5 steps to take after vacations get canceled or postponed
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What should you do when your travel plans are disrupted and need to be postponed or canceled? I’ve heard of families getting packed and ready for a vacation to Disneyland – waking up early to catch their flight but then realizing their youngest child contracted chicken pox and they’ll have to spend the next few days at home instead.
COVID-19 has shaken up the world and halted many travel plans, vacations, and spring breaks. It’s hard to give up plans or not feel disappointment in canceled trips. For some people, the process of planning a trip and taking a vacation is what gets them through their work weeks.
Currently, countries around the world are shutting down their cities and asking for citizens to self-quarantine or requiring it in order to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Businesses are shutting down for weeks or months at a time, workers are being asked to work remotely if possible, and schools are being closed.
So how can you help yourself and your family still have a good time together even if you’re stuck at home with no flights, road trips, or cruises to look forward towards?
Here are 5 steps to help you:
1. Acknowledge the disappointment / Recognize the grief
It’s okay to feel sad about not being able to go on your vacation. Yes, travel is a privilege. Yes, you can probably postpone your trip and go at a different time. But it’s still a loss and it’s okay to grieve that loss.
After letting you and your family take time to feel and express disappointment, try to focus on what you can be thankful for instead.
What were some of the things you were looking forward to doing on your vacation, and how can you adapt it to something you can do at home?
2. Have a staycation
Use our Staycation to Italy or Staycation to Disney guides for ideas on how to plan a vacation spent at home. Brainstorm as a family to think of activities or games you can create together.
Here are a few to get you started:
Build a fort in the living room.
Pitch your tent in the backyard or even inside the house.
Utilize technology to virtually visit museums around the world.
Visit a new country every day with Google Earth and mark it in a collectible passport.
Make food from different cultures.
Enjoy a cruise ship balcony view from your living room like this couple.
3. Help yourself, help others
You can’t go on vacation, you’re stuck at home, there’s nothing to do! We’re fortunate to live in a time where we can travel virtually, access educational materials online for free, and video chat with someone around the world all from the comfort of our own living room.
We can also do activities that will help others. Helping others can also help yourself move past the disappointment of your canceled vacation. Were you planning on sending a postcard to family and friends from your vacation destination?
Why not make a card instead?
You can also make cards to send to kids in hospitals or send a drawing to senior citizens and troops abroad. If you don’t have materials to create cards, you can also send e-cards (ages 13+) to childrens’ hospitals.
Additional ways to help others while you’re at home:
Contact your local Meals on Wheels and decorate & donate paper lunch bags.
Improve your vocabulary/geography knowledge/brush up on a 2nd language while earning funds for the World Food Programme at freerice.com. Learn about the world, and help end hunger. There’s also an app! Android | Apple
Similar to freerice, but for US foodbanks and hospitals, check out beanbeanbean.
4. Start planning your next vacation
Whether you or someone in your family got sick, work decided you can’t take those days off, or a pandemic is closing down the world – you can still start the planning stages of your next getaway.
If you’re not sure of exact dates or what your plans will be in the near future, you may want to consider the following:
Read the fine print before purchasing Travel Insurance. Cancel for any reason (CFAR) insurance can be beneficial but often only covers up to 75% of the cost of your trip, or sometimes only the flights. Be sure to understand what your travel insurance company offers and what your plan will cover.
Book refundable accommodations. We like to use Airbnb when we travel, and try to book with hosts that have flexible refund policies in case something unexpected comes up.
5. Save up for an upgrade
Since your vacation was canceled or postponed, use the time in-between to save up more money for the next one. Then you can use the extra money on whatever you want to spoil yourself.
Some ideas:
Seat upgrade on flight
Michelin star restaurant
New travel shoes or bag
Personalized tour
Local cooking class
Life may give you lemons, vacations may get canceled – but you can still have a good time at home AND start preparing for your next getaway. If your trip gets canceled or postponed, just remember these 5 steps to move on!
Acknowledge the disappointment / Recognize the grief
Have a Staycation
Help yourself, help others
Start planning your next vacation
Save for an upgrade
Hopefully your next planned vacation will go smoothly and as planned! Let us know if these tips have helped you, and what you do when you have to cancel or postpone your vacation.
Thank you VERY much for reading our article. We actually created this website to help people reach financial independence. Did you know that by having a remote job and traveling endlessly, or living in a country that has low costs of living, you can actually reach retirement quicker? Plus, retirement abroad is up to 75 percent cheaper as well! Learn more by exploring our website: EatWanderExplore and REmotiFIRE.
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