Have You Kissed The Blarney Stone?

For years I have recommended that our clients try to plan their vacations at least 6 – 12 months ahead of time, if not more. I have long felt that was the best way to get the best choice of accommodations for which ever method of traveling they chose to do. Cruise ship staterooms, all-inclusive resort suites or seats on an airplane. It always seemed like good advice to me and what I do for my own vacations. Yes, I do practice what I preach.

With the COVID pandemic taking away many planned vacations for 2020, it seems like an even better suggestion. Not many of us have or probably will be traveling in the remaining months of 2020. I have had several people plan for Spring & Summer 2021 already, which seems pretty likely. Under new travel protocols. But have any of us really thought about the BIG bucket list trip recently? I am thinking we need to start planning now for 2022. Give us something to look forward to. Something to dream about. Something really amazing in our future!

But what about between now and then? What can we do in the meantime? How can we fill the void of travel we did not get to take in 2020? Not to worry, I have a few suggestions I would like to make for something fun to keep ourselves inspired.

Regardless of what type of trip you are thinking about – Bucket List or Interim Vacation – we need the excitement of having something to look forward to. Studies have shown  the psychological benefits of planning activities in the future, especially travel, have positive benefits for the present. Let’s be honest. We have all been isolated for 5 months now. We are a little more stressed than normal and we need some proactive coping. Focus on where we want to go when we can get out of the house, how we want to travel, who we want to travel with and how long we want to be away from home. Just imagining something positive in the future would be wonderful!

Remember the Wanderlist I wrote about a few blogs ago? This is an amazing tool to let your imagination run wild and put together ideas with your family and friends so you can start to put a plan in place. I took some time dreaming my way through my Wanderlist and I would like to share my experience with you. If you have not done this yet, what are you waiting for? It is a FREE tool that shows you amazing destinations, lots of different experiences like culture, history, wellness and my favorite food & wine and several ways of traveling the globe. Did I mention it is FREE to do? Only the ones you share your lists with will see what you’re dreaming about. Let’s get those wheels turning! Give it a go!

To learn more about Wanderlist CLICK HERE. Send me a message and I can share with you how to create your own Wanderlist. It is super fun and very interactive. Once you get started invite others and there are no limits as to what you can create!

I became an Ireland Destination Specialist in 2020. I lived in Killarney, Ireland back in 2003 for a 6 week work assignment and fell head-over-heels in love with this amazing country. I can’t wait to go back again! So for my Bucket List Wanderlist I selected Ireland as the destination I wanted to visit. Behind the scenes Virtuoso has programmed Wanderlist to populate accommodations, experiences, tours and cruises for every destination imaginable. I chose 7 different food and beverage experiences, a few castles to either visit or stay in, some fun tours and 2 small ship cruises that can get me to the locations in Ireland I really want to see. Did you know that Belfast in Northern Ireland is where the Titanic was built? There is a museum there that is everything Titanic and it is one of the world’s most popular tourism attractions. I’m in!

Wanderlist is a great way to get the juices flowing. And it is lots of fun when you get others involved. But you may be thinking about how do I avoid huge crowds of people to still ensure I am safe? As much as I don’t want to admit we have to think about this, we should. There are numerous protocols being bandied about by airports & airlines, cruise ports & cruise lines, resorts & hotels and almost every other type of travel. But I have a few options that might not be so intimidating to think about.

Globally, private residences are super popular. You rent a home, villa or even a castle to share with your own group of people and you never have to worry about if a stranger can infect you. Through my affiliation with both Montecito Village Travel and Virtuoso Travel, we have thousands of properties to offer that fit every budget. Think about traveling internationally when it opens up with your family. We can find the perfect residence and arrange private tours. We have all the way from 1 bedroom apartments up to fantasy castles and everything in between. Some of the luxury residences even come with butlers and chefs! Picture your tribe on the Amalfi Coast in a private villa with chefs that craft locally sourced farm-to-table cuisine morning and night.

Think how great it would be to cruise with only 450 passengers. With social distancing protocols, this will be much more comfortable than trying to avoid 4000 people. Plus a better option for semi-private to private excursions with fewer passengers. Small ship cruise lines like Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, Crystal Cruises and Silversea tend to be mostly or quite close to all-inclusive. Something the mega liners don’t even come close to. I truly believe that small ship cruising will be more popular in the near future than larger ships. At least until protocols calm down a bit. I am okay with that. My experience on both Seabourn and Crystal Cruises was amazing! Never had to fight for lounges by the pool or stand is long buffet lines. Wonderful and very relaxing!

Want to ‘do your own thing’ but don’t want to do the driving? I’ve got the perfect answer. Private tours. Especially now, people are itching to get out, but don’t want to be with 50 other travelers. Our suppliers that offers small group tours can customize anything for you. Transportation, local guides, 4 & 5 star hotel accommodations, world class dining experiences. Every detail perfectly curated so all you do is show up and enjoy. These can be arranged around the world, wherever you wish to travel. And you are traveling with only your intimate group of family or friends. What could be better than traveling your way on your time schedule with your loved ones? The only thing I can think of is to add a glass of bubbly while your chauffeured between destinations. #AMAZING!!!

To sum it all up, whether you want to plan for a Bucket List trip in 2022 or a Interim Vacations Getaway a bit sooner, let’s start talking about it together now. In these turbulent times you need to work with a qualified Travel Advisor that will guide you along every step of the way. In the next few weeks, I will be attending 2 global conferences – virtual this year – and learning about what protocols have been put in place in order for us to travel safely. Up until now they have been changing rapidly, so I am really hoping for something more concrete soon. You will be the first to now about them when I find out, so stay tuned! Let’s talk soon and get a plan in place so you have something positive and amazing to look forward to. Contact Us!