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When will you feel good about travel again

WinniWoman

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We thought about Florida and other southern states but we really do hate humidity. Honestly, we have never been to most except Florida and Virginia. We briefly thought about PA and Delaware, both which we have been to just a few times.

We did seriously consider out West with the drier heat, though being in Utah last Sept we realized how hot that dry heat really feels. We would probably always be inside in air conditioning or in water.

In the end we felt we had a "connection" to NH (and Vermont) and both states felt more like "home" to us since we have been vacationing in them for 20+ years. We could not really see oursleves just throwing a dart on the map and moving our lives to a place we maybe liked one time when we visited or that we read was a good place to retire, though for sure we gave it serious consideration and if we couldn't make NH work, we would have had a serious decision to make in choosing another location because we vowed this to be our final move before-m well- you know- the nursing home or cemetery or whatever..

BTW- We have been having fantastic spring weather here in NH. 50's, 60's, 70's. Been awfully dry, though- no rain, which is weird. Even when it is windy I just love it!Makes me feel alive! I think I must have lived in a northern climate in my past life! LOL!
 

WinniWoman

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.....Still doesn’t completely feel like home but we are working on it.

that's going to be a big issue for me. A completely different way of living.


Right! I mean- here we could almost open a window and hold hands with our neighbors! It's strange coming from complete privacy when we lived in the woods. We keep saying we kind of feel like we are staying at a timeshare resort. LOL!
 

Karen G

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Once owned these: FirstFairway@Walden X 2; Lawai Beach; ManhattanClub; PuebloBonitoRose; 4 South Africa--now timeshare-free
We’ve been at our daughter’s condo in Brian Head, Utah, for the last three days. It has been fun being somewhat normal. We’ve been hanging out with friends who have a condo up here, enjoying the nice weather, & eating in three restaurants with fairly normal experiences. Two of them even had salad bars. One had us put a plastic glove on the hand we served ourself with. The other asked us to use the hand sanitizer right next to the salad bar. Both had sneeze guards.

All our meals were great & there were several other diners. Today we went to Bryce Canyon & there were lots of people but most were practicing safe distances.

We’ll go home tomorrow & it has been so nice to be out of the house for a bit.
 

Quilter

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We'll probably be traveling by car back to our DD's after the beginning of July. They are buying their first home. So excited for them. It's new construction and will need a yard. I'm a landscape designer.

We normally take a 2 day drive to get there. Our last drive back to MI was done in a 12 hour day. I'm thinking it will be the same to go back down. I'm not keen on a hotel yet. I've made many HHI and FL reservations for June. Thought about using them and if it wasn't for Covid we'd probably have been at one or both. Renting them instead and enjoying home.

It's a new life not to be running, running, running to get someplace else. Instead my hours are spent gardening. I heard on a podcast the term "savoring" as referring to savoring what we are doing. And that's what I'm trying to adopt. Taking time to savor the birds, the peace of our neighborhood, the cooked meals (still haven't had a restaurant meal since the first week of March).
 

WinniWoman

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Oh I just thought of something. Years ago on a flight back from Arizona I was sitting next to a woman on the plane and we struck up a conversation. She had visited a friend in Scottsdale and she was from Detroit. She just loved Arizona. I asked her if she would like to live there and surprisingly she said no. I asked her why and she replied “ Because then it would not be special anymore. I want keep it a special place I can look forward to visiting again and again.”

I thought that an interesting perspective and always wondered if it would be that way with us regarding VT if we ever moved there, where my heart always was. I guess we will never know now since we did not move there.
 

silentg

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I love staying near the beach, but I don’t want to live near the beach, so I understand what that woman meant. If I lived near the beach, it wouldn’t be special when I go there for a day or a Timeshare week. There are many places I have been that I enjoyed visiting. But doesn’t mean I’d want to live there.
Silentg
 

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@Cornell When looking at Arizona, take a look at Tempe. It seems to be rated well, and it's a college town with a lot going on. One of my friends from worked retired there. She did her research, and since she wanted to live in a college town she picked that one.
My daughter is looking at U of AZ and we are doing a college visit there this Sept (at least that's the plan for now!). I will be anxious to poke around Tempe. Being in a college town would be wonderful.
 

