and wanted to be more like. I felt like my world wasn’t going to explode even though I didn’t think of every possible outcome before making that choice. Costa Rica freed me from myself.
That experience changed me, I still have anxiety and that didn’t magically go away, but I found strength in myself that I didn’t know I had. Pomelo gave me and my husband experiences that were so amazing. I can’t even put into words how grateful I am to have found a website to help us not only travel together and see the world but give us such a personal life-changing experience.
https://pomelotravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/885ab40269a14f748db69dfac35f7fe0.jpeg-scaled.jpg17072560admin/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/logo_black_hor-300x67.pngadmin2021-07-01 13:57:442021-07-01 13:57:44Thank you a million times
We took a trip to Florida. We got a round trip for a whopping $115 round trip for my family of 4. It was the most amazing and special trip. It was the first time my 3-year-old girls were on a plane, got to visit the beach and go to Disneyworld.
It was so magical.
I work at a treatment center for troubled youth and one of the parents found out that we were going to Florida and offered for us to stay at their beach house on Anna Marie Island.
The house had a pool in the backyard. We were in heaven. All we did was eat and swim. From this experience, I’ve decided to visit all 50 states before my kids turn 18! Thank you for allowing us this opportunity.
My girls turned 4 and for their birthdays no lie….They asked to go to a hotel for another adventure.
They already caught the bug and they are toddlers!! 🙂
https://pomelotravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/14725732_10153715052492271_5938893298885316315_n.jpg960960admin/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/logo_black_hor-300x67.pngadmin2021-07-01 13:53:152021-07-01 13:53:15Toddlers with the travel bug
Never in our wildest dreams did we think we could afford Grand Cayman for our vacation destination. Somehow, just at the right moment, an email from Pomelo arrived. It boasted of roundtrip flights to Grand Cayman in the $200 range. I couldn’t believe it…but I had to find out.
After doing about 2 minutes of searching, I found the perfect flight and times, all for $198 roundtrip! The best part was this fit into our spring break vacation dates.
What a great surprise and definitely made our premium subscription worth it!
https://pomelotravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Carribbean-01.png40005334admin/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/logo_black_hor-300x67.pngadmin2021-07-01 13:42:302021-07-01 13:54:09Never did we think we could afford this vacation
In August I took my 10-year-old son on a trip to Italy to see the country he was born in. We found flights out of Atlanta for under $400 to Venice and spent a week touring around Italy.
My son spent the few months before the trip learning about Italy, its history, and culture. We visited Venice, Rome, his birthplace in Vicenza, and the Dolomites in Northern Italy. My son especially enjoyed the Roman Forum, Colosseum, finding the first house he lived in, and eating pizza and gelato.
We had a great time bonding as father and son. In May, my wife and I used Pomelo to travel to Switzerland for a week. Tickets were $300 out of Chicago to Geneva. We spent time hiking in the Alps above Lauterbrunnen, toured chocolate and cheese factories, and even dipped down into Italy to spend a few days at Lake Como.
We used the trains to travel everywhere and made the most of our time, even in poor weather.
Have you ever wanted to take a trip from one of our deals bu
Many European Countries have opened, or are opening soon to vaccinated and nonvaccinated US travelers. The 
For our first Spotlight, we chose to feature our long-time friends over at Akin Clothing!
