With restrictions still very much in place until the middle of the year, we have at least, got the ball rolling, with plans to enjoy our new found freedoms, when we are finally let loose.

Our first adventure of the year should have been a weekend break, the Besties had booked for us over the Easter Weekend. With the road map set out in February advising hotels would not be permitted to open until May, the Bestie has been on the phone rescheduling our Festival of Motown weekend until the Summer. The venue has changed, but our new facilities look as wonderful as the original, the entertainment looks fabulous and the setting is right on the coast, in the middle of Summer. Perfect 👌

The next break was due to be family time at Center Parcs in early May. Although they will be open and welcoming guests, only one household will be allowed per accommodation. As we were to have three households across two villas, we toyed with the idea of going just a little bit later. However the price was almost double what we had originally paid, so we’ve opted to transfer to the same time next year for the princely extra sum of £10 and Center Parcs have thankfully  confirmed the new booking 👏👏

A week later, on the 13th May, we were due to fly, with the Besties to the Amalfi Coast. With International travel banned for Uk citizens until at least the 17th May (possibly until the end of June 😳) and Italy being put into a further lockdown, our 10 day trip wasn’t going to be possible. Our flight out was cancelled and I therefore contacted the hotel to discuss our options. I had to be patient as I wasn’t sure how often they were accessing their emails. However I needn’t have been concerned, they have transferred our booking until May 22 at no extra cost & flights have also been transferred. We are keeping our fingers crossed that on the third attempt we will get to see the beautiful Amalfi Coast 🤞

Just when we thought everything had been reorganised, our flights to Krakow in September were cancelled 😞. It seems rather than flying three times a day, EasyJet have reduced their flights to just one per day and both late in the day!! We were given four options, 1) Accept the change to the later flights, 2) Change our flights to another date, 3) Accept a voucher, 4) Take a full refund. The flights were so late that it would mean not arriving at our hotel until midnight and not arriving home until 1 or 2 in the morning. Then parts of  Europe announced they were locking down again as they were hit by a 3rd wave!! With 8 of us travelling there needed to be a bit of discussion. As we can’t yet meet at the pub and talk over an alcoholic beverage, back to zoom it was. Sadly the trip, which was originally planned to celebrate my brothers 50th in January & my 60th in February, has had to be postponed until March 2022. On a positive, we are considering a weekend break in the Uk to compensate.

In spite of all these set backs, we have not let the grass grow under our feet and the Bestie had her organising hat on, booking us a cottage in the Lake District for when we’re allowed two households indoors together. The views from the cottage look amazing, with lots of walks close by and a few beaches within easy reach, plus the added bonus of a pub within staggering distance 🥂 🍻

I then received an email advising our theatre trip in early June had been cancelled for the fourth time 😳. We were given three options, 1) Transfer to another theatre where social distancing was effective, 2) Postpone till later in the year or 3) Receive a refund. After so many postponements I was tempted to request a refund. However the Besties already had their postponed War of the Worlds Experience rebooked for September, which happened to coincide with the dates the theatre had offered us.

We also have a postponed tour of the Oval Cricket ground to rebook. I contacted them to see if we could be lucky enough to fit that in around the same time, in September. However there’s a test match starting on the day we requested. We did consider, being cheeky and asking if we could exchange the tour for tickets to the match, but seats were fully booked in a heartbeat, so that trip will be for another day. The Besties were also offered an additional two tickets to their experience, so we’ve booked a two night stay in London, taking in the theatre, the War of the Worlds Experience and hopefully a visit to the Sky Garden Bar to see the wonderful views of the City.

What had begun to look like another year of cancellations and disappointments has turned around to be a year of staycations, but with the added bonus of a family holiday already booked for next year, and both our Amalfi trip and Krakow visits also rebooked. We have our fingers crossed that we will finally make the trips, plus we also have tentative plans for another break later in 2022.

With four of us in our household, and the Besties having had our 1st jab, together with our daughter having also had her 2nd, we are kicking COVID-19 into touch and looking forward to a more “normal” second half of 2021.

😘 Things are looking up people 🥰