Things you plan to do when this is all over

[heyzeus]

Obviously we're not there yet. There, being the end of Covid, or something like that. I think we all know at this point that there won't be an "end," just a gradual decline in case counts and hospitalizations to the point that Covid is background noise, like flu or pneumonia, that still bring misery and death but the world has to keep going.

This is thread is a list of things you dream of doing when we reach that point. And I think we will. Probably even in late 2021.

I plan to take my family back to St. Louis so my kids can see my mom for the first time in two years. I'm gonna take them to the City Museum; the last time we were there, my dad was so sick, and we didn't even know why yet. I'm going to take them to Ted Drewes, and up in the Arch, and to the playground where I went to elementary school, and to a Cardinals baseball game if that is even possible or advisable. I'm going to take them to my Dad's grave, because no one but me got to say goodbye.

I hear there's also now an aquarium at Union Station, and I think my kids would love it.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Go to work without a mask.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

That's a very impressive list, zeus. I was wondering when the appropriate time to plan a tripto City Museum and a Cardinals game would be. Hopefully August 2021 before school starts.

Most of our family has already had it and/or never took it as seriously as perhaps it should have been taken, so we don't have a long backlog of things we haven't done family wise. We did postpone a vacation from last year and are flying to Exuma in July for a week which I'm really looking forward to. It should be noted, if you see an end to this thing, or plan on getting vaccinated sometime in the next few months, there are incredibly cheap flights available to just about anywhere right now. Flights to Exuma in peak season are typically $800-$1K per person and we paid $330 per person. A friend that has been tracking flights to New Zealand said they had dropped from $2k+ to just under $1k. So, if you think this all may be 'over' late 2021, it might be a good time to start looking at flights (and of course spend a little extra on travel insurance).

[GeddyWrox]

I am going to finally go to Europe.

We were supposed to leave for a 3 week trip to Scotland, Belgium, Germany and France the day they announced no more travel to Europe. We literally had our bags packed, our boarding passes and everything...

To make up for missing out the last time, instead of a 3 week trip, I want to talk my boss into letting me work remotely from over there for a while. We even have subsidiary offices in several European countries, so in a worst case scenario I could set up shop in one of those cities if need be. But I really want to spend more than just a few weeks when I finally get a chance to go.

Ideally I would find a (relatively) cheap apartment in a fairly central city with history, architecture, great cafes, and easy train travel to anywhere else in the continent. Like maybe Brussels, Munich or Prague. I'm not sure how long I could stay but I would make the most of it for sure.

[heyzeus]

I also really want to have a fantasy baseball draft with my friends again, in person. We might figure out a way to do this outside if we can get the wifi to our friend's yard.

[Radbird]

We bought travel insurance for our trip to Italy last March, but discovered it doesn’t cover pandemics. Luckily we did get refunds when Swiss Air canceled our flights after Italy locked down.

[Radbird]

I am going to finally go to Europe.

We were supposed to leave for a 3 week trip to Scotland, Belgium, Germany and France the day they announced no more travel to Europe. We literally had our bags packed, our boarding passes and everything...

To make up for missing out the last time, instead of a 3 week trip, I want to talk my boss into letting me work remotely from over there for a while. We even have subsidiary offices in several European countries, so in a worst case scenario I could set up shop in one of those cities if need be. But I really want to spend more than just a few weeks when I finally get a chance to go.

Ideally I would find a (relatively) cheap apartment in a fairly central city with history, architecture, great cafes, and easy train travel to anywhere else in the continent. Like maybe Brussels, Munich or Prague. I'm not sure how long I could stay but I would make the most of it for sure.

That sounds awesome, Geddy! We have 3 Europe trips on the drawing board. First, the canceled Italy trip with my sister. Rome, Nettuno to visit her father’s WWII grave, and Florence. We had a couple of sweet Airbnb rentals lined up in Rome & Florence, hoping we can re-book those if they survived COVID. Second, Ireland to visit Mrs.Rad’s sister & BIL who have a cabin on west coast, then England to see a couple of old coworkers of mine - Annie in Portsmouth and Hugh in the Cotswolds. Third, to Croatia to see another coworker, Dijego. I met him in 2015 when I traveled to Prague & Bratislava. Great guy and he has been bugging me to come see him.

After that, Spain & Portugal top the wish list.

Note to Geddy - Prague is a beautiful place, could make a great central city for you.

[GeddyWrox]

We bought travel insurance for our trip to Italy last March, but discovered it doesn’t cover pandemics. Luckily we did get refunds when Swiss Air canceled our flights after Italy locked down.

We did not have travel insurance, but the airlines gave us vouchers for our main flights. We got partial or full refunds from about half of our lodgings, too. We had a couple of short flights booked to get around over there that we lost out on, and some of the lodging money.

[Fat_Bulldog]

I just want to be able to take my girls to have fun without the worry and anxiety of "are we endangering ourselves and others by doing this."

Even though we have been careful for the most part through this, there are times of weakness where we go do something. Especially my 3 year old. This is all normal to her. I want her to experience life without COVID anxiety.

[GeddyWrox]

Note to Geddy - Prague is a beautiful place, could make a great central city for you.

I really want to go to Prague. It looks gorgeous and I hear it's one of the more affordable cities over there. I need to convince my GF though. She's more of a France/Belgium/Germany fan. I could even talk her into Spain, probably. I do hear that Spain is pretty affordable too.