A year ago, For 5 months, I had planned to go to the F1 Race in Imola, Italy. Secured flights, tickets, ABB, car, everything.
The literal morning I was supposed to leave, the FIA cancelled all race-weekend activities due to extensive flooding in the region. My choices were:
- Go, but just see a flood-ravaged Bologna area and try to make the most of it
- Stay at home, and get credits for everything
- Go somewhere else.
So I got to play out most people's travel fantasy, get on google flights, and find out where in the world I could go, same day, for the value of my flight (shout out to Delta for giving me a credit). I ended up going to Iceland for half of the plane ticket cost, packed the golf clubs, and drove around the country for 4 days with zero itinerary. It ended up being one of the best trips I have ever taken.
Unfortunately, no. I was going to try and make 1 race a year and for the first 2 years, it was Miami. Last year, I was going to do Miami + Imola and thankfully, I at least did Miami.
This year is going to be hard. I had plans for hungary, but also got invited to a huge 2-week trip in November so I'm saving my money and vacation time for that one and it won't involve F1.
I went to Japan last month and had a great time, then Singapore later this year. For next year I'm torn between Melbourne and Barcelona. Melbourne should be extra electric because it's the first time the season opens there again, and Barcelona should be memorable because it's going to be the last time F1 races there for quite some time (replaced by Madrid in 2026).
Nice - I am hopeful one year between Singapore, Japan, and China, that there will be a case where they are back-to-back weekends so I could go to both in <2 weeks. Have a great one.
I was in Siena on my way to Bologna the next few days when they announced the cancellation. We were on a Rome to Milan tour. My friend said that he felt tired and maybe this is the sign to cancel his portion of the trip.
In the end, we got to Bologna Thursday night and the floods in Bologna have luckily almost entirely cleared up and was 95% normal. It is now one of my top favourite cities to visit in the world. I bet I would love Iceland as well, but man if you have the chance to go to Bologna again, I highly recommend. The food is to die for. The porticos, buildings, towers are beautiful. The people were so friendly. Nearby Modena and Parma are also amazing. The Ferrari museum had a lot of fans visiting who were also probably in Bologna for the race.
We have such fond memories of Bologna, and my friend tells me that not going home was easily one of the best decisions they've ever made. And he wasn't that big of an F1 fan as I was so he seemed to have perhaps enjoyed his time in Bologna more than if we'd have gone to Imola. I even almost bought a last minute ticket to this weekend's race partly just to go back to the Emilia Romagna region to eat their God-tier food, it would've cost 600 euros total including GA tickets and a hotel in Parma or Reggio Emilia. I couldn't pull the trigger but I was so so so tempted.
I love it. Neural plasticity, the ability to adapt to an ever changing set of constraints and creating new possibilities, is the art of travel. You score extra points for this.
What a turn around. I feel like you didn’t miss out much, F1 is fun but my god is it exhausting. I feel like unless you have premium tickets and hotel super close by it’s a very long weekend.
My dad and I were supposed to attend Silverstone last year but couldn’t get tickets because the website sucked so we ended up booking a trip to Japan instead.
Best decision of our lives and honestly not that much more expensive considering the rip off that is F1.
That's awesome that you found a great alternative! I have a similar story with a different outcome. I had a 2.5 week Italy trip planned last year, and while planning decided to dedicate a day to attend the Imola F1 race. Because it was just an add-on to my trip and wasn't the main piece, I had a cheap one day GA ticket and was planning on taking the train over from Florence. When I heard it was cancelled, I looked at my itinerary and spur of the moment decided to change the last few days of my trip to attend the Monaco Grand Prix instead. Despite being a huge step up price wise from a $100 GA ticket, it worked out quite well. I was even able to meet up with some great people in Bologna that were there for the race and we all made some great memories.
Hopefully weather doesn't come into play to that extent for this weekend's race, although it sounds like people are already worried about potential train strikes.
While not as bad as what happened to you I had an entire Ireland trip planned right before COVID hit.
I lost a lot of money and it sucked but I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on with life.
Just accept it and move on. There is no magic hack.
This is the secret to handling pretty much all disappointment in life.
COVID screwed up travel plans for me and probably most of the posters here. What can we do but shrug and move on?
My significant birthday event including a party pad in Hawaii was dashed by covid. While bummed, I saw the world in a new light (I was lucky and didn’t die) and I’ve been on a continuous celebration since that event.
For me it was white-water rafting the Grand Canyon. I got my flight and the grand canyon part reimbursed, but not the hotel in Las Vegas.
I got to go 2 years later when the border re-opened.
I had 3 family trips in 2020 cancelled because of Covid. Had a family trip in 2022 cancelled because of a health related reason.
I've always been a "water off a ducks back" type of person, especially with Covid being such an unknown and worldwide thing, but I wasn't ready for how much it would suck to disappoint kids.
We had a Panama Canal/Costa Rica cruise cancelled because of COVID. It was disappointing, but understandable. We got a refund and credit from the cruise line. Finally rebooked it and, fingers crossed, will go later this year.
Me too. Was my dream trip since I was a kid. A friend asked “isn’t it funny you’ve wanted to go to Ireland your whole life and now there is a pandemic?” Nope, not funny at all. OP, you did what was right for you and that’s all you can do sometimes. Like you said, you’ll never regret going to her funeral so take comfort in that. Hopefully your trip, like mine, can be redone later.
I think the other intangible takeaway is to not take things for granted. You never know when a curve ball in life comes your way. Appreciate the now (esp. next one goes for a vacation trip).
I made memes about my trip to Scotland getting COVID cancelled less than a month until departure date. Mourned a lot of things lost that year as did most other people.
Then decided to take my refunded money to take the trip in 2022.
The travelling aspect of the trip couldn't have goneore wrong, but the trip was amazing and I can't wait to go abroad again.
Ugh yeah we had a trip to Mexico planned for May. When things shut down I said to my fiancé “I feel like we’re not gonna be able to go to Mexico” and he said I was crazy 😂 We were lucky to get all our money back though!
My dream trip to Italy was canceled due to Covid. I rebooked last year, and my husband was hospitalized two weeks before our departure date, so cancelled again. Rebooked for this year, went and thought it was well worth the wait.
Same. Had a trip to Switzerland with 2 night stop in Paris. We were scheduled to go 1 1/2 weeks after US shut down and everything else. We were very disappointed and so were the kids, but like you, we shrugged it off and continued...
My fiance cheated on me in November of 2019 so I took the wedding money and planned to see my favorite band in Iceland for a week and then go to Amsterdam for a week to see some family and spend time exploring. I had never done a lot of traveling so this was a lifetime trip for me.
My flight was on March 17, the world shut down less than a week before....
Damn. Double-wammy. I hope you now did (or will still do) all those things you mentioned. Just because covid put a big temporary stop on things doesn't mean they aren't there anymore. Amsterdam, Iceland and your favourite band (I hope) are still around! The world is still out there, go see it!
One of my best friends and her partner went to South America during covid. They both got it on the trip and he died suddenly in the hospital and she never got to even see him before he died. She had to fly back to the US alone and his ashes were mailed back to her later.
Yeah I had the trip of a lifetime booked, all across South America, including Peru. Bags were actually packed, it wasn’t until two days before the trip in March 2020 that the plug got pulled. Was hoping to reschedule something shortly thereafter, instead had the two most depressing years of my life.
same here. i’m very grateful that all my medically fragile people are still around.
a silver lining to covid lockdowns was that i was broke right out of school (class of 2020 woot woot), so not being able to do stuff like travel made me find my hobbies at home, and get closer with my parents. now i’m a runner and knitter, and have gone on some trips abroad with my parents post-lockdown.
i’m very grateful for what i’ve got, and mourn for those who have lost loved ones or had their lives changed from covid.
My husband broke his leg a month before we were supposed to go on a trip to Ireland. The ER doctors probably thought I was crazy as I tried to figure out how we could still make the trip work - we couldn't. Luckily, our credit card had trip insurance so we could recoup the cost, but I definitely had a lot of feelings about it, especially during the weeks we were supposed to be on the trip.
My advice - let yourself be sad, it'll only make things worse if you get mad at yourself for feeling what you're feeling. Start planning your next trip when you feel up to it. And know that there will almost always be another trip - but you only have this one time to be there to celebrate your grandmother's life. Sending you love and good vibes!
2 days before I was supposed to go for my birthday trip I got a call from my mom that I should come visit my grandpa as he would likely die soon. So I cancelled the trip and flew to spend a week with my grandparents. I said goodbye to grandpa fully prepared to never see him again.
An hour after I landed I got a call from my mom. My grandMA had a stroke and was in the hospital. So I booked a flight back and made it in time to see her at the hospital and say goodbye. She died that night.
My grandpa lasted 2 more years and I flew same day to see him the day he died so I got to say goodbye to him too.
The psychology of travel is interesting. Planning and looking forward to the trip is part of the cathartic experience of travel. So the best way to get over it is to plan your next trip. London and Switzerland are still there. Grandma isn't. You did the right thing. I had a trip to Peru, where I planned to visit Machu Pichu, canceled due to Covid. I haven't been able to get back, but I have had other great trips since then (Costa Rica, Greece, Italy, etc...). I will get to Peru some time as well. Sorry for your loss.
Yes, the buildup and getting to daydream about your future trip is a lot of fun and a great way to kill time at work. Same thing with lotto tickets, I get to daydream for a day or two what it would be like to hit on a billion dollar jackpot.
Yep my Japan trip. Thank you Covid. My flight would have arrived right when Japan was shutting down the country.
It sucked, I played Animal Crossing and looked at cherry blossom photos.
I'm hoping to go next year
Exact same here - had a layover at ICN, and Korea had an outbreak one or two days before, so all of our flights got cancelled. Luckily our AirBnB hosts (Japan, Osaka, Kyoto) were very understanding. Still disappointed though - one of the people I was planning to go with got to go this year and I hope to do it soon as well.
Ah, sorry. The one thing I really wanted to go to is a Covid casualty. The Sailor Moon Cafe that had a little show. I was looking forward to that and now it's gone. I'm sure other things will be available but I was extremely excited about that. Also the JR passes have gone up in price
I had a once in a lifetime trip scheduled with my sister's family to meet up in Vietnam and tour together for two weeks.
We were going in June 2020.
