It all started out so hopeful, didn’t it? New Years 2020! Here is what I wrote about our “Travel Vision” for 2020. Click Here to see 2020 Travel Vision for the New Year. I’m not exactly a visionary am I?!

The year started well, at the end of 2019 Jeff and I took an amazing adventure aboard an AMA Meekong River cruise and touring in Vietnam and Cambodia. My plan was to enjoy the holidays with family, travel to the Baja Peninsula in Mexico in January (See our trip report here) and then spend the winter writing about our travel adventures, until we had more exciting trips in the spring and fall.

But the Covid -19 Pandemic hit in March and all of our worlds got turned upside down. Not only could we not travel, there wasn’t even an appetite for for me to write about it or for people to read about trips we couldn’t take. Our live travel presentations were canceled and people were so enmeshed with the new challenging reality of life, that we didn’t have many readers for the few posts we could make. We realize have been lucky, everyone is healthy and able to work from the safety of our home and we didn’t miss any major milestones, like some have- weddings, holding new grandchildren or graduations, so we consider ourselves very lucky! But travel and our travel work pretty much ground to a halt with a few exceptions.

Where We Did Go:

In addition to BajaSur, MX on an Uncruise in Jan 2020 (see Trip Report here) we were able to visit relatives in PIttsburgh, PA and do some “local” travel and road trips in our home state visiting the Maine Seacoast (See Trip Report here) and a moose safari in the northern Maine woods at Lake Nahmakanta (see our Moose Safari report here) And like most people we spent a lot of time outdoors exploring our own backyard (see our tips for local travel here) We also interviewed folks who did travel, asking them to share their experiences (see GoSeeIt People interviews here)

So what’s next?

My List of Travel New Years Resolutions:

1.Share The Great Travel Advisors We Work With Everyone!

When the cancellations just kept coming, and with each one, we were seeking refunds, strategizing whether to cancel, reschedule, or attempt to “keep it on the books” in hopes the pandemic might “end” before the travel dates arrived. Never before has the advice of my travel agents been more helpful.

Our travel advisors are the unsung heroes of the pandemic. They were first faced with helping clients stranded across the globe to get home safely, then they had to help people with immediate travel plans rebook, cancel or strategize what steps to take next. All of this work was done for clients with no income of their own coming in (most travel agents and advisors are paid by the travel supplier once the client takes the trip) And their travel supplier partners were asking them to the impossible- get clients to book future travel in very uncertain times. The advisors we worked with this year went above and beyond and deserve kudos! It had been in my plans to create my referral list in 2020 and I most certainly will get to that this year because these professionals have impressed me with their dedication to clients even when the world was falling apart around them.

2. Write up our Vietnam Cambodia Trip Report

I did get to write about our incredible trip to Baja Sur, (see report here) and thought I’d write up our Vietnam and Cambodia trip after that. With everyone grounded and finding the “new normal” I didn’t get to do that…It’s now a top priority because it truly was an incredible adventure and one I am eager to share! And it doesn’t hurt that I literally have noting else to do for fun right now!

3. Travel in 2021 When We Can Do It Safely

North to South, Swap Norway for New Zealand

Our May 2020 Norway Fjords cruise was fully paid and we had to reschedule within a certain time limit. We were a bit disappointed with Over Seas Adventure Travel. They were accessible and very friendly despite extremely difficult circumstances for everyone. They offered a full credit toward future travel, but their policy clearly stated we were entitled to a full refund if THEY canceled the trip and we held off canceling ourselves with that expectation, confirmed by their own representative.

Essentially, they changed their Terms and Conditions on the fly, refusing to refund our money and insisting we take a credit and book a future trip with them. A recent article by Christopher Elliott, (See the article here) travel consumer advocate pointed out that this was not only “unfair” to travelers who were told by their advisors to wait for a refund, but also illegal. We could “fight” this legally, but we also realize that travel companies are struggling, and that this one usually has a great reputation, so without any other options, we accepted the offer to rebook a trip for one to New Zealand in Oct 2021. It did leave me feeling concerned about our investment in OAT, and worry about recommending them in the future. Hopefully, we will travel with them (our first trip with OAT) and see if our experience allows us to feel comfortable investing with them in the future or recommending that others do.

Christmas is cancelled!

Our cruise expert travel planners Jay and Erin Paul of Affordable Vacation Station saved the day getting us moved and airfare refunded for a December 2021 trip aboard AMA Waterways to visit the Christmas Markets in Prague and along the Danube in Central Europe. This one was scheduled with good friends and we have “moved” it to December 2022, hoping the joy and festivity of the European Christmas Markets will be back in full swing.

We Moved Machu Picchu

May 2021 Amazon and Machu Picchu trip with Linblad National Geographic Expeditions was rescheduled to May 2022. Linblads’s generous one time move allowed us to move our deposit to the same trip a year later. We chose this option because we feel pretty confident with a vaccine available, that we will be able to travel, and it’s a trip we feel we can take safely in a very small group. Our Travel Advisor Christopher Myers of Expedition Trips was invaluable in helping us navigate this change.

Royal Caribbean Will Sail Without Us

Oh how we love a relaxing cruise (see our report of Harmony of the Seas here) but “go big or go home” has become “stay home”! We had a back to back cruises on Royal Caribbean booked for Feb 2021 that was moved to Feb 2022 before the pandemic (this cruise booked in 2017, it had been rearranged by the cruiseline due to its own scheduling issues many times before the pandemic) The last move was the last straw…we were offered a full refund of our non refundable deposit and we took it. Our cruise expert travel planners Jay and Erin Paul of Affordable Vacation Station were advocating for us every step of the way here!

Why won’t we book some of the amazing deals on the big cruise ships for the future right now? I’m sure we are missing out on “deals” but most of the cruise lines have not resumed sailing with passengers. We don’t yet know what the changes will look like when they do resume sailing.

My immediate concern is that we book our mass market cruises to provide a short relaxing break between bigger trips…but how relaxing will it be cruising with thousands of others undertaking health and safety measures, such as limits on independent tours or no buffets? It’s a question I can’t answer right now and until I can, I’m not ready to invest. But some folks are going to get great deals on the first mass market cruises that sail in order to entice people to get back on board. If you want one of those deals, call my travel specialist Jay! He knows how to get you hooked up!

Family First

There are so many loved ones separated right now, some lost forever. A vaccine is available and many loved ones are first in line for it. My first wish for when we can be vaccinated and travel again is to see those loved ones we’ve missed. My hope for everyone is that in 2021 brings you good health and that we will all be able to travel and be reunited with our loved ones and can hug our friends, and celebrate our occasions! Happy New Year, and when it’s Safe, Happy Travels!