When this whole pandemic started in March, I thought nothing about the potential impact on our upcoming travel or even a change to our daily life (wow, I was so wrong)! Our family is from Florida, and we were planning a long weekend trip at the end of March to visit our parents, siblings, and cousins; however, COVID-19 happened, and there went that. In addition, our Spring Break travel plans that were supposed to start next week will also not be taking place, also thanks to COVID-19.
I know that canceled vacation plans are clearly #firstworldproblems. Some people have lost loved ones, lost jobs, and are in fear for the health of their immuno-compromised family members or elderly. I get that. A sudden cancelation of two highly anticipated trips will not be the end of me; however, the reality is that I am sad. I am sad that I won’t see my parents and my niece and nephew until this whole thing is over (who knows when that will be). I am sad that all of the itinerary planning, hotel booking, national park research, restaurant reservations, and tours I had scheduled need to be canceled. I am sad that I cannot take any weekend trips anywhere or even sit and eat at a restaurant anymore.
So, I am venting and trying to process all of this in a variety of ways. Once I realized that we should not be leaving our home and that the risk of infecting others is real, I created a Google Doc to keep track of our canceled travel plans and credits owed to us.
I listed the amount credited from three different airlines and their “use-by dates,” and I am hoping that I can schedule our future flights within that window. I am keeping track of the refunds that are “supposed” to be returned to my credit card and checking my statement daily to see when it finally processes. I am going through my Spam folder and making sure that none of these important refund emails from third party sites slip through the cracks, and I get my money back.
I am doing all of this while trying my best to stay positive and continuing to plan for my end of summer trip to Florida; knowing full well I may have to repeat this process in August all over again. While my upcoming vacations are indeed canceled, I am trying to remind myself of the bigger picture and not to sweat this minor inconvenience of not being able to travel. I am doing my best to enjoy this extra time with my kiddos and scheduling more family game nights and taking art classes on YouTube.
How are you dealing with canceled vacations?