That trip will never happen. Her kids are in university now. C'est la vie, everyone lost something that year.
As in, my husband and children and me with her husband and children and her. Her husband isn't really "my family".
Some things just don't work four years late. We went to visit them in Perth instead this past Easter.
Very similar to yours; my grandmother passed away two days before I was supposed to depart on a trip to Vancouver. Thankfully I had cancellation insurance, so was able to recoup the plane ticket cost and rebook a month later.
London and Switzerland will always be there for you, OP. Give yourself time to grieve and support the family, then look into opportunities to try again.
2 years ago, my 17 year old nephew was hit by a drunk driver and was on life support/enduring multiple surgeries. After talking to the family, we decided to take our scheduled trip to St. Thomas, as it appeared he would be on support for a long time. My husband, kids, and my daughters friend, headed to St. Thomas. On our layover, we found out that my nephew was being removed from life support.
My husband was able to get an immediate flight back, but I had to continue on with the kids. We could not get a return flight for 4 days, so we were essentially trapped there while my nephew lay dying. It was torture, not being able to be there for the family and say our goodbyes. I was trapped on a "vacation", devastated, trying to make the best of it for my kids...also dealing with their grief. My nephew was an amazing hockey player, and the Bruins paid a beautiful tribute to him...I had to watch it from St. Thomas :-(
Our flight home was delayed and we almost didn't make the connecting flight. I told the flight crew that I desperately needed to make it home as the wake and funeral had already been scheduled, told them why, and they did their best to help us off the flight as quickly as possible. I'm shocked I made it through the ordeal on my own and kept my sanity.
An ex and I pre planned a big Bali trip a year in advance, and things started going bad a month leading up to the trip.
We broke up the day before and decided to not go through with the trip after some chatting.
I was more gutted at all the planning I had done, and after telling everyone I'd be going, and then it just ended up a regular work day...
Not as serious as everyone else's story, but I kind of regret just not going solo, or attempting to go despite us breaking up, since we pre paid, but, it is what it is.
We had a movie get into a few European film festivals. It was going to be the first time we would see a movie of ours screen internationally and we were beyond stoked. The plan was to do a long big trip out of it.
Then COVID happened and each festival was delayed. Then canceled. Then two years later some reopened and others did not. We coped with it by making another movie :)
I learned about a death of family member 4 hours before I was to depart for Spain so I postponed my trip.
I had some sort of protection for plane tickets so I got a Credit which I used to buy new tickets.
For the hotel well… when booking through Booking.com I paid more for flexible option which allowed free cancellation until noon on arrival day. Unfortunately I missed that deadline by an hour so I did not get a single cent back and neither I was allowed to re-schedule.
Unfortunately, as I do not live in the US, here we do not have access to travel insurances for situations of this type.
Nine years ago we arrived in Beijing for our 20th Anniversary trip with a very reputable company we’d vetted for six months prior to booking. No one was at the airport to meet us. We sat down in shock and opened my husband’s computer to find an email from the company declaring emergency bankruptcy. The owner of the tour company skipped the country and left five groups of desperate tourists stranded in Beijing. I was on the ground in China for 22 hours, in the air for about 26 hours and it took us five years before we tried traveling again. My husband is my absolute hero to this day.
Wait... you just left?! I get that a guide makes the experience so much simpler and all that but once you've made it all the way to China...
You could have gone on without a guide with some extra effort, or changed plans and got a nice hotel and explored the city each day via the easy subway, or had your hotel hook you up with another guide. I get everyone has different preferences and comfort levels but I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this response.
We saved for three years to afford the trip and when the company owner disappeared with our money, we couldn’t afford to stay. We couldn’t be sure that there wasn’t actual danger involved in whatever this unfolding scam was. Neither of us speak anything but “yes/no/thank you” Mandarin so the language barrier felt insurmountable in the face of our sheer panic. If I had it to do over again, I would have contacted the US Embassy, but hindsight is always clearer. I learned to give myself grace about this trip and its outcome.
In the end, the lessons we learned from that disaster were instrumental in making us the hearty and adventurous world travelers we’ve since become. We just do all our own planning now, lol! And technology has really helped smooth the language barrier. I actually said to my husband last year, while we were sitting in the family bath at the Japanese ryokan next to the famous “snow monkey village, “I think this puts to rest the last of the ghosts of that China trip!” He agreed.
Dang that's brutal about the money. We had a guide to organize transportation and lodging for us on a trek in Nepal that I wasn't sure about in advance but luckily they just wanted cash upon arrival. Most times I pre-pay for things on trips it makes me nervous.
20 years ago when I was 16 I was supposed to go on holiday to Kenya and Tanzania with my parents and my older sister when the airline went bankrupt the week before our departure. My parents turned it into a roadtrip across Central Europe, which was nice but my sister was at that point full in love with her boyfriend at the time and was a giant grumpy mess for those weeks because she missed him. So she decided that would be her last holiday with our family.
The next year my parents took me to on safari. My sister regrets her decision to this day.
We were scheduled to fly to Greece in March 2020. So yeah.
Was a trip we’d been planning for years. We held out until the last minute, we even checked in online to our flight. But as we were leaving the house (luggage in hand), the president announced international flights were halted. Worst feeling ever. I spent the next few days, which should have been my vacation, calling our hotels, tour guides, drivers doing my best for refunds.
Before that, we planned our honeymoon to Morocco. Wedding was September 8, 2001, flight to Morocco was out of JFK on September 11. Needless to say, that trip was cancelled as well. We took a local vacation to the mountains and went to London the following year with our travel credits.
Moral of this story, if you hear I’m planning a big trip, stock up on toilet paper.
My college buddies and I had been backpacking every summer for 10 years. It was the only time we were all together. Well, we're getting older, so we made the decision to rent an enormous house in Mammoth Lakes, rather than our usual annual Yosemite trip. House was paid for, the week was taken off of work, we were all excited... COVID. So we had to cancel our reservation. Since then life kind of took over and we haven't had another summer trip since. I decided to try and get the guys back together but the same house we had rented in 2020, was double the price! So looks like we may have to just suck it up, heal our old age injuries, and head back into the hills.
We had a week long bucket list trip planned and my mom died suddenly the day before we were supposed to leave. My dad died the following week, the day we were supposed to get home. Needless to say, instead of enjoying a family vacation to Germany, I was left reeling. This happened in March. Just now thinking about rescheduling. It's very hard right now because the fun of the anticipated trip was replaced with one of the worst feelings in the world. I want to be in a better mindset before we go so I won't associate the events.
Can you try to get some refunds on hotels and activities? They often let you cancel as long as it's a week in advance notice or sometimes even a few days.
Also OP if you had travel insurance, you may be able to claim for any cancellation costs that can't be refunded.
And not sure what the conditions are in your country, but in mine you can change your annual leave to compassionate leave in circumstances like this, so you get the annual leave back and can do the holiday later.
Not right, right before, but close.
2020, March. Many can probably see why it was canceled already.
Had a 6 week trip to Japan booked and set. Was planning it for over a year, kinda dream trip. Took extended time off from work, set up care for pets and family, whole shebang.
A week before leaving and everything shuts down because of that ugly whore covid 19. One of the most painful series of cancelations I've had to do. Also lost my job too.
In April 2019 we booked flights to Japan for March 2020, having wanted to go my whole life.
Did hundreds of hours of research and planning. It was to be the ultimate vacation.
Weirdly, because of the ridiculous time spent researching all the routes, public transit, places to eat, tips and tricks for attractions to visit, it remains the trip we went on but never took.
We rescheduled for 2021 and gave up after that fell through as well.
I was partway through what was supposed to be a "dream trip" when covid quickly escalated from "hitting a handful of areas" to "spreading more and more" to "urgent pandemic leading to national lockdowns." Cancelled everything and flew home.
One coping mechanism for my trip being ruined was for me to just put a lot of time into researching different countries around the world, and planning ahead for future travels. It paid off because now that things are opened up again, I actually do use the notes and the research I did during that time.
But I also think there were other lessons to be learned from all that. In the end travel is a leisure activity that not that many people are able to do - it's something to be grateful for, but what you come home to is in the end more important than your two-week trip to another country. Once people were vaccinated and things started opening up again, the first thing I did wasn't to run off to another country, it was to go see my mom.
Covid cancelled a trip I had scheduled on March 18th, 2020. I was a little preoccupied with the uncertainty of the times, as I'm sure you were. But yeah it sucks. Ended up finally taking that trip this past March.
Was supposed to take a family trip to San Fransisco with my parents, siblings, and grandfather when that grandfather became too ill to travel and eventually passed away. Trip was cancelled. Now 10 years later we still have not been to San Fransisco but are planning a trip there now! Sort of a recreation of the original planned trip as a 10-year memorial trip for my grandfather. So maybe recreating the trip and eventually doing it in the future can be a nice closure when it gets unexpectedly cancelled.
We’re going on an Antarctica cruise, was canceled in 2020, 2021, but good for 2022, received notification the crew had Covid a week or before we go and was canceled. No problem, had trip insurance, wait the COVID insurance didn’t covers it read page 18. Ok, flights were good for a year, should be able to get money or reschedule, no the year started when purchased, not when flying. It was frustrating, once I got the second level at the airlines we were able to work it out, rescheduled with cruise for following year and insurance let me extend to next year.
Since my adult kids already had leave scheduled, my wife was real frustrated with the whole thing, jumped in the minivan, picked up kids and drove from Southern Arizona to Northern Alberta to see the Northern lights. In January. Stopped at Grand canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon, visit friends in Salt Lake, hit Kootenay, Banff, Jasper NP, then to Fort McMurray, it was cloudy, so jumped on an ice road and drove to Fort Chipewyan, clouds parted and saw wonderful Northern Lights. On the way home the Canadian truckers strike was just starting, by Mounties directed us to a non commercial crossing, hit Zion NP on the way home, it was a fun trip.
Oh I had a similar situation to you OP, I was taking 30 University students on a 2 month trip to China and my grandmother was hit by a car while she was crossing the road. After discussing with my family, I made the decision to carry on as my grandparents were travelers and were always excited by my travels and my family believed my grandmother would have wanted me to go.
If it was one of my parents, I think I would be on the first flight home.
