Skipping Vacations: A Bad Excuse For Not Traveling

About 14 years ago, my husband and I realized we had stopped taking vacations. We somehow became so busy and our work so seemingly important, we felt we couldn't miss a day of it. "No problem," we thought, "those vacation days will be there when we're ready to use them." And then my employer filed for bankruptcy, potentially flushing all of that hard-earned unused vacation time right down the drain.

Perhaps more important than losing perks of the job, our health suffered as a result of working without breaks. Improved sleep and brain function, reduced stress and burn-out are just a few of the documented positive effects of a little rest and relaxation, and we both desperately needed all of those things. Tim and I made the commitment we would take a vacation and travel - something we both loved to do - at least once a year.

For almost 12 years we kept that promise to ourselves (even though the cell phone and laptop often came along). But then in early 2020, the global pandemic happened. I was right in the midst of a huge project anyway, so we, like most of the world, locked ourselves away. We worked round the clock without breaks once again. We were just thankful for the opportunity - which not everyone had - to work safely from home.

After more than two vacationless years, things slowly started to return to normal in mid-2021. So we decided to schedule our first trip, an early 2022 cruise, to unwind from our stressful - and once again unhealthy - work lives and coast into retirement. But the pandemic grew new legs. Now our Caribbean cruise dream is in danger of becoming an Omicron hot tub nightmare.

But we are not giving up! If we can't sail into the sunset in February, we don't plan to keep our retirement adventures on hold indefinitely. We'll find a safe way to recharge with some type of socially distanced travel. The challenge will help us appreciate this and every subsequent journey even more. Stay tuned to see what our first post-retirement, not quite post-pandemic trip turns out to be.