Paumavista

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VRBO or AirBnB?
We use both.....Airbnb and Booking were better in Europe; but I find VRBO my best bet here in the states and it opens up so many more places that don't have time shares (our favorite deserted beaches are the Cape San Blas / St George area in Florida; or Fripp Island & Seabrook, SC....don't tell anyone) - we'd also like to explore the Oregon coast (but it's too far for us right now).
 

Cornell

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@geekette @WinniWoman Thank you for your thoughts , comments, opinions. They are very much appreciated.

So 3.5 years ago, I downsized from my big single family home into my 2 bedroom townhome that I share w/my daughter. I built it new & wow is it nice moving into a brand new home. It has been just perfect for us girls and I absolutely love it. We've had a wonderful few years here. I went through a massive purging of furniture / possessions, so at least that awful task has been done. I don't ever want to maintain a yard ever again. And I don't mind having close proximity neighbors (probably b/c I have great neighbors currently - hahahaha).

I mentally had a longer-term horizon for moving out of IL -- mainly being prompted by my hatred of winter (which got solidified from commuting on the train for 25 years downtown) and the huge tax burdens in IL , which never seem to stop growing. However, my desire to move has been accelerated in the past few months & I've decided to move up my timeline. The reasons are somewhat driven by politics -- but also -- the main draw of Illinois is Chicago & the violence in Chicago is so horrible that I just can't stomach it anymore. My siblings are all in the Midwest so I will miss regular visits with them.

I visit Phoenix quite a bit I love it there. Part of why I like it is there are so many ex-Chicagoans there that it feels like "home". There is Portillos , Lou Malnatis (all local Chicago institutions) there and I always meet former Chicagoans while visiting. Cubs spring training is there , too. I have a few friends that live there so there is a safety net of that.

I have a lot of thinking to do. One MAJOR hurdle is to see if my company will let me keep my job if I move. I don't know if I can stomach moving AND looking for a new job this late in my career.

I have been through so much in the past 10 years. One advantage of that is that my confidence has grown knowing I can handle and weather change.

Thank you again for your thoughts .

BTW, it's an absolutely gorgeous night in Chicago area. We are now allowed limited outdoor dining. Our suburban downtown has done a great job with blocking off streets so restaurants have more room to set up outdoor tables. I saw SO MANY PEOPLE smiling and laughing tonight . Good for the soul. Especially after the last week we have had. Sunday night I slept with a hammer in my bed & would not let my daughter out of the house. I hope that the worst of things are behind us.
 

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We use both.....Airbnb and Booking were better in Europe; but I find VRBO my best bet here in the states and it opens up so many more places that don't have time shares (our favorite deserted beaches are the Cape San Blas / St George area in Florida; or Fripp Island & Seabrook, SC....don't tell anyone) - we'd also like to explore the Oregon coast (but it's too far for us right now).
Fripp Island! Once upon a time, Dad booked a big house for us all for 2 weeks on Fripp Island. It might have been Hurricane Andrew that had stolen the sand, so our walkway to the beach was at high tide a wading station. We were ok with that. That was the only vacation that included all of Dad's kids plus their spouses and kids. Also the only 2 week vacation I ever had.

But, yeah, I'll keep the secret!
 

geekette

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....I have been through so much in the past 10 years. One advantage of that is that my confidence has grown knowing I can handle and weather change.

I was honestly surprised where upstream you expressed fear of the Alone part in a new city. You don't strike me as someone with fear. Not talking about violent Chicago, I get that, completely, totally legit fear of violence so very near Home. I have avoided even driving through Chi Town for years.

What I mean is, you don't seem to have any problem being authentically you, stating what you think, doing what you want. You are clearly adventurous, so I can't imagine you'd have any difficulty meeting people that share your interests. You seem plenty strong to me, so I can't imagine anything but excitement in the move. Alone if you want to be.