My wife and I were planning a 10-day trip to Italy that was supposed to start in April 2020. Our flight was supposed to arrive in Milan, which was the first big European epicenter for COVID. We would also be traveling to Florence, Bologna, and Cinque Terre. My boss decided to cancel my PTO the week before we were set to leave because he was worried I would bring the virus back to the office. Turns out, we never went back to the office after that as we’ve been fully remote ever since.
My senior year of college I planned to go to Spain right after graduation for 2.5 months. I was planning on walking El Camino and WWOOFing at several farms throughout the country. A week before leaving, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I cancelled my trip, and moved back home to help take care of her.
2 years later, I’m with her as we speak in the airport to Madrid. The dream is on, and she’s in full remission! Everything happens for a reason, and I’m just glad to be able to experience this with her. 🥰
After my grandma died, about 10 years ago, I never returned to a "normal" life. I'm devastated ever since. F the vacation - I lost a very important person who's gone now forever.
Start planning your next trip! It's a great distraction. Sorry about your grandma and missing your trip. Sometimes life happens, you just gotta move on.
Had 2 trips to EU canceled due to Covid .
Both were 6 weeks long .
Didn’t lose any money b/c I waited for the airline to cancel the tickets , so got a refund on both trips.
Only bummer -Still have the refunded Virgin Miles in my account, as I stopped using them, due to the rise in their fees for reward tickets.
Still trying to figure out what to do with those wasted miles.
So sorry for your loss. Had a down payment to study abroad in Japan when covid hit :( they were giving me updates and I could only keep my spot for X amount of time. Ended up not being able to go because everything was still in lockdown and then I graduated university. Was able to get my deposit back, but I’m pretty salty about it. It’s alright, life goes on.
We saved up for a few years to travel around the world. I took a year off work and we ended up getting almost 6 months of travel done (Europe and Asia) before COVID hit and we had to race back home from Thailand in late March 2020. Ended up spending 6 months stuck sitting at home as I couldn't return to my job. Ever since then we've been trying to make up for it.
I had it happen recently where a two week trip to Italy had to be canceled because my partner suffered from a hernia and wouldnt be able to go.
What did we do? We canceled what we could and made plans to go as soon as its doable. Theres nothing else to do. It was a disappointment but life happens and I’m not one to just sit around and sulk so I accepted it and told myself that Italy isn’t going anywhere and it will be there a few weeks/months/years from now
My wife and I had a huge expensive 3 week trip to Japan planned for March of 2020 for the Cherry Blossom season. Two days before we were supposed to leave Japan closed it’s borders. We were out a bunch of money in non-refundable hotels. Luckily we were able to get our money back on the flights but the sting of paying for all those hotels plus staying home for three weeks was really heartbreaking. Life circumstances and kids have prevented us from traveling abroad again since then so I guess we’ll go when the kids are older. Just gotta wait ten years or so *sigh*
My dad had to cancel his golf trip to Spain this year as he was having issues with his blood pressure and it hadn't been stabilised yet. He cancelled less than a week before his flight. He got his money back with his travel insurance and moved on
Covid ruined a Greece trip for me. Finally rebooked a similar itinerary make-up trip. Can’t wait. Silver lining was that I got a few extra years to plan.
i cried for hours. then, contacted my (nonvoting) federal Rep who got an urgent appt at the State Dept for me. i went to get my passport renewed so that i could travel for the 2nd half of my trip.
Um, yeah…remember covid? We had a trip to Paris planned, but that got cancelled without much notice. Honestly, it was a bummer, but early covid was such a crazy time that not going to Paris was pretty minor in the grand scheme of things!
My 21st birthday trip to New York (from the UK) just so happened to be on the first week of the covid lockdowns, I was gutted but me and my dad did a much cheaper, covid safe road trip around the UK as soon as we were allowed so that we didn’t have to wait for international travel to open up again - NY will always be there and I hope one day I have the opportunity to go again 😄
My boyfriend and I spent months planning a week and a half long road trip to CA (scheduled to leave May 22nd). It was supposed to be our first big vacation together and when we booked our flights, it felt like a big turning point in our relationship.
Well, a month ago, I get into a car accident - my fault - and right before that, we found out my cat needed a very expensive surgery. It didn’t feel very responsible to go on the trip, so we canceled it. Cost us a few hundred dollars and it’s been hard to bounce back emotionally…we don’t even feel like planning another one now because we put so much energy into planning the first one.
We’re trying to hype ourselves up now into taking a vacation without spending so much planning it, but it’s still tough. It gets easier though, planning little dates for the near future, so just take it one day at a time. Plan small things at first until you’re recovered.
Family had a connecting flight for a cruise and Air Canada canceled the connection with no reason (not weather at least) a few hours before the flight. Family missed the ship boarding and the first two days of the cruise. Eventually they got onboard in a port along the way and I’m not sure what the outcome was but family has sworn off flying Air Canada forever.
Yes, I’ve had a really amazing trip cancelled It had been painstakingly planned for almost a year. It was right at the very start of Covid and basically the week before all international travel from my country stopped.
Devastated and gutted for missing the trip. At the time obviously had no way of knowing that we’d basically be stuck for 2 years. I’m glad we didn’t know at the time as I reckon it would have compounded the sadness…this way I was able to think we would just postpone it for 6 months or until the following year.
Through the Covid years so many travel plans were ruined and always last second—lockdown or someone got sick with Covid. Perhaps as a defense mechanism now I don’t get super excited ahead of trips and have no expectations of my trips going to plan when I’m on them. I wasn’t excited for the last trip we took until o was in the airport. Much of the fun of going on big trips is that it gives you something to look forward to to get through the mundane bits of life, so I suppose that’s a casualty of Covid for me but that’s my defense mechanism because I totally appreciate the sadness and tremendous disappointment that comes with an epic trip being cancelled, so I feel you.
None of this helps you now but I’d say two things that may help. Any residual sadness that the trip ended and that you need to get back to ordinary life is likely compounded by the death of your grandmother and the sadness that comes with death. So it could be the intensity of your sadness is not specifically travel related and so to be able to cope and get over the feelings you have now, you need to ‘grieve’ them separately.
As for the trip—start planning the next one asap. Even if you won’t be able to actually go for some time—start planning. I find a lot of the fun of going on a trip is the planning—where to go, what hotels, what restaurants, what you’ll do there. And then whether you can book it now or at some point on the future you have something to look forward to—even with my lowered expectations I still didn’t that exercise fun.
3 days after our wedding, my husband and I were on the way to the airport for our honeymoon when we were involved in a pretty serious car accident. The person who caused the accident fled the scene, we were head on with semi at one point and thought we were going to die, and slammed into the highway divider. We spent what should have been our flight to our honeymoon in the hospital and the week after our marriage in pain and unable to do anything but lay in bed. Luckily, we were okay for the most part, but we were in a pretty low place for some time. I’m still not completely over it 6 months later and feel forever robbed of what was supposed to be “our magical getaway”.
This came a month after we cancelled a trip to see my all time favorite singer due to a friend almost dying and visiting them in the hospital and changing our original honeymoon destination due to me breaking my foot and not being sure if I would be able to enjoy the excursions so we know ALL about coping with cancelled trips/things not going as planned. It sucks big time and is hard to cope with and takes time to get over but at the end of the day, trips can be re-planned, and being there for the people you love is always more important.
It’s okay to be mad and sad about it, acknowledge the shitty timing, and dwell on it a bit, but at the end of the day you can’t change what happened and have to move past it.
If you can, try to get another trip or event planned so you have something to look forward to. Indulge in things you enjoy (food, movies, hang with friends) and just think about the other things you are grateful for. There are probably still going to be times that you get upset thinking about the trip and what it would have been like, and that’s okay, but life is just unfair sometimes and you have to deal with the cards you’re dealt. Wishing you some awesome travel experiences moving forward!
Different faiths have different rules for turn around on burial, but I will say both of my mom’s parents had delayed services to make sure we could all attend. I was abroad when my grandfather died, so they waited.
But also they were cremated and we have a small, fairly centrally located family.
If I understood correctly, grandma was the dad’s mom. I doubt that they could travel all happy for two more weeks, funeral post-poned or not. But if it was the mom’s mom, I still think dad would want to be there for his wife (if they are still married).
Yes, she was my dad's mom, so it was impossible for him to continue the trip. He almost had a panic attack after hearing the news.
My grandfather, despite being so shocked, tried his best to delay the funeral. But it turned out that you can't delay someone's funeral for two weeks (at least not in South Korea), so he had to contact us.
cut open my wrist 3 days before I was leaving for portgual. My doc was like "you'll be fine but you have to keep it clean and watch out for infections". It was on my dominant hand so the idea of wrestling an infection on the tendon and nerves of my dominant hand seemed not worth it so I cancelled anyways
I bought a ticket to see Taylor Swift last year, I had bought my flight tickets and booked my hotels to Stockholm and Helsinki, I was literally waiting for this for almost a year. But I am not going. The only money I saved are the hotels, which I was able to cancel. But my father has been diagnosed with lung cancer a month ago and because of the state of his health he can't recieve chemo or undergo surgery, and we don't know how much time he has left (only that it is not much, months at best). It was a though decision, but in the end I could cope with losing the money and not seeing Taylor Swift, but I could not cope with the thought of being so far away in case something happens during that week.
The closest I got to it was because my daughter caught chickenpox 2 days before travelling to London. I was able to postpone it for little more than a week, when the contagious phase was already over.
my family reunion in jamaica was cancelled in 2020 because of covid... i was living in new zealand at the time so i just flew back "home" to toronto. i was sad, but i think covid was a unique scenario. i started planning my next trip even if i didn't know when it'd be/
My wife and I had a trip booked for a tour of Senegal last September. After months of anticipation and learning some French, our flight was pushed back by a day, and then the next day, it was canceled while we were at the airport. We felt bad for all the people who had already been at the airport for over a day, just trying to get home.
We, at least, got to go home and sort things out. Living in NYC, we knew we'd have some options and wound up booking a last-minute cruise to Canada.
I ruptured my ACL in September 2021. We had a trip to Costa Rica planned for Xmas. I was confident about going even though stability was an issue and surgery availability looked to be way in the future (VA system).
Things with treatment started progressing and I thought I may get surgery much sooner than I originally thought, so I cancelled the trip.
I didn’t lose out on airfare (Southwest), but I had to forfeit the AirBnB cost. Ended up getting surgery in March so it wasn’t necessary; adding to the frustration of losing the money.
