Missing vacation

A year ago in March, we had an amazing once in a lifetime vacation to Portugal. It felt momentous because it had been the first time in my career that I had taken two weeks off of work at one time.

For those of you who live somewhere other than in the United States, would you believe that short holiday breaks of a week or less are normal and expected?

In my 30+ years of working, it was pretty unusual for me to be able to take even a whole week off work. But I wanted to do something special in celebration of our 25 years of marriage.

It was fabulous. We met great people. We ate great food. We saw fantastic historical sites and beautiful nature.

I loved it so much that I found a 10-day luxury river cruise in Europe and booked it for the following year (April 2024).

At the end of last year, following Dave‘s diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s, we took a short 5-day Caribbean cruise during the Christmas 2023 holiday. It was only nine months after our fabulous trip to Portugal and a month after his diagnosis, however so much had changed.

While we really had fun, the disruption in schedule sometimes was very hard for Dave to process. And he would get lost on the ship. This was not a good thing as I had to find him and it terrified me. Also, even though we had TSA pre-check and a direct flight to make airport security easier, Dave had a very hard time following the TSA agents’ instructions. By the end of the cruise, I knew that that was going to be our last vacation.

It took me a while to mourn that.

When I got home, I contacted the luxury river cruise company for the trip that I had already booked for April 2024. I was very glad that I had purchased their protection plan and found out the process for getting a refund.

Our neurologist was very understanding and said it was a very common situation. She was happy to fill out the form and explain the medical reason for canceling the trip.

Other than $400 in cancellation fees, we received a refund for the forgone trip.

In January of this year, I had the opportunity to start a new job doing something that I really enjoyed. It was a highly demanding job, so I wasn’t sure about whether I could do it. I let the executive know about my situation and explained it meant I wouldn’t be able to travel. But they were ok with it. I also negotiated a pay raise to make up for the less than stellar insurance coverage.

It was the right move from a career perspective. However, as I’m 9 months into the job, I am wishing I could take some time off. While the company offers “unlimited” time off, the reality is that (1) the work can be too demanding and (2) logistically we aren’t going to be traveling anywhere anytime in the future.

Staying at home is fine by Dave. 🤣 He increasingly dislikes schedule changes and sleeps a lot. While he likes to leave the house for errands, anything too active or longer than an hour or two wears him out.

For us, a big treat is to hang out with friends for an evening, or watch a movie at home. I’m grateful for the generous time of friends and family. I’m also glad for their understanding when we end the evening early.

Plus please excuse me if I vicariously pester you for details about your travels. It feeds my imagination.