I don't think it would be hard to become part of wherever you go. IF you want to be part of it. I tend to reject the idea that I need to "get out there", no matter how many other people think so. In my case, they are specifically referring to dating, which I have no interest in doing at this time. When I feel like being among people, I can find something going on. Well, used to! Pandemic changes everything... No quick drive up to the park to see what's happening Friday night... not likely to have concerts in the park every Sunday this year ...

I would take a sailing class if it weren't so bloody expensive. Just something I always thought I'd like to try. I'm sure you have things like that, or, stuff you never thought about until it's right in front of you. I will take a guess that you will have a list ready when the move happens and dive in as you feel like it.

Older and bolder, that's how I like to think my experiences have shaped me.
 

Steve Fatula

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I have been through so much in the past 10 years. One advantage of that is that my confidence has grown knowing I can handle and weather change.

From reading quite a number of your posts the past year or so, you strike me as a confident and intelligent person. I am 100% sure you will make the right choice for you, whatever that is. Your next 10 years should be great.
 

Miss Marty

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Q: When will you feel good about travel again ?

Between the pandemic, protests and violence here in the United States, it will be a very
long time before we will feel safe again to take a timeshare vacation or travel long distance...

Where are we going? We`re staying at home.
Because that`s the best thing to do right now.
 

WinniWoman

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@geekette @WinniWoman Thank you for your thoughts , comments, opinions. They are very much appreciated.

So 3.5 years ago, I downsized from my big single family home into my 2 bedroom townhome that I share w/my daughter. I built it new & wow is it nice moving into a brand new home. It has been just perfect for us girls and I absolutely love it. We've had a wonderful few years here. I went through a massive purging of furniture / possessions, so at least that awful task has been done. I don't ever want to maintain a yard ever again. And I don't mind having close proximity neighbors (probably b/c I have great neighbors currently - hahahaha).

I mentally had a longer-term horizon for moving out of IL -- mainly being prompted by my hatred of winter (which got solidified from commuting on the train for 25 years downtown) and the huge tax burdens in IL , which never seem to stop growing. However, my desire to move has been accelerated in the past few months & I've decided to move up my timeline. The reasons are somewhat driven by politics -- but also -- the main draw of Illinois is Chicago & the violence in Chicago is so horrible that I just can't stomach it anymore. My siblings are all in the Midwest so I will miss regular visits with them.

I visit Phoenix quite a bit I love it there. Part of why I like it is there are so many ex-Chicagoans there that it feels like "home". There is Portillos , Lou Malnatis (all local Chicago institutions) there and I always meet former Chicagoans while visiting. Cubs spring training is there , too. I have a few friends that live there so there is a safety net of that.

I have a lot of thinking to do. One MAJOR hurdle is to see if my company will let me keep my job if I move. I don't know if I can stomach moving AND looking for a new job this late in my career.

I have been through so much in the past 10 years. One advantage of that is that my confidence has grown knowing I can handle and weather change.

Thank you again for your thoughts .

BTW, it's an absolutely gorgeous night in Chicago area. We are now allowed limited outdoor dining. Our suburban downtown has done a great job with blocking off streets so restaurants have more room to set up outdoor tables. I saw SO MANY PEOPLE smiling and laughing tonight . Good for the soul. Especially after the last week we have had. Sunday night I slept with a hammer in my bed & would not let my daughter out of the house. I hope that the worst of things are behind us.

From what I sense in what you wrote I think moving up your timeline is the right way to go. The job thing is certainly a big factor. If you were retired it would be a no brainer.

So if you can get that to work out, I think you should go for it. Now or never as they say! No time like the present!
 

klpca

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I am ready to local travel now because I figure that we will put gas in the car at home and bring our food with us. We could do a week without seeing anyone. Our primary activity is usually hiking. I hate shopping with a passion, and crowds too. We rarely, if ever, use a resort pool because we have a pool in our back yard so there's no novelty there. Obviously we don't use a gym when we travel as hiking is enough exercise for us. We are scheduled to go to the local mountains for a week this month. The resort assures me that they are open which surprises me, but we're going if they are open. We have zero intention of interacting with anyone on that trip.

