Nope...we won't be going anywhere this year.
That's not exactly the truth, but it's the response we give when some asks either Loraine or me if we're traveling anywhere this year. It's strange (at least to me), but apparently over the years people have thought of us as seasoned world travelers, and are always curious as to what our next plans are. We've been curious ourselves, but recently came to the decision that this year, we may just lie low.
As we found with our little getaway to Germany last year the travel industry is still trying to find its firm footing after several years of Covid-related slowdowns and shakeups. Add to that the fact that there's still a war going on in Europe, and it just seemed like maybe things just weren't aligning.
So, sad to say, we're not planning any big trips this year.
Oh, we're thinking of flying down to Chicago for one of our long weekends, but other than that it seems like we'll be staying put. And that's kinda...weird. I mean, every single year from 2006 to 2019 we went to Europe. But since 2019 there was only that one week jaunt last fall for a soccer match, and other than that?
Nothing.
In some ways, it feels like our habit of travel earlier this century was a dream. It seems almost impossible now, but back then airlines would have regularly scheduled flights to regularly scheduled places, and you could (usually) count on not having flights shifted or outright canceled. But these days? If you fly somewhere, especially overseas, it can be a crap shoot. Will your flight actually make it on time for a connecting flight? Will it actually make it at all, or might it be axed due to a crew shortage or weather or because the head of the airline woke up in a bad mood?
It just seems...easier not to do it. At least not for now.
Maybe—hopefully--in a year or two things will settle down and we can plan something, fairly certain that we'll get where we wanna go at or near the time we want to get there. But until then, I guess Chicago will have to do, even if someplace slightly more exotic beckons. Hopefully it won't disappoint our travel “fans', but that's life these days.
Trust me, travel fans..you're not the only one who's bummed.
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