Borders Are Open: It’s Peak Holiday Season in Europe But Are Europeans Really Traveling?

It was just under six weeks ago that Europe opened its internal borders in the hopes of salvaging a summer season of travel. So it's worth asking now how that season is looking. The prospect of traveling in Europe versus the U.S. at this time is quite different. Europe has largely, if not wholly, beat the virus down. While no form of travel is risk-free during a pandemic, the lower level of virus circulation in Europe makes summer travel a different beast than in the U.S. However, Europe's progress remains tenuous. It's also worth noting that, in Europe, the July and August vacation season is seen as something of a human right. As journalist Yasmeen Serhan wrote in The Atlantic earlier this summer, unlike the U.S. "Europe savors the summer: a sacred time in July and August when va