We are scheduled to go to Hawaii in August and I am highly skeptical of that happening, but if it does we will go. Our seats on the plane are two together on the side, so no middle seat person for us to contend with. But it's probably a moot point anyway, so I am not losing any sleep over that. I'm sure that we will be sitting in our backyard in August.
 
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presley

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I just got tired of waiting for Disneyland to reopen and I booked a one night stay in August. If the parks aren't open, I'll book a cabana by the pool and at least I know that I love the food at my hotel and Downtown Disney will be open.

I also booked a weekend in Anaheim during October, since I love the Halloween stuff at Disneyland. That stay is subject to change, but I got tired of waiting, lol.

Now, thinking about booking a desert visit, but want to wait until it cools down a bit. When I saw Las Vegas was opening yesterday, I almost planned a trip, but then I remembered that I don't like casinos, lol. Plus, I recently took in a hospice dog. So, I wouldn't really leave her with my husband for more than a couple nights.
 

queenofthehive

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I'd like to travel, and would consider traveling (even though we are totally isolated since March, ordering food etc) if we could find a good deal in a more isolated area. It would be such a waste to go somewhere with beautiful amenities I won't feel comfortable using....but a house on an isolated beach (i.e. not Hilton Head or Clearwater, etc) or a private cabin in the mountains (not Wyndham in the Smokies or somewhere busy). I'd want somewhere with basically no community gathering spots (somewhere private to bike, hike, walk & relax...….kinda like home, LOL....but a change of scenery)
You might want to take a look at Edisto Island but not south of the island where all the all the houses are but north of the island in the Jeremy Cay-Cowpens- Edingsville beach area. This is north of the state park. It is near Botany Bay. Pick up your groceries before hand. There is a small Bi-Lo on the island but I advise to avoid it as much as possible because it is always jam packed in the summer. Not sure if you are familiar with Edisto but it is very remote and the Jeremy cay area is even more remote. Bring your bikes and kayaks as there are plenty of outside activities here. Fishing and crabbing is great. If you have a boat, try to bring it because boating in the marsh is beautiful with all the birds and dolphins. The state park has a great bike trail and a nature museum. The bike trail has many boardwalks that are placed over the marshy areas. Edisto is very beautiful and one of my most favorite places. I like it for it’s simple feel if that makes sense. It is not like Seabrook or Kiawah. It has a handful of restaurants and all are family owned - no chains. There are very few shops (but a great local bookstore). If want a place to enjoy nature and forget the commercialization of the outside world, this is the place for you. We have stayed at Edisto many times so if you have any questions just let me know. I have rented thru Edisto Realty, Atwood and Carolina One with no issues.
 

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Maybe its because I live in an area that has had minimal actual C19 effects (100% of deaths in my county are in long term care facilities), but I am ready to go! My town is also a strong rural tourist area, so things are "almost" normal here, restaurants open, lots of expanded outdoor dining and entertainment, pools, beaches, gyms open etc. And we are two weeks into the expanded opening with no spikes. Here's praying that continues.

So, we are planning a big driving trip for July to a remote area that we normally wouldn't have the time to drive to and flights aren't an option (Michigan's UP). Friends have a cabin in the woods. So, hopefully a rather socially distant vacation. We also do have reservations for October in Emerald Grande, Destin. We are guessing our festival we planned to attend will be cancelled, but will still go enjoy the resort, beach, etc. And finally have a flight booked in November to Florida. It was $20 round trip, so we figure we aren't losing out on much if we aren't comfortable flying yet :)

At some point life goes on, and there are always risks. But, I recognize my opinions are based on what I see on a day to day basis in my little corner of the world.
 

bbodb1

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Be prepared for heat during the summer, but at least in AZ and NV it will be dry heat.

