Farewell 2020
For all of us it has been immensely challenging bringing income insecurity, stunted social lives, home teaching whilst (for some) home working (for me this was tough), exhaustion of adapting every aspect of our everyday living….. second thinking everything, can we go to the park? Can I invite my friends in the house? Is 6 people ok or is it just 1? Is the local shop open? Can I visit the pub, who with……. It’s all been so exhausting…. let alone to mention the illness and desperately sad early departure of some of our friends and families.
From my business perspective it’s been quite a challenge to keep up with all the changes, cancellations, refunds and re-bookings. I have been very grateful for the patience, understanding and kindness my clients have shown me as I fought to resolve their travel plans. Their attitude left me feeling a great faith in humanity.
Great news…business is now picking up. All of my enquiries at the moment are for bucket list, once in a lifetime holidays….. What I’m hearing is ”we’ve not spent our holiday budget this year, so lets bundle it together with next years and do that trip we always wanted to”. Although I have not pinned down exact dates for these departures yet, we are well on the way of planning them, to be taken as and when restrictions are lessened.
I’m not a hugely techie person (nor a Technophobe) but I’ve embraced the way of the Zoom and now much prefer a Zoom meeting than a conventional phone call for business and social.
On a personal front I’ve tried to embrace all that has been within my control and worked to create it into positive experiences. I upgraded my 28year old bicycle and got back out on my wheels. I’ve always enjoyed being on the water and living by the sea it seems a sin not to do it, so I invested in a paddleboard and have spent many hours on the sea and up river in my local area. I hit the big 50 and was able to have a few mini celebrations within the national restrictions at the time. I even revisited my childhood (must have been feeling nostalgic turning 50!) and found a guilty pleasure…. Jigsaw puzzles!!!
Next year is looking very exciting for my travels…... Firstly, in February I have a weekend lounging in a hot tub at a Lodge in The New Forest with girlfriends. March will be taking me on a short break to Venice with a girlfriend, this trip was postponed from last March, so fingers crossed. In the summer holidays I will be taking my children for two weeks in the beautiful Bulgarian countryside, enjoying the natural thermal spa’s, delicious food and great company of friends, my kids love this holiday. In the autumn I have a Yoga Retreat weekend in Rye, good to recharge my soul. Finally, in November I have the most fantastically exciting adventure booked... this trip will be my first holiday as a solo traveller so I feel a mixture of a little anxiety but mostly great excitement for experiencing all the adventure will hold for me, I will share more about this trip during the year.
All of these types of holidays and more can be booked with me, so if you need a little help planning your travel calendar then please get in touch to discuss your plans, I can’t wait to start helping you.
So, farewell 2020, I shan’t miss most of what you brought us, and welcome 2021 with hopefully some better offerings for the year. The photo's are a little selection of my 2020 highlights.
Take care all and Happy New Year xxxx