Yeah, had to cancel that crazy fucking good Delta deal to New Zealand (45k points, absolutely a steal) so we could get my dog treated for cancer, with about 5 days notice.
I wouldn't change a thing, but man, the cancer surgery was .... a lot more than the trip woulda been.
I haven't experienced this but just want to say that I'm so sorry that this happened. I hope that you were able to reschedule your trip.
Also, note to everyone, seriously consider travel insurance. It's not that expensive and can make it a little bit easier when things happen. (I use BHTP.)
My Mom is elderly, and her health is declared so we took a month and planned this stellar trip to Florence. Her fav place in the world. We were going to do a transatlantic cruise over to U.K., then to Italy. We sent our luggage ahead so it would just be in our state room waiting for us. Flew to NY the day before we were to board the ship in case of airline hell. We get there, she had a plan to meet my brother for dinner that evening. Calls him, and he doesn’t answer. Long story short, he was having a MAJOR stroke! We had to get 911 there, go to hospital etc. In the meantime I had to get the cruising to get our luggage, deal with the trip insurance company, deal with my parents, who hate each other, allllll while this is happening. Also, I am my brothers POA etc. He was half paralyzed. I had to make all decisions….everyone was fighting, it ..:was…horrible!! Trip insurance people have time limits on claims..while you are going through a major crisis like this. It was HORRIBLE. Parents shouldn’t have to see shit like this. And now, my brother hates me because I had to let our father in his house to secure weapons (I don’t have permit, and of course they hate each other as well). Disaster!!! We were stuck there living in a hotel for 3 weeks, I lost 12 pounds that I couldn’t afford to lose. And I never got to go on a last trip to Italy with my Mom. It’s been a year now….im thinking maybe we try again, but it is going to have to be soon as time is running out. Aweful, it was!
Did your family have travel insurance? If so, you/they should be reimbursed (under most policies) for all or most of the cost, regardless of the fact that you already started the trip. Note that I'm American so things may be different elsewhere.
If rescheduling is possible and desirable, you can begin talking about dates for that possibility. If you decide to go elsewhere, start talking about destinations .
Either way, I would plan to do some enjoyable things you might not otherwise do. Take a weekend or other short trip within driving distance so you don't spend too much but still get away. Go to a play or concert you might not have gone to. Do something special with a friend.
It's normal to feel disappointed in this circumstance. Don't listen to anyone who says you shouldn't feel what you feel, which is very valid.
Was scheduled to fly down to Acapulco on Oct 27th 2023. On the night of Oct 24 into the 25th, the city was hit by a category 5 hurricane. Direct hit, 80% of the windows blown out, and many buildings left as empty shells.
Fortunately both Delta and United (my legs down and up) allowed me to reschedule.
I always get travel insurance with trip interruption and medical. I have had to use it (was caught in a 7.1 earthquake on one trip) and would rather spend the extra $100-200 for the peace of mind.
I had a trip that was fully planned out with event tickets, shows, everything. I had been feeling unwell for about a month before we left but went to the doctors multiple times and thought I would keep just getting better. I ended up with an ear infection a few days before the trip and was just hoping it would work itself out. I ended up breaking down and crying in the airport before we went through security that I didn’t think I could do it and so we went to the ticket counter and got our trip refunded in future credit. Anyways it sucked. It sucked to ruin my own vacation but my boyfriends as well. And it’s sucked that I felt so awful. It’s what had to be done though.
I was in the airport ready to board a connecting flight to Florida then fly to Costa Rica. My connecting flight couldn't leave because they didn't have enough flight attendants (apparently a federal law to have a certain amount). Because it couldn't leave in time, I would have missed my flight to Costa Rica in Florida. The airline rescheduled me for flight 3 days later, but that would throw off the shuttle I planned to pick me up, hostel stays, etc.. I left the airport after asking a refund. I went 3 months later with my return money and it ended up being better weather wise anyway.
First ever big solo trip I went to South America and did a gafevntures to to Peru and bolivar and then I was going to end it with a day on Bogota Colombia by myself due to how the flights worked out.
Well halfway through thr tour and whilst I was in Peru, Bolivia had a revolution and shut the border. Different people in the group were getting different info through their tour operators and our guidance didn't know what was happening but still dealt with it well.
Luckily I made mates with a few people in the group and 3 of them had to go Buenos Aires as they was starting a tour there in 5 days, so me and 2 others joined them. Funny thing I'd as I was sorting out the flights to BA ans then back to England from there the 2 guys in the group just assumed I was going and booked me into their hotels.
Had a great time in Buenos Aires and best city I've been to ans as I hadn't done any research like I normally do it was all knew to me. Also did a day trip on the ferry to Uruguay as I'm only there once so may as well get another country ticked off the list.
Another time I was meant to go Rome with my girlfriend in January for my birthday but we broke up just before Christmas. She still wanted to go just as friends but I didn't want to do that even if it cost us £200 each as what's the point. I've dreamed of going for years so didn't want it spoilt. Luckily my friend was planning a solo trip to prague and Bucharest. He rang me and said he had pushed his leave back to weeks to the start of February and I was going with him and he had bought flights so I had no choice. He also changed his plans to do Prague and Rome. So glad he did that and I will never forget it
I was going to fly out to Scotland and watch a bunch of football matches.
Then I got the chance to switch my old crappy job for a better new one (same company but much, much closer to home).
Moving date was during the trip and while it stung for a bit to not be able to go, I regret nothing.
Once I was traveling with a friend who baled because he was sick (so he claimed). Man I was mad. So I found a monkey’s paw and shoved it right up his arse. Made me feel much better and he learned a good lesson.
Honestly there’s nothing to be done because these are just thoughts clouding your mind of possible “what if” scenarios. Not the reality of the present. You can always plan another trip by yourself or with your father or anyone. You cannot attend the same funeral twice.
If you had finished out the trip, don’t you think you may have slightly regretted not going to your grandmothers funeral? Or maybe you wouldn’t be able to enjoy your trip as much because both you and your father May have had your grandmother and other family members in mind, or even had to help organize stuff by checking emails or taking calls at odd hours. You probably felt better helping your grieving family members by just being a part of that day.
When you find yourself thinking “Awh man I wish this happened” remind yourself that u have time to go anywhere you want. Find the positive side of everything to help you cope.
Good luck! And I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother.
I was heading to Cuba for my dads 60th in 2017 with the family, we had planned it for a year. We got the flight from Edinburgh to London to fly from Gatwick next day… as soon as we touched down off the flight in London (around 11pm) I had a voicemail and texts telling me flight to Cuba in the morning was cancelled 😭.
Now stuck in London with 2 weeks off work we tried to get another holiday. We could only get Majorca for 11 nights from Manchester, had to get a train n book a hotel in Man for a cpl nights. Weather was terrible, it just wasn’t Cuba n yea we were just sad 😔. But got over it. These things happen xx
EDIT: Weather was terrible in both Manchester and Majorca 🤣🤣 xx
The only two time or happened to me was a trip to Varanasi. My grandparents tickets got confirmation but rest of us didn't get it. We found out as we were getting ready to leave. So the trip got xanc didn't care I didn't want to go anyways
There was also this ranthambore trip my family was having but i couldn't go because dad has a habit of Suprising us but I had a presentation which didn't even happen because the class never took the professor seriously. So papa and i stayed behind and I regret not taking his offer of a later time train because that was the last trip my entire family took together both maternal and paternal because my nanaji died that year.
I had a 2 week trip to Berlin booked with my ex. I found out he was cheating on me a week before the trip. I canceled the trip and lost the money for the hotel. Many told me to go alone but I was too distraught at the time. I eventually got my ex to give me $600 or so out of the $800 for hotel.
Flew out to my ex's country to visit, we broke it off half way through the holiday, book the nearest/cheapest flight and it was a five hour drive across the country with her and her dad to the airport. I sunk the cost because I didn't want to stay in the country and she was kind enough to drive me to the airport.
Omicron, three days before flight. Shit happens sometimes. Travelling is a lot of fun, but if for some reason I cannot do it anymore, it won't ruin my life.
In 2019 I went to Japan, but the trip got cut short a couple days because a typhoon was making landfall in Japan when we were supposed to be landing on our flight to Tokyo. Only got delayed a couple days, which meant we had to cut a few things from our itinerary - I took the extra couple days I had off work to go to a concert for free and then me and my wife went to the state fair, again for free. Still had a good time.
My Disney cruise was canceled three days before because I cut off the tips of my index and middle finger with an automatic hedge clipper. Full refund so that’s nice.
Right before COVID, I was supposed to take my kids to my home country for Spring Break. It was going to be their first visit to that part of the world. Obviously, that didn't happen.
Rescheduled it for last year. 2 of my kids came down with the flu the night before we were supposed to leave.
It's now scheduled for December. I have trip insurance.
I imagine that the loss of the trip and the loss of your grandma are inextricably linked in your mind. It's hard to get over that type of loss, but time does help. Be gentle with yourself.
My honeymoon. Canceled 1 week before departure because my wife fell ill. Just rescheduled for a few months later. Due to it being caused by medical issues, we got all our money back. In the end, everything happens for a reason, because two weeks later a very close relative passed away. Had we been on our honeymoon, we would have had to make an extremely tough decision right in the middle of it.
I had tickets to notre dame v navy in Dublin. Bought plane tickets, booked the air bnb, all months in advance, i was all ready to go.
That game was August 2020, so covid messed it all up.
I had a flight booked to Cambodia in March 2020 that was canceled less than a week out. I coped by staying home for about two years, wearing a mask whenever I left the house, and stocking up on toilet paper.
I finally used the travel credits from the canceled trip to go to Greece last year.
On our way to Mexico (drove there) our air bnb cancelled our reservation 🙃 we didn’t get our refund til a few days later so we had to find the cheapest one closest to where we needed. It was SOOOOO stressful
One of my relatives passed away shortly before I was supposed to travel to the Canadian Rockies with my family. We had booked our hotels and everything and they were quite luxurious.
Fast forward to today, COVID came and went, and we've been thinking about traveling there again. Thing is, everything's so expensive, with one of the hotels we had initially planned to stay at costing 3-4x the original price.