No matter how many times I hear this sentiment, my first reaction is always hot is hot, no matter what!
But then a few years ago, we visited St. George, Utah in July. It was our only option that year and we really wanted to visit Zion National Park.

As someone who absolutely hates heat and humidity, that trip to St. George was a vivid demonstration on the effect humidiy has on heat (and making it just unbearable). It was hot during our stay (over 110 a couple of days) but even in the direct sun, without the humidity it made a huge difference. So today, when I hear sage advice such as Luanne posts above, all I respond with is a strong nodding of the head in the affirmative.
 

MLR

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As I mentioned in previous posts I already traveled (mid may). And traveled by air. My comfort level was high but everyone has different thresholds on this.

One thing that was eye-opening to me: I traveled from a very high -restriction / mask mandatory area to a destination that was low-restriction/masks not required. The societal differences were stark in terms of how people behaved in general and their interactions w/each other. If I was someone who was anxious about C19, where I traveled to would have upped the anxiety b/c human behavior was so different there (vs where I live).

I hope that makes sense.

May I ask where you went? Would love to go somewhere where we would not HAVE to wear a mask in a restaurant! It is summer and I can barely breathe with a mask on. Sure hope next year is better. Thanks for your post.
 

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@geekette - your plans sound almost like a friend of mine did-she wanted to own a farm for years, grow/raise sustainable food etc. She took the plunge a few years ago and quit her "day" job and renovated a farmhouse and started growing enough to sell. She's never been happier even though it is hard work.

One had us put a plastic glove on the hand we served ourself with. The other asked us to use the hand sanitizer right next to the salad bar. Both had sneeze guards.
That is actually not a bad idea to continue no matter if there is a pandemic or not. One thing to come out of all this may be increased food safety and cleaning practices.
Travel update: Arrived at the resort last night-Marriott has always been clean and a good experience for us but OMG I don't think it's ever been so sparkling. Not a speck of dust anywhere. They stored the remotes in plastic bags so I'm guessing once cleaned we are the only ones to touch them - I don't know when the last time was I've seen a TV remote so clean! Pool/hot tubs open, activities starting today and sports courts back open. Brought most of our food with us. Glad to be in a different set of walls for a couple weeks!
This may be the best time to travel if one can do so safely as I think the hospitality industry knows if they fail at cleaning right now there is no coming back.
 

Luanne

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No matter how many times I hear this sentiment, my first reaction is always hot is hot, no matter what!
But then a few years ago, we visited St. George, Utah in July. It was our only option that year and we really wanted to visit Zion National Park.

As someone who absolutely hates heat and humidity, that trip to St. George was a vivid demonstration on the effect humidiy has on heat (and making it just unbearable). It was hot during our stay (over 110 a couple of days) but even in the direct sun, without the humidity it made a huge difference. So today, when I hear sage advice such as Luanne posts above, all I respond with is a strong nodding of the head in the affirmative.
I compare it like this. Humidity is like being in a steam room, dry heat is like being in an oven.
 

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That is a really good question. Miss Marty makes some good points. With everything that's going on, how in the world do we even set about traveling without some level of discomfort? I don't want to have to spend an entire vacation running from COVID-19, civil unrest, and violence or even feeling like I have to be on high alert for any of that. And yet, I don't want to stay in my house forever either, never going anywhere or experiencing other places and cultures. So, how in the Hell do we move forward?

I know it's really only been a few months that travel has had to be curtailed for many but for us it's been quite awhile longer as we spent the last several years watching over my elderly mother. We put our lives on hold to do that and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. But, she passed in December and we were looking forward to selling our home and getting on the road. Now, we're just in the middle of a storm that seems to have no end in sight. Even as I write that, I feel guilty because I know how blessed we are - we have no real "problems" so how do I even complain. I guess it's because I recognize how fragile life is and we're not getting any younger. There is still so much we want to see and do in this life and I worry that we'll just make it through one storm only to find ourselves embroiled in another. In the end, it's in the Lord's hands and I stay focused on that but dang.....today I feel frustrated!!!
 
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