The Return to Travel

With pandemic restrictions loosening around the globe, I feel like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. This travel writer has been pretty much snuggled in her home since COVID-19 hit in March 2020. Suffice to say, I’m REALLY excited to start exploring again!

In fact, that’s what led me to launch my new website last week, www.cathydonaldson.ca, and, today, to add this blog, Destinations by Donaldson. I’ll be using the platform to highlight ideas and itineraries for awesome 50+ travel, provide suggestions for fabulous gal getaways, and give recommendations for amazing multigenerational adventures. (I always love to hear from readers so feel free to add your ideas in the ‘Comments’ section or email me at cathy@cathydonaldson.ca.)

No regrets

I made a few brief trips during the past two years, including a five-day junket with hubby last fall from our New Brunswick nest to Vancouver, to visit our youngest. For the flights, we armed ourselves with double masks, buckets of hand sanitizer, and made concerted attempts not to touch surfaces. While in the beautiful city itself, we were equally diligent.

Our valiant efforts didn’t quite cut it.

Just a few days after we arrived home from the trip, hubby tested positive for the virus and went into home isolation. Thankfully, his symptoms were mild, and he recovered fully. And, thankfully, I didn’t get it. (The Purell showers were obviously effective!)

Did the fact hubby contracted COVID make us regret our travel decision? Absolutely not!

It was a much-needed sanity check during the pandemic rollercoaster, one that gave us renewed hope as we muddled through the months that followed. We soaked up so much happy in Vancouver that we felt alive again. We blissfully followed our daughter-turned-tour-guide, shopping on Robson Street, checking out the unique offerings of Granville Island, biking the seawall, and eating an incredible array of delicious meals that I didn’t have to make.

Raring to go!

As we now head into March and pandemic measures are increasingly relaxed, I’m more excited than a kid in a candy store to get back out into this big, wide world of fun! Though no flights are booked, I’m oohing and aahing over the prospect. (Is it too early to have my suitcase packed?)

It seems lots of you are equally pumped to hit the road and skies. Reports indicate that an uptick in bookings for this spring and summer could signal a good year ahead for the travel industry. No doubt as governments ease restrictions further and the strain on health care systems lessen, more of us will feel comfortable making the leap back to travel.

I’m drooling over the endless possibilities for my next adventure. Where to go? What to do? Can I leave now??

Bucket list planning

Here are a few of the websites I’m currently perusing to create my Return to Travel Bucket List for 2022:

Close to home (Atlantic Canada):