What an unbelievable couple of months it has been! The last time you heard from me, I had published a blog post about the Pros and Cons of Cruises. Oh, how the world has changed since then!
In the last month, I have been working hard to seek the best outcomes for my clients who had scheduled spring vacations. Summer trips are still looking uncertain.
All other trips seem to be in limbo for now, and that’s OK with me. The COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented in modern times. The travel industry, along with many others, is having to rewrite the rules on the fly. Cancellation policies are changing so quickly that it’s been tough to keep track of them.
But, eventually, I believe that the desire to travel will return. While people are canceling trips, it makes them sad to do so. We want all of this to be over so that we can visit loved ones and explore the world again.
So what do we do in the meantime? I’d like to share some thoughts on that.
Treasure past travel memories
I like to focus on the positive rather than dwell on the negative. I’m choosing to think about what I already have, not what I can’t have. And what I already have is treasure trove of travel memories with my family. With everyone cooped up at home together, it’s the perfect opportunity to recollect those memories. Now is the time to pull out your photos and video recordings and enjoy them. Our family scrapbooks are readily accessible, but our video recordings are not. We are currently trying to get our hands on a VCR so that we can watch recordings from when our kids were little.
I’m also taking the time to make new scrapbooks. I’ve fallen quite far behind in the past several years. This quarantine is the perfect time for me to do some catching up.
I’ve also set a goal to digitize my grandfather’s photo albums. My grandfather was a big believer in family vacations. I can’t think of a better way to honor his legacy than by making all of those photos accessible to my sisters, cousins, and aunts. That’s where I found the picture of my mother with her siblings and my grandmother at Niagara Falls.
Pre-planning for future travel
Now is the perfect time to look at the big picture. This crisis has reminded us that our time on this earth is limited. Our financial resources are limited. We don’t know when a crisis will disrupt the plans we’ve made. It makes sense for us to be intentional about our choices. And that is what Big Rock Travel is all about.
The number of big rocks that will fit in a jar is limited. We need to carefully choose those big rocks and place them in our jars before our jars get filled with gravel and sand. When you look back later, what are the places that you will want to have visited in each stage of your life?
If you have been too busy in the past to make a master travel plan, this might be the perfect opportunity to start working on one. Most people have a wish list or bucket list, but have you turned that into a realistic plan that you can execute? Is this something that you need help with? I’ve been pondering the best way to help my clients and readers do that. If this is something that interests you, please email me at terri@bigrocktravel.com and let me know your thoughts.
Please stay safe and healthy!
