Over the past year-and-a-half, despite the travel limitations of Covid, we have moved two cars across country from Portland, Oregon to Venice, Florida. We traveled through California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama on one leg, along with Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida on the second journey with our dog. We did a side trip to Glacier National Park but couldn’t get into Canada. We’ve also thoroughly covered our new home state of Florida with Marriott Vacation Club locations on South Beach, Marco Island, Singer Island, and Amelia Island. However, there have been too many travel plans crushed by the virus and fires. We had plans to go to St. Kitts, Bali, Tahoe, and Kauai. There were also cruises scheduled to Egypt, Spain-Finland, Russia-Norway. Egypt has been rescheduled for 2023, while some cruise funds were diverted to next year’s tour of Alaska, Russia, and Japan. In total, we lost nearly 60 days of travel in that timeframe, but saved nearly $50,000 of our retirement funds. Most of that money probably will end up in our new Florida home.

Where do we go from here? The Kennedy Space Center is our next little road trip, adding to our Florida experiences. For Christmas, we’ll be at Disney World for their 50th Anniversary celebration. We also plan to book the fairy from Ft. Myers to Key West, so I can stand on the southernmost point of the United States and feel the Jimmy Buffet vibe of the tropics. Maybe a Caribbean Cruise is in our future with so many affordable options out of Miami? We would like to try again organizing holiday family get togethers in Kauai or Tahoe to make up for last year’s misfortunes. The Hawaii option would involve flying into Portland or San Francisco to break up the trip. We will already be in Portland in September to visit family and friends before we catch our Alaskan ocean cruise out of Vancouver, with thoughts of taking the scenic train ride into Canada. A drive up the East Coast into Maine is another goal, plus a stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Northern Michigan.

My wife wants to see China if international politics once again allow us to be safely welcome. London, Scotland, and Ireland are also on her bucket list. Plans have changed considerably in the last year with the onset of Covid and limited financial resources, so our once aggressive retirement dreams have been trimmed down to a more realistic level. After all, we now live in a popular vacation spot with resort amenities. Why deal with all the hassles and expense of travel?