We just got back from a vacation overseas and it was our first vacation, first flight, and first of a lot of different things during the pandemic.
We were Covid tested 4 days before we left the United States for the Bahamas (requirement for entry into the Bahamas and to stay at the Cove at Atlantis) and Covid tested within one day on our return (which was Monday, when the rules changed due to Omicron). Practically everyone wore masks correctly (a few tourists didn’t cover their noses but every employee was right), the airports felt safe to me, flights were busy but not full (Southwest), and it was a fun time without much travel anxiety.
We didn’t, however, get on a cruise. I knew my friend Leif at Physician on FIRE did since we chatted about it beforehand, and I was eager to read about this experience (I am similar to him in my appreciation for cruises, like but don’t absolutely love but his epic 30 day itinerary, that never happened, looks pretty crazy):
Taking a Cruise During the Pandemic [Physician on FIRE] – “In November of 2021, my family of four, which included 3 fully vaccinated people over the age of 12, and one partially vaccinated child under 12, took our chances on a 5-day Royal Caribbean cruise from Tampa to Cozumel, Mexico, with a stop at the cruiseline’s private island, Coco Cay. I’ll detail how things went, what safety precautions were in place, and what limitations we experienced traveling as a family that could not yet be fully vaccinated.”
Selling Everything We Owned Has Been Truly Liberating [Route to Retire] – “Selling everything and just taking off and leaving is a dream a lot of folks have… even if it’s just a fleeting thought. To actually do it though sounds crazy. Who would do something like that?! Yeah, we were those people. We got rid of just about everything we owned and headed to Panama in the summer of 2019. […] What we didn’t realize at the time though was just how liberating selling everything we owned would be.”
Ten 5-Minute Money Actions to Help Your Finances [Becoming Minimalist] – “You’re not going to change your entire financial situation in one afternoon. Making changes in how you spend, save, earn, and give takes time and discipline. But you can make small positive changes in just a few minutes. And those small changes pile up—especially when we do them repeatedly. Your first step in the right direction doesn’t need to be a big one.”