The Vacation I Planned vs. the Year I Got

When I bought my home last year, visions of long, leisurely vacations danced in my head. I’d eat the freshest food at the best restaurants, and in the middle of the day I’d sit by the pool with a bottle of water and a good book. I wanted to bring my family to experience a different culture and enjoy a stress-free environment. A more affordable, luxurious lifestyle. Most importantly, a safe one.

Early in the year, Mom and I planned our summer vacation: a trip to our second home, south of the border. We booked our tickets, which weren’t cheap, but when you keep seeing “Last three seats left,” you pull the trigger and pay more than you’d like. At least we had seats.

Then I started reading posts on Twitter about a new virus in China. I kept it in the back of my mind. There had been another virus in the early 2000s that started in China and never reached our shores, and I assumed there were people behind the scenes keeping us safe. I was wrong.

As the virus moved from one country to the next, taking so many lives, Mom and I started re-evaluating our trip. I was still onboard, but I’m not the most cautious person in the world when it comes to something I want.

What first scared me was watching the stock market swing wildly. I’m not all about my money, I’m “some” about my money, but the market is a predictor. It hates uncertainty, and as a passive investor, that told me there were no guarantees we were safe. It also told me confidence in our leadership was shaky.

So my vision of a leisurely vacation with my family was very much in doubt.

When cases reached our shores, I wondered whether our more vulnerable family members should head south and wait it out. This was before my state issued its stay-at-home order. I talked it over with a friend who works in federal law enforcement and is from another country. He shared my concerns. His home country had already issued a stay-at-home order, and his family was following it. He advised me not to leave, because who knew when or how I’d get back if the borders closed?

So we waited, and while we waited, I watched the market and the exchange rate. If I’d waited a year to buy (and no one could have predicted this), the swing could have saved me $30,000 on my home. That stings.

While the rest of us were just trying to get along, I kept reading up on our second home town. Or is it my third? I scoured message boards to see how the city was handling a health care crisis, and I was impressed. It issued a stay-at-home order early. Like Rwanda, it set up public wash stations, a no-brainer in a place with so many free outdoor events. It started using drones to spray disinfectant in public areas, with police making announcements first. A friend who lives there told me that, unlike Americans, people weren’t hoarding supplies. Whether every measure works or not, small, basic steps to slow the spread deserve commendation.

I saw pictures of men and women in protective gear sanitizing the insides of buses. I saw photographs of empty streets. I read stories of restaurants closing, restaurants I’d patronized and loved.

In some ways, I’m in a position to benefit from this crisis, and I’ll be honest about that. A global recession could give people with disposable income the chance to invest less and buy more. Commercial real estate will likely suffer as companies discover that working from home saves money, and some employees may never work full time in an office again. People who can’t pay their mortgages will lose their homes, which creates opportunities for investors.

And the travel industry? Some airlines and cruise operators may not survive. Others will file for bankruptcy and reorganize, or consolidate. Ticket prices could be lower than we’ve seen in over a decade as the industry tries to lure people back into confined spaces with re-circulating air. What was once a luxury may not feel like one, at least for a while.

The world will be different, and my bonus home will feel different when I get back there. The collective trauma of covid-19 has changed how I think. Life really is short, and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. If I’ve learned anything, it’s to reprioritize, because family comes first.