Unfortunately Needing to Cancel My Trip

I am bummed out. :(

My trip to Venice which I was really excited about, unfortunately no longer will be happening. 

Since I went to Vienna last March right before Covid got out of control I haven't left the country. (In fact, I came home a day early because all the flights I could find on my original departure date were canceled and the only ones home were one day earlier than I had planned on leaving.) I really love my trips abroad without my kids- the exploration of a new place, change of environment, and a break from my kids does a lot for my mental health, and it recharges me in a way nothing else does.

I was waiting until things finally calmed down enough that travel restrictions were lifted so I could go to another country without having to quarantine there (because what is the purpose of traveling to another country to be stuck in a hotel/airbnb) and finally when I saw that restrictions in Italy had eased, and I was able to find tickets super cheaply, I jumped on it, even though I'd need to take PCR tests before I left and upon returning. Big deal, anything to be able to travel. Knowing that with Corona things still could get dicey I paid extra for flexible tickets just in case.

Booked a nice room at a hostel in Venice near the canals.

Started researching the best places to go and best things to do and transportation and got a long list of things I planned on doing in Venice and the surrounding areas, all on a budget.

Then I found out that I'd need to take a PCR test in Venice too, not just when I arrived home, which cost 100 Euros, which was more than the airfare cost there, but either way, I wasn't going to cancel!

And then the Delta variant arrived.

We went from a small number of cases and Corona restrictions nearly gone to a tremendous uptick because of the Delta variant locally, even among vaccinated people. I was reading the news and I saw that the government started making recommendations not to travel outside the country unless it was absolutely necessary... Do I go, do I not?

And then I saw that the government was deciding if they should change the rules legally regarding travel because of the uptick in cases.

I then got scared. Because we have had our borders closed because of Corona and citizens around the world were trapped and not able to come home. I am a single mom. My friend who was going to come with me is a single mom. We cannot risk having borders closed and being stuck out of the country away from our kids.

That was the final straw.

I hated having to do this, but I made the decision to cancel the trip.

It sucks, but it was an important decision anyhow.

So instead of going to Venice this Sunday I will be staying home. Maybe teaching a class. I don't know. But not leaving on a jet plane.

Since I paid more money for flexible tickets for the airline, I tried to look into using that option, thinking it would give me airline credit. However I saw it only allowed me to choose a different date up until December, but I don't know what will be going on in December, but all the tickets for future dates were more expensive and I'd have to make up the difference in price unless I found something just as cheap. So I didn't know what to do. Fortunately I was in luck because my airline had changed the hour of my flight two times and by quite a lot, and in the email from them informing me about the time change it said that if I didn't accept the time change I could submit a request for a full refund. And I did, so that was no money lost there.

Then I went to booking.com and canceled my booking with no money lost.

Other than that, nothing had been booked, nothing had to be canceled, so all I'm out of... is a vacation.

It sucks, but it was the right decision for now. And hopefully we can rebook for Venice when Corona dies down again and hopefully when it isn't quite so humid, as I was told by my therapist today that it is at this time of year.

Have you had vacation or other travel plans change or get canceled because of the pandemic? Were you able to get your money back?