In An Alternate Universe, We’re Visiting Japan Right Now

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A little less than a year ago, I was sitting here at my desk and getting approval for my 2020 vacation. I put in for some time at the beginning of the year to make trips to San Francisco and New York. The summer had plans to take a trip on the new Virgin Cruise Line ship and our typical trips to Texas and Schlitterbahn. To finish off the year, I put in for 2+ weeks in November to visit Japan. I wanted to wait until after the election, and I figured it would only take a day for us to learn the outcome. We could either celebrate or escape, depending on the outcome.

Here we are, thanks to 2020. All of our vacation plans after March were blown to shreds. Instead, we’ve slowly started to head back out into the world. Replacing our globetrotting itinerary is an upcoming road trip consisting of trying to find places to eat with outdoor seating or spending our vacation eating take-out in our hotel room.

We’re also going to be making our second cabin rental through Airbnb, something that was the furthest thing from our imagination just 12 months ago.

While I’m still a bit sad about all of the trips we’ve had to cancel, especially this Japan trip that was setting up to be something epic, there’s no avoiding the reality around us. I know we’re not the only ones. I’ve gone from reading bloggers writing about trips to Europe in business class to articles about the best pickup truck to pull an RV.

I don’t think anyone had what’s happened in 2020 on their bingo card. So how can we know what’s to come in the future? Will we still be looking for cabins in the mountains or trips to the beach or might we be able to go on our cruise or take that trip to Japan. What will make that possible? Maybe a vaccine will get people back to travel as they did before or will a rapid, accurate COVID-19 test open up the world again?

I’m sitting here tonight having to think about what vacation time I’m going to ask for next year. We have our rescheduled cruise on the books for July. We’re also hoping we’ll be able to get back to Japan next November. Unlike this year, our trips for the first part of the year will be road trips in Florida or the nearby Southeast. Maybe a trip to the Florida Keys or a return trip to Vero Beach for the weekend.

Just like 2020, it seems like 2021 will be a series of plans that I’ll make and then change depending on the reality at the time. Hopefully, our plans will get more aggressive as the year progresses. However, if there is anything we’ve learned over the last 9 months is to have an open mind and roll with the changes and that’s how I’m looking at the next 12 months.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary