I was in agreement with my wife on deciding to cancel our Viking Alaska/Japan cruise. It was still over 90 days away, so we would retrieve most of the money spent on this elaborate adventure. It just didn’t seem to fit in our current money-saving mode. I could certainly find a less expensive way to get to my 49th out of 50 state bucket list goal. Plus, after the recent experiences of several acquaintances who either couldn’t go on a cruise because of exposure to Covid or tested positive aboard and had to spend their time in quarantine on the lower deck, it was starting to look like a pricy gamble. Staying home suddenly seemed like a good idea!

We contacted our travel agent and explained the situation. It would certainly be a costly hassle for her to change all the plans. Her reply after consulting with Viking officials was “yes, we could cancel but we would have to forego $3500 in travel insurance plus a $100 each cancellation fee.” It seems reasonable enough until they told us that we would also have to give up over $7,000 in vouchers that we had earned from previous Covid cruise cancellations. For some reason, “they could not be reapplied.” Bottom line, we’ve decided to go and take our chances. Over $10k seemed like a lot to give up! Staying home was not an option, so Alaska here we come!

We also next need to rent a car for a month to accommodate our drive up to Northern Michigan in July. Both of our vehicles have too many miles and not enough leg room to make that journey, especially after transporting them here to Florida. We’ve considered selling one of them to either get a golf cart or simply operate with just one car, most likely my wife’s precious Lexus. We would save on license fees, maintenance, and insurance, but would have to schedule around each of our usage needs. It would not result in any gas savings because the Solara does not use premium fuel like the Lexus, even though the idea of scaling back to one car was a reaction to the increase in gas prices.

I usually drive only to go to the Chiropractor, as is the case today, or some other doctor appointment. I’ve also been picking up my grandson at school but that commitment will stop in a few weeks with summer vacation. My wife uses her car for shopping and various classes. We drive together whenever possible. If we get rid of a car and don’t get a golf cart right away, we would have the option of either walking or taking a bike. It would most likely be my ticket to just staying home or at least confined to the neighborhood. As my grandson just mentioned, “Grandpa, should you even be driving?” This was just after I mistakenly pulled into the oncoming turn lane. Maybe, he’s right – I should just stay home!