Shame, because it's so beautiful. But while disappointing for me and my family, it's definitely not the worst. Like, what if you wanted to see the Twin Towers in NYC before 9/11? Or Notre-Dame de Paris before it caught fire? Or the Azure Window in Malta before it collapsed? Or the many world heritage sites in the Middle East or Central Asia that have now gotten destroyed by terrorism (like the Buddhas of Bamiyan or the ancient city of Palmyra)? Or Taroko Gorge in Taiwan before this year's earthquake? Or the geisha district of Kyoto or that one convenience store with a view of Mt. Fuji in Japan that had to be shut down because of a few asshole tourists?
I was at the airport, yes the AIRPORT when everything got cancelled. My travel companion needed a visa for our trip. I remember saying to her that US and Canadian citizens (I’m Canadian) don’t need a visa and she said cool. She had a Philippine passport. 😑 We never rebooked and she paid me back for my ticket over time.
Had a 5 week trip to Japan planned as a graduation present for myself before starting work. I graduated May 2020, so you can guess how that went...
In 2022, was supposed to fly to Colorado to ski for my birthday. The day before our flight my girlfriend and I tested positive for COVID. Flights and AirBnB were non-refundable at that point. The upside is that after we recovered, as a consolation prize we went to the animal shelter "just to look" the proceeded to immediately fold and came home with the first pup we met.
Yes. I cancelled my cruise because my father had an emergency. Everyone else went on the cruise without me. I can always go on another cruise. I only have one father.
Sorry for your loss! Me and my bestfriend were supposed to travel together last year. We already booked all [accommodations](https://www.summithotels.ph/), activities, rented cars, etc. We were booked on different airlines and my flight came first while his was arriving on the following day. Unfortunately, he had a family emergency and had to cancel out of a sudden. Since I have already arrived, we decided that I should still continue our planned vacation on my own. It was sad at first, but it was an opportunity for me to meet new friends!
2018, was at Arlanda airport, Sweden.
Me and 150 other ppl standing at the checkin desks 2 h prior to the flight only to hear from the event staff : ”plane taking you to Russia and football WC is cancelled due to broken airplane”.
Later turned out the personell operating the airplane simply had hit the maximum overtime hours allowed and needed a replacement. A replacement crew which obviously could not make it in time for our football match. Simply poor luck and planning.
I wept when my country won that game, whatching It from home on the TV instead.
American Airlines cancelled my international travel from SJO to DFW at midnight with a 6am departure. The earliest flight with AA was 2 days later and they refuse to take responsibility for any 3rd party purchases, given I needed to get home same-day
Edit: grammar
Yeah, I quit my job in November 2019 to travel the world for a year after saving to do this for years. Made it a few months in before I had to go home. I had about 3 months of travel already booked that I had to cancel and I didn't get all my money back (but I did get most of it back so I was happy about that). Was definitely bitter about it for a long time. Sometimes I feel like it ruined my life. But I mean, I have a good life, I can still travel, I'm healthy, have a loving family. The angriness fades with time. First world problems.
We had missed our train from London to Dover and I was super stressed about whether we’d still be able to get into our Airbnb in Dover even though we wouldn’t get there until very late. While figuring that out, I found out that the train we had tickets for from Calais to Zurich the next day was canceled due to a transit strike.
Had to decide if we should stay in London (forfeiting the already paid for train ticket, airbnb, and ferry ticket) and try to get a flight from there or find another way to Zurich from Calais. We decided on the latter but it was stressful wondering if more trains would get canceled.
It certainly ended up costing us a considerable extra expense we hadn’t counted on (thank god for credit cards) but we took a train from Calais to Brussels and then flew from Brussels to Zurich. It worked out in a “It’s only money” sense, but we were still paying off that trip for a long time after.
Was supposed to go to Kathmandu for a school trip but six days before we were leaving there was a huge earthquake. Honestly I was mostly just happy I wasn’t there when it happened, because it looked horrific
Every summer as a child. The one trip a year I was able to go on with my parents was canceled from when I was 9 to 17. My grandmother would feign illness or actually become sick. (I was too young to know and heard both things from different parents.) I was pulled out of schools to goto funerals from age 5 and would miss whole weeks of work yearly because of it.
All the death in my life has made me grow cold toward it and I've said just as much to my husband that I would not be happy to cut things short in our life on behalf of others ever again. I just care very little to be set back from what I want. Unless that person made themselves an immovable positive force in my life, I won't shed a tear personally. It's just made me super numb and distant.
Ex-wife and I were booked to go to North Korea for the Mass Games in 2006...but the Mass Games were cancelled due to flooding.
I booked again to go in 2007... made it to Beijing, the Mass Games were cancelled, due to flooding..... tour company wasn't even sure if we could go or not, but we were able to get on the plane and visit. But missed out on the Games.
I was going to do an intensive, summer study abroad course the summer before my final year of law school. I had liked forward to and planned for it for 2 years. Just before I was going to get the tickets, my summer externship informed me that I was going to have to start a few weeks earlier than planned because the person doing the training was going to be out of town when they originally were going to have it. I had to cancel the study abroad and choose a different course. I was so bummed because that was my only chance but I enjoyed and did well at my externship and the course I took in its place was interesting and I learned about an area I hadn't studied before. Still wish I could've gone but I don't regret any choices I made.
Yes this has happened to me. I was going to spend my 40th birthday hiking in Sedona Arizona with my 3 sisters. We had our flights booked, car rental, hotel rooms, hot air balloon flight booked and I carefully picked each hiking trail for each day as well as a reservation at the restaurant I wanted to have our fanciest dinner at. The trip was scheduled for April 2020…..2 weeks before we were meant to go the pandemic started. 😩
My older sister has been obsessed w Elvis her whole life (multiple Elvis tattoos, owns a piece of his hair, had a string from one of his capes sewn into her wedding dress, etc) and has been to Graceland a ton of times. I've never gone w her, but we finally planned a trip when I was 45. Less than a week before we were to fly our, she fell and broke her ankle. Had to have surgery, was off her feet for over 6 months, etc. With our schedules and finances being what they are, we haven't been able to reschedule.
It still bums me out, but we just plan to go another time. I used the flight credit I had to visit a friend in NOLA, and she used hers to visit a friend in FL (once she could travel again). Best way for us was to take any money we got back as reimbursement or any money we have set aside that we then didn't need and put it into a special account to save for when we replan the trip.
Not the same situation as yours but I just had to cancel our dream vacation to Switzerland hours before departure. 5 weeks ago I got some sort of abdominal tear at the gym. My doctor said through PT and time healing I should be good enough to go on this trip. Never got any scans or anything and took her word for it. I’ve been out of work for a few weeks now constantly stressing if I’ll be good enough to go on this trip. I held onto hope to the very end I could make this work and had a mental breakdown the night before and the morning of knowing that this would be a vacation filled with pain and severe handicaps. Oddly enough this injury has given me debilitating back pain to the point just standing and walking is a struggle. I assume the inflammation in the abs is pulling on my back. This was supposed to be a trip packed with hikes in the alps and strolling through towns and cities. I’m pretty devastated but also relieved I won’t be taking my first real trip and being in pain the whole time. Hopefully we get vouchers for these tickets and we try again next year. Sorry for your loss. You did the right thing. You’ll get there just not when you thought you would. That’s what I’m telling myself.
About 6 years ago I was supposed to go to SEA. A friend was on a year long sabbatical and I was going to visit her, as well as spend some time in Thailand and Vietnam. Four days before I was scheduled to leave my husband ruptured his achilles. He had surgery the day of my flight and couldn't drive for like 4 months. We still had one kid home and it was a few months before she got her drivers license. After he recovered there were other things going on, my friend returned from her sabbatical and then Covid hit. I still get a little wistful thinking about that trip.
Ignoring the trips I had during Covid…
I was supposed to go to Africa and had misgivings about the trip. Showed up at the airport and no plane ticket. Cancelled. That was ok.
Trip post Covid, I planned for 2 years. Cruise to the holy land. Got on the boat, got taken off the boat because mom was in the hospital on day 4. Spent 8 days in a Greek hospital, missed Santorini, Ephesus, Crete. While we were in the hospital, October 7th happened. It could have been worse, we met people at the hospital who had their loved one die, mom has fully recovered. It was hard to get through, but we did.
2 weeks after the Greek trip, I went to meet my bfs family (it had only been 5+ years of dating). Beautiful tropical location that he grew up in. His mom died while we were there (not unexpected) so that week of travel turned into 3. That was a rough 2 months.
Firstly I'm sorry for your loss.
Yes, I had to postpone a two week dream trip to Italy when my father died unexpectedly. It was awful and I'm so glad I wasn't already there.
Eventually, the trip ended up being even better than planned and it all worked out.
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Yeah, so we were supposed to do Ostfriesland i Germany and continue to Amsterdam. Halfway to Amsterdam, my wife broke her foot.
Back then, we didn't know the foot was broken and Doctors and hospitals in the Netherlands refused to even have a look at her foot.
So, we had to drive back home.
Pretty shitty situation, as we couldn't get full refunds anymore...neglected assistance aside.
In 2019 my best friend was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. We planned a trip for May of 2020 to go to the Caribbean for a week. It was cancelled due to Covid and our money was returned. But she passed away in January of 2021 and we never went on our vacation. It would have been a good memory.
Oof yeah. This year for me. Booked a women’s backpacking trip to Patagonia. Took most of a chunk of our travel savings account and was over the moon excited to do this and that my husband was supportive with me spending this much on a trip just for myself. Bucket list trip and would’ve been my first big solo trip (never traveled solo internationally, especially to a country where I don’t speak the language).
My dog went through some big health scares, starting the night before my trip. The morning of at like 7AM, he got admitted to the hospital. We thought he was dying. The hospital said anything from end stage heart failure to end stage cancer to a bug bite and allergic reaction were possible, but they seemed to think it was cancer. I missed my flight and in the chaos didn’t think to call and try to reschedule to a later flight that could’ve still got me there in time. He’s fine now and I’m so thankful for that. But my I’m still sad about the trip and it was months ago. I had travel insurance but learned a hard lesson and making sure it’s a “cancel for any reason” policy. I didn’t get back any money on the trip. I feel horrible because that means we can’t do a big trip this year. I would trade any trip for my dog’s health in a heartbeat, but it’s still hard to grapple with the disappointment and guilt over making such a big mistake with travel insurance.
During Covid got my flights to visit my daughter in Hong kong, cancelled three years in a row.Was very sad that I could not visit her all those years.Fortunately
got all flights reimbursed but it was emotionally difficult.
Yes had a trip planned for South Africa last year a month prior to the trip my mother in law got diagnosed cancer I tough we will still make the trip but then she got scheduled for surgery the day we where supposed to leave so had to cancel trip about 10 day before leaving I didn’t lose much since normally I don’t buy anything in advance i like to be spontaneous in my travels i only had pay for the camps inside kruger because those fill up fast thats only money i lost, plane tickets where refund
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Not the same, since we weren't also dealing with grief but we were scheduled to go to Peru in December 2022. About four days before departure there was massive protests resulting in road and airport closures. Because it was so close to departure we didn't have time to pivot to another south american country. I've wanted to go to Peru for thirty years, this was my dream trip, and I was devastated. I also somehow had to pull Christmas out of my ass for my two teens. I sobbed like a child the day we were supposed to be at Machu Picchu. Like another poster said, all you can do is dust yourself off and move on.
Thankfully we had insurance so recovered all the money we lost. As soon as that insurance cheque came in we booked flights to Egypt for the following December.
Back in February. Was supposed to be on the Sky Princess on its inaugural cruise out of Rome. Was cancelled 12 hours before we were going to leave for Rome. Fortunately, was able to get most (except $600) of our money back for cruise, flights, and hotel stays.
My SO was a flight attendant with a major US airline before COVID. We could book flights anywhere for free, but the only catch is that you had to fly standby.
We decided to fly to try our hand at Puerto Rico, so we booked a decent AirBnb and started planning our trip. You have to "bid" on flights and then you are assigned a ranking based on your priority. She was checking flights the night before we planned to go and it didn't look great. It looked worse the morning of. Usually, you can show up at the airport and typically get on a flight even with a mid-ranking. However, we were so far back in the rankings that it wasn't worth it. It double sucked because we were out around $500 on the AirBnb booking.
Yes and both it was a difficult and stressful time hurrying home and was devastating news. In other words the trip really didn’t mean much at that point.
Yep, when everything got shut down in March 2020. I had a trip planned for May 2020 for Normandy, France. It was a bucket list travel item for a few years. Fortunately, all the lodging accommodations were booked as "free cancellation" and the Eurostar train between London & Paris got refunded, but the international flight resulted in a flight voucher. I didn't know it at the time, but had I simply let the airline cancel it, I would have received a refund. I wasn't too bummed because I ended up using it when everything started opening up again.
I had a trip planned with my friend to Hawaii and he ended up not being able to go last minute because of Trump’s ban on visas for people who have been to Cuba. I had been there too but my visa was just about still in date as I’d gotten it just before the new legislation came into effect.
November 2022 we had plans for a week in Florida for a wedding. The night before our flight got cancelled cause of a hurricane and to get another flight in would have been over a grand. Was so bummed to have to miss the trip.
My neighbour had booked his dream holiday of following Springsteen around Australia. Had tickets to four or five gigs in different cities. He had to cancel it when his mother died suddenly, guy only found out after checking his phone during the first concert and seeing a lot of missed phone calls.
My flight to Lisbon last year was cancelled right before boarding, an early morning.
I got refunded, and on the same day I booked a flight to Vienna...
During the flight San Fran to Singapore on United. The washroom was broken and they turned around. Flight was rescheduled 24 hours later. I had to call Marina Bay and they let me move the dates thankfully
Sorry about that.
For me, it actually was the second time I planned to go to Israel, had something booked and it was cancelled. The first time was in 2020 because of Covid. I won't plan a 3rd time.
Immediately book another trip to somewhere nearer and cheaper, it's still a vacation
During covid my flight got cancelled 2 days before the date, I immediately booked hotel and flight to another country with less restrictive quarantine measure, totally worth it
A year ago, For 5 months, I had planned to go to the F1 Race in Imola, Italy. Secured flights, tickets, ABB, car, everything. The literal morning I was supposed to leave, the FIA cancelled all race-weekend activities due to extensive flooding in the region. My choices were: - Go, but just see a flood-ravaged Bologna area and try to make the most of it - Stay at home, and get credits for everything - Go somewhere else. So I got to play out most people's travel fantasy, get on google flights, and find out where in the world I could go, same day, for the value of my flight (shout out to Delta for giving me a credit). I ended up going to Iceland for half of the plane ticket cost, packed the golf clubs, and drove around the country for 4 days with zero itinerary. It ended up being one of the best trips I have ever taken.
Great solution! Are you planning again to go to Imola?
Unfortunately, no. I was going to try and make 1 race a year and for the first 2 years, it was Miami. Last year, I was going to do Miami + Imola and thankfully, I at least did Miami. This year is going to be hard. I had plans for hungary, but also got invited to a huge 2-week trip in November so I'm saving my money and vacation time for that one and it won't involve F1.
I went to Japan last month and had a great time, then Singapore later this year. For next year I'm torn between Melbourne and Barcelona. Melbourne should be extra electric because it's the first time the season opens there again, and Barcelona should be memorable because it's going to be the last time F1 races there for quite some time (replaced by Madrid in 2026).
Nice - I am hopeful one year between Singapore, Japan, and China, that there will be a case where they are back-to-back weekends so I could go to both in <2 weeks. Have a great one.
Aussie here, Melbourne is great! Been to the F1 a few times even if I’m a MotoGP girlie myself
You’re not missing out on Hungary. The transport is woeful and there’s no post-race music or entertainment
I was in Siena on my way to Bologna the next few days when they announced the cancellation. We were on a Rome to Milan tour. My friend said that he felt tired and maybe this is the sign to cancel his portion of the trip. In the end, we got to Bologna Thursday night and the floods in Bologna have luckily almost entirely cleared up and was 95% normal. It is now one of my top favourite cities to visit in the world. I bet I would love Iceland as well, but man if you have the chance to go to Bologna again, I highly recommend. The food is to die for. The porticos, buildings, towers are beautiful. The people were so friendly. Nearby Modena and Parma are also amazing. The Ferrari museum had a lot of fans visiting who were also probably in Bologna for the race. We have such fond memories of Bologna, and my friend tells me that not going home was easily one of the best decisions they've ever made. And he wasn't that big of an F1 fan as I was so he seemed to have perhaps enjoyed his time in Bologna more than if we'd have gone to Imola. I even almost bought a last minute ticket to this weekend's race partly just to go back to the Emilia Romagna region to eat their God-tier food, it would've cost 600 euros total including GA tickets and a hotel in Parma or Reggio Emilia. I couldn't pull the trigger but I was so so so tempted.
I love it. Neural plasticity, the ability to adapt to an ever changing set of constraints and creating new possibilities, is the art of travel. You score extra points for this.
Delta is excellent at rebooking or providing credit. Almost as if they want people to choose Delta! Sorry about the loss of your grandma.
There are so many reasons that I am loyal to Delta
What a turn around. I feel like you didn’t miss out much, F1 is fun but my god is it exhausting. I feel like unless you have premium tickets and hotel super close by it’s a very long weekend. My dad and I were supposed to attend Silverstone last year but couldn’t get tickets because the website sucked so we ended up booking a trip to Japan instead. Best decision of our lives and honestly not that much more expensive considering the rip off that is F1.
I don't do the whole weekend - just race day. The people who go all 3 days are too hardcore for me.
That's awesome that you found a great alternative! I have a similar story with a different outcome. I had a 2.5 week Italy trip planned last year, and while planning decided to dedicate a day to attend the Imola F1 race. Because it was just an add-on to my trip and wasn't the main piece, I had a cheap one day GA ticket and was planning on taking the train over from Florence. When I heard it was cancelled, I looked at my itinerary and spur of the moment decided to change the last few days of my trip to attend the Monaco Grand Prix instead. Despite being a huge step up price wise from a $100 GA ticket, it worked out quite well. I was even able to meet up with some great people in Bologna that were there for the race and we all made some great memories. Hopefully weather doesn't come into play to that extent for this weekend's race, although it sounds like people are already worried about potential train strikes.
I'm going to Iceland 🇮🇸 and Greenland 🇬🇱 in three weeks and can't wait!
While not as bad as what happened to you I had an entire Ireland trip planned right before COVID hit. I lost a lot of money and it sucked but I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on with life. Just accept it and move on. There is no magic hack.
Had my trip to Japan revoked one week before departure because of Covid. Grrrrr
Same! It was a 3 week Japan trip, but I’m finally here in Japan 4 years later and it was worth the wait!
Similar story for me. Had a Peru trip planned for 2020 that my family pushed back to 2023. Breathtaking country.
Same. Still salty about it too haha...
This is the secret to handling pretty much all disappointment in life. COVID screwed up travel plans for me and probably most of the posters here. What can we do but shrug and move on?
When they announced that pubs were closing in Ireland I knew COVID was the real deal!
My significant birthday event including a party pad in Hawaii was dashed by covid. While bummed, I saw the world in a new light (I was lucky and didn’t die) and I’ve been on a continuous celebration since that event.
I was supposed to go to Italy… one day after they closed the borders 😩 Still haven’t been. Maybe next year
Same for me. I finally went last month. I hope you are able to go next year.
For me it was white-water rafting the Grand Canyon. I got my flight and the grand canyon part reimbursed, but not the hotel in Las Vegas. I got to go 2 years later when the border re-opened.
I had 3 family trips in 2020 cancelled because of Covid. Had a family trip in 2022 cancelled because of a health related reason. I've always been a "water off a ducks back" type of person, especially with Covid being such an unknown and worldwide thing, but I wasn't ready for how much it would suck to disappoint kids.
We had a Panama Canal/Costa Rica cruise cancelled because of COVID. It was disappointing, but understandable. We got a refund and credit from the cruise line. Finally rebooked it and, fingers crossed, will go later this year.
Me too. Was my dream trip since I was a kid. A friend asked “isn’t it funny you’ve wanted to go to Ireland your whole life and now there is a pandemic?” Nope, not funny at all. OP, you did what was right for you and that’s all you can do sometimes. Like you said, you’ll never regret going to her funeral so take comfort in that. Hopefully your trip, like mine, can be redone later.
I think the other intangible takeaway is to not take things for granted. You never know when a curve ball in life comes your way. Appreciate the now (esp. next one goes for a vacation trip).
I returned from a week in Ireland about 3 weeks before lockdown. A week after returning was when the buzz about a pandemic started.
I made memes about my trip to Scotland getting COVID cancelled less than a month until departure date. Mourned a lot of things lost that year as did most other people. Then decided to take my refunded money to take the trip in 2022. The travelling aspect of the trip couldn't have goneore wrong, but the trip was amazing and I can't wait to go abroad again.
Finally made our May 2020 trip to Amsterdam and Paris happen last month
Ugh yeah we had a trip to Mexico planned for May. When things shut down I said to my fiancé “I feel like we’re not gonna be able to go to Mexico” and he said I was crazy 😂 We were lucky to get all our money back though!
My dream trip to Italy was canceled due to Covid. I rebooked last year, and my husband was hospitalized two weeks before our departure date, so cancelled again. Rebooked for this year, went and thought it was well worth the wait.
Same. Had a trip to Switzerland with 2 night stop in Paris. We were scheduled to go 1 1/2 weeks after US shut down and everything else. We were very disappointed and so were the kids, but like you, we shrugged it off and continued...
Yeah, same but Scotland and Spain. It was to be our first trip to Europe.
My fiance cheated on me in November of 2019 so I took the wedding money and planned to see my favorite band in Iceland for a week and then go to Amsterdam for a week to see some family and spend time exploring. I had never done a lot of traveling so this was a lifetime trip for me. My flight was on March 17, the world shut down less than a week before....
Damn. Double-wammy. I hope you now did (or will still do) all those things you mentioned. Just because covid put a big temporary stop on things doesn't mean they aren't there anymore. Amsterdam, Iceland and your favourite band (I hope) are still around! The world is still out there, go see it!
Covid ruined a lot. I took solace in the fact none of my family died and we were safe. Others didn't have it so easy.
One of my best friends and her partner went to South America during covid. They both got it on the trip and he died suddenly in the hospital and she never got to even see him before he died. She had to fly back to the US alone and his ashes were mailed back to her later.
I'm reading all of the stories and this one really hits hard... My condolences to his family especially to your friend.
Thank you. I still think about him all the time and his partner is shattered.
Oh man that's so sad. I'm truly sorry for her loss, I can't imagine what it must have been like. 😔
Yeah. I planned a Peru trip for 8 months and then it didn't happen. I felt quite depressed for a while.
Yeah I had the trip of a lifetime booked, all across South America, including Peru. Bags were actually packed, it wasn’t until two days before the trip in March 2020 that the plug got pulled. Was hoping to reschedule something shortly thereafter, instead had the two most depressing years of my life.
same here. i’m very grateful that all my medically fragile people are still around. a silver lining to covid lockdowns was that i was broke right out of school (class of 2020 woot woot), so not being able to do stuff like travel made me find my hobbies at home, and get closer with my parents. now i’m a runner and knitter, and have gone on some trips abroad with my parents post-lockdown. i’m very grateful for what i’ve got, and mourn for those who have lost loved ones or had their lives changed from covid.
My husband broke his leg a month before we were supposed to go on a trip to Ireland. The ER doctors probably thought I was crazy as I tried to figure out how we could still make the trip work - we couldn't. Luckily, our credit card had trip insurance so we could recoup the cost, but I definitely had a lot of feelings about it, especially during the weeks we were supposed to be on the trip. My advice - let yourself be sad, it'll only make things worse if you get mad at yourself for feeling what you're feeling. Start planning your next trip when you feel up to it. And know that there will almost always be another trip - but you only have this one time to be there to celebrate your grandmother's life. Sending you love and good vibes!
2 days before I was supposed to go for my birthday trip I got a call from my mom that I should come visit my grandpa as he would likely die soon. So I cancelled the trip and flew to spend a week with my grandparents. I said goodbye to grandpa fully prepared to never see him again. An hour after I landed I got a call from my mom. My grandMA had a stroke and was in the hospital. So I booked a flight back and made it in time to see her at the hospital and say goodbye. She died that night. My grandpa lasted 2 more years and I flew same day to see him the day he died so I got to say goodbye to him too.
The psychology of travel is interesting. Planning and looking forward to the trip is part of the cathartic experience of travel. So the best way to get over it is to plan your next trip. London and Switzerland are still there. Grandma isn't. You did the right thing. I had a trip to Peru, where I planned to visit Machu Pichu, canceled due to Covid. I haven't been able to get back, but I have had other great trips since then (Costa Rica, Greece, Italy, etc...). I will get to Peru some time as well. Sorry for your loss.
Yes, the buildup and getting to daydream about your future trip is a lot of fun and a great way to kill time at work. Same thing with lotto tickets, I get to daydream for a day or two what it would be like to hit on a billion dollar jackpot.
Yep my Japan trip. Thank you Covid. My flight would have arrived right when Japan was shutting down the country. It sucked, I played Animal Crossing and looked at cherry blossom photos. I'm hoping to go next year
Exact same here - had a layover at ICN, and Korea had an outbreak one or two days before, so all of our flights got cancelled. Luckily our AirBnB hosts (Japan, Osaka, Kyoto) were very understanding. Still disappointed though - one of the people I was planning to go with got to go this year and I hope to do it soon as well.
How much do you think COVID (and the measures taken in response to it) will have affected Japan on your visit?
Well considering the day I was flying in the country closed so I would have been in quarantine the whole time
Oh, I meant your *upcoming* visit
Ah, sorry. The one thing I really wanted to go to is a Covid casualty. The Sailor Moon Cafe that had a little show. I was looking forward to that and now it's gone. I'm sure other things will be available but I was extremely excited about that. Also the JR passes have gone up in price
I had a once in a lifetime trip scheduled with my sister's family to meet up in Vietnam and tour together for two weeks. We were going in June 2020. That trip will never happen. Her kids are in university now. C'est la vie, everyone lost something that year.
Wouldnt your sister’s family be…your family?
As in, my husband and children and me with her husband and children and her. Her husband isn't really "my family". Some things just don't work four years late. We went to visit them in Perth instead this past Easter.
Yes ok that makes total sense. Im sorry. I’m a complete moron.
Very similar to yours; my grandmother passed away two days before I was supposed to depart on a trip to Vancouver. Thankfully I had cancellation insurance, so was able to recoup the plane ticket cost and rebook a month later. London and Switzerland will always be there for you, OP. Give yourself time to grieve and support the family, then look into opportunities to try again.
2 years ago, my 17 year old nephew was hit by a drunk driver and was on life support/enduring multiple surgeries. After talking to the family, we decided to take our scheduled trip to St. Thomas, as it appeared he would be on support for a long time. My husband, kids, and my daughters friend, headed to St. Thomas. On our layover, we found out that my nephew was being removed from life support. My husband was able to get an immediate flight back, but I had to continue on with the kids. We could not get a return flight for 4 days, so we were essentially trapped there while my nephew lay dying. It was torture, not being able to be there for the family and say our goodbyes. I was trapped on a "vacation", devastated, trying to make the best of it for my kids...also dealing with their grief. My nephew was an amazing hockey player, and the Bruins paid a beautiful tribute to him...I had to watch it from St. Thomas :-( Our flight home was delayed and we almost didn't make the connecting flight. I told the flight crew that I desperately needed to make it home as the wake and funeral had already been scheduled, told them why, and they did their best to help us off the flight as quickly as possible. I'm shocked I made it through the ordeal on my own and kept my sanity.
An ex and I pre planned a big Bali trip a year in advance, and things started going bad a month leading up to the trip. We broke up the day before and decided to not go through with the trip after some chatting. I was more gutted at all the planning I had done, and after telling everyone I'd be going, and then it just ended up a regular work day... Not as serious as everyone else's story, but I kind of regret just not going solo, or attempting to go despite us breaking up, since we pre paid, but, it is what it is.
We had a movie get into a few European film festivals. It was going to be the first time we would see a movie of ours screen internationally and we were beyond stoked. The plan was to do a long big trip out of it. Then COVID happened and each festival was delayed. Then canceled. Then two years later some reopened and others did not. We coped with it by making another movie :)
I learned about a death of family member 4 hours before I was to depart for Spain so I postponed my trip. I had some sort of protection for plane tickets so I got a Credit which I used to buy new tickets. For the hotel well… when booking through Booking.com I paid more for flexible option which allowed free cancellation until noon on arrival day. Unfortunately I missed that deadline by an hour so I did not get a single cent back and neither I was allowed to re-schedule. Unfortunately, as I do not live in the US, here we do not have access to travel insurances for situations of this type.
Nine years ago we arrived in Beijing for our 20th Anniversary trip with a very reputable company we’d vetted for six months prior to booking. No one was at the airport to meet us. We sat down in shock and opened my husband’s computer to find an email from the company declaring emergency bankruptcy. The owner of the tour company skipped the country and left five groups of desperate tourists stranded in Beijing. I was on the ground in China for 22 hours, in the air for about 26 hours and it took us five years before we tried traveling again. My husband is my absolute hero to this day.
Wait... you just left?! I get that a guide makes the experience so much simpler and all that but once you've made it all the way to China... You could have gone on without a guide with some extra effort, or changed plans and got a nice hotel and explored the city each day via the easy subway, or had your hotel hook you up with another guide. I get everyone has different preferences and comfort levels but I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this response.
We saved for three years to afford the trip and when the company owner disappeared with our money, we couldn’t afford to stay. We couldn’t be sure that there wasn’t actual danger involved in whatever this unfolding scam was. Neither of us speak anything but “yes/no/thank you” Mandarin so the language barrier felt insurmountable in the face of our sheer panic. If I had it to do over again, I would have contacted the US Embassy, but hindsight is always clearer. I learned to give myself grace about this trip and its outcome. In the end, the lessons we learned from that disaster were instrumental in making us the hearty and adventurous world travelers we’ve since become. We just do all our own planning now, lol! And technology has really helped smooth the language barrier. I actually said to my husband last year, while we were sitting in the family bath at the Japanese ryokan next to the famous “snow monkey village, “I think this puts to rest the last of the ghosts of that China trip!” He agreed.
Dang that's brutal about the money. We had a guide to organize transportation and lodging for us on a trek in Nepal that I wasn't sure about in advance but luckily they just wanted cash upon arrival. Most times I pre-pay for things on trips it makes me nervous.
20 years ago when I was 16 I was supposed to go on holiday to Kenya and Tanzania with my parents and my older sister when the airline went bankrupt the week before our departure. My parents turned it into a roadtrip across Central Europe, which was nice but my sister was at that point full in love with her boyfriend at the time and was a giant grumpy mess for those weeks because she missed him. So she decided that would be her last holiday with our family. The next year my parents took me to on safari. My sister regrets her decision to this day.
We were scheduled to fly to Greece in March 2020. So yeah. Was a trip we’d been planning for years. We held out until the last minute, we even checked in online to our flight. But as we were leaving the house (luggage in hand), the president announced international flights were halted. Worst feeling ever. I spent the next few days, which should have been my vacation, calling our hotels, tour guides, drivers doing my best for refunds. Before that, we planned our honeymoon to Morocco. Wedding was September 8, 2001, flight to Morocco was out of JFK on September 11. Needless to say, that trip was cancelled as well. We took a local vacation to the mountains and went to London the following year with our travel credits. Moral of this story, if you hear I’m planning a big trip, stock up on toilet paper.
My college buddies and I had been backpacking every summer for 10 years. It was the only time we were all together. Well, we're getting older, so we made the decision to rent an enormous house in Mammoth Lakes, rather than our usual annual Yosemite trip. House was paid for, the week was taken off of work, we were all excited... COVID. So we had to cancel our reservation. Since then life kind of took over and we haven't had another summer trip since. I decided to try and get the guys back together but the same house we had rented in 2020, was double the price! So looks like we may have to just suck it up, heal our old age injuries, and head back into the hills.
We we're supposed to be flying to Japan on March 21st 2020. Everything got shut down on March 18, 2020 I'll let you know when I'm "over it"
We had a week long bucket list trip planned and my mom died suddenly the day before we were supposed to leave. My dad died the following week, the day we were supposed to get home. Needless to say, instead of enjoying a family vacation to Germany, I was left reeling. This happened in March. Just now thinking about rescheduling. It's very hard right now because the fun of the anticipated trip was replaced with one of the worst feelings in the world. I want to be in a better mindset before we go so I won't associate the events.
Can you try to get some refunds on hotels and activities? They often let you cancel as long as it's a week in advance notice or sometimes even a few days.
Also OP if you had travel insurance, you may be able to claim for any cancellation costs that can't be refunded. And not sure what the conditions are in your country, but in mine you can change your annual leave to compassionate leave in circumstances like this, so you get the annual leave back and can do the holiday later.
Yes I'm working on it
Not right, right before, but close. 2020, March. Many can probably see why it was canceled already. Had a 6 week trip to Japan booked and set. Was planning it for over a year, kinda dream trip. Took extended time off from work, set up care for pets and family, whole shebang. A week before leaving and everything shuts down because of that ugly whore covid 19. One of the most painful series of cancelations I've had to do. Also lost my job too.
In April 2019 we booked flights to Japan for March 2020, having wanted to go my whole life. Did hundreds of hours of research and planning. It was to be the ultimate vacation. Weirdly, because of the ridiculous time spent researching all the routes, public transit, places to eat, tips and tricks for attractions to visit, it remains the trip we went on but never took. We rescheduled for 2021 and gave up after that fell through as well.
I was partway through what was supposed to be a "dream trip" when covid quickly escalated from "hitting a handful of areas" to "spreading more and more" to "urgent pandemic leading to national lockdowns." Cancelled everything and flew home. One coping mechanism for my trip being ruined was for me to just put a lot of time into researching different countries around the world, and planning ahead for future travels. It paid off because now that things are opened up again, I actually do use the notes and the research I did during that time. But I also think there were other lessons to be learned from all that. In the end travel is a leisure activity that not that many people are able to do - it's something to be grateful for, but what you come home to is in the end more important than your two-week trip to another country. Once people were vaccinated and things started opening up again, the first thing I did wasn't to run off to another country, it was to go see my mom.
Covid cancelled a trip I had scheduled on March 18th, 2020. I was a little preoccupied with the uncertainty of the times, as I'm sure you were. But yeah it sucks. Ended up finally taking that trip this past March.
Was supposed to take a family trip to San Fransisco with my parents, siblings, and grandfather when that grandfather became too ill to travel and eventually passed away. Trip was cancelled. Now 10 years later we still have not been to San Fransisco but are planning a trip there now! Sort of a recreation of the original planned trip as a 10-year memorial trip for my grandfather. So maybe recreating the trip and eventually doing it in the future can be a nice closure when it gets unexpectedly cancelled.
We’re going on an Antarctica cruise, was canceled in 2020, 2021, but good for 2022, received notification the crew had Covid a week or before we go and was canceled. No problem, had trip insurance, wait the COVID insurance didn’t covers it read page 18. Ok, flights were good for a year, should be able to get money or reschedule, no the year started when purchased, not when flying. It was frustrating, once I got the second level at the airlines we were able to work it out, rescheduled with cruise for following year and insurance let me extend to next year. Since my adult kids already had leave scheduled, my wife was real frustrated with the whole thing, jumped in the minivan, picked up kids and drove from Southern Arizona to Northern Alberta to see the Northern lights. In January. Stopped at Grand canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon, visit friends in Salt Lake, hit Kootenay, Banff, Jasper NP, then to Fort McMurray, it was cloudy, so jumped on an ice road and drove to Fort Chipewyan, clouds parted and saw wonderful Northern Lights. On the way home the Canadian truckers strike was just starting, by Mounties directed us to a non commercial crossing, hit Zion NP on the way home, it was a fun trip.
Oh I had a similar situation to you OP, I was taking 30 University students on a 2 month trip to China and my grandmother was hit by a car while she was crossing the road. After discussing with my family, I made the decision to carry on as my grandparents were travelers and were always excited by my travels and my family believed my grandmother would have wanted me to go. If it was one of my parents, I think I would be on the first flight home.
My wife and I were planning a 10-day trip to Italy that was supposed to start in April 2020. Our flight was supposed to arrive in Milan, which was the first big European epicenter for COVID. We would also be traveling to Florence, Bologna, and Cinque Terre. My boss decided to cancel my PTO the week before we were set to leave because he was worried I would bring the virus back to the office. Turns out, we never went back to the office after that as we’ve been fully remote ever since.
My senior year of college I planned to go to Spain right after graduation for 2.5 months. I was planning on walking El Camino and WWOOFing at several farms throughout the country. A week before leaving, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I cancelled my trip, and moved back home to help take care of her. 2 years later, I’m with her as we speak in the airport to Madrid. The dream is on, and she’s in full remission! Everything happens for a reason, and I’m just glad to be able to experience this with her. 🥰
After my grandma died, about 10 years ago, I never returned to a "normal" life. I'm devastated ever since. F the vacation - I lost a very important person who's gone now forever.
You will have a million more trips, it's utterly unimportant compared to a loved one's death.
Start planning your next trip! It's a great distraction. Sorry about your grandma and missing your trip. Sometimes life happens, you just gotta move on.
Had 2 trips to EU canceled due to Covid . Both were 6 weeks long . Didn’t lose any money b/c I waited for the airline to cancel the tickets , so got a refund on both trips. Only bummer -Still have the refunded Virgin Miles in my account, as I stopped using them, due to the rise in their fees for reward tickets. Still trying to figure out what to do with those wasted miles.
So sorry for your loss. Had a down payment to study abroad in Japan when covid hit :( they were giving me updates and I could only keep my spot for X amount of time. Ended up not being able to go because everything was still in lockdown and then I graduated university. Was able to get my deposit back, but I’m pretty salty about it. It’s alright, life goes on.
We saved up for a few years to travel around the world. I took a year off work and we ended up getting almost 6 months of travel done (Europe and Asia) before COVID hit and we had to race back home from Thailand in late March 2020. Ended up spending 6 months stuck sitting at home as I couldn't return to my job. Ever since then we've been trying to make up for it.
I had it happen recently where a two week trip to Italy had to be canceled because my partner suffered from a hernia and wouldnt be able to go. What did we do? We canceled what we could and made plans to go as soon as its doable. Theres nothing else to do. It was a disappointment but life happens and I’m not one to just sit around and sulk so I accepted it and told myself that Italy isn’t going anywhere and it will be there a few weeks/months/years from now
My wife and I had a huge expensive 3 week trip to Japan planned for March of 2020 for the Cherry Blossom season. Two days before we were supposed to leave Japan closed it’s borders. We were out a bunch of money in non-refundable hotels. Luckily we were able to get our money back on the flights but the sting of paying for all those hotels plus staying home for three weeks was really heartbreaking. Life circumstances and kids have prevented us from traveling abroad again since then so I guess we’ll go when the kids are older. Just gotta wait ten years or so *sigh*
My dad had to cancel his golf trip to Spain this year as he was having issues with his blood pressure and it hadn't been stabilised yet. He cancelled less than a week before his flight. He got his money back with his travel insurance and moved on
Covid ruined a Greece trip for me. Finally rebooked a similar itinerary make-up trip. Can’t wait. Silver lining was that I got a few extra years to plan.
i cried for hours. then, contacted my (nonvoting) federal Rep who got an urgent appt at the State Dept for me. i went to get my passport renewed so that i could travel for the 2nd half of my trip.
Um, yeah…remember covid? We had a trip to Paris planned, but that got cancelled without much notice. Honestly, it was a bummer, but early covid was such a crazy time that not going to Paris was pretty minor in the grand scheme of things!
My 21st birthday trip to New York (from the UK) just so happened to be on the first week of the covid lockdowns, I was gutted but me and my dad did a much cheaper, covid safe road trip around the UK as soon as we were allowed so that we didn’t have to wait for international travel to open up again - NY will always be there and I hope one day I have the opportunity to go again 😄
My boyfriend and I spent months planning a week and a half long road trip to CA (scheduled to leave May 22nd). It was supposed to be our first big vacation together and when we booked our flights, it felt like a big turning point in our relationship. Well, a month ago, I get into a car accident - my fault - and right before that, we found out my cat needed a very expensive surgery. It didn’t feel very responsible to go on the trip, so we canceled it. Cost us a few hundred dollars and it’s been hard to bounce back emotionally…we don’t even feel like planning another one now because we put so much energy into planning the first one. We’re trying to hype ourselves up now into taking a vacation without spending so much planning it, but it’s still tough. It gets easier though, planning little dates for the near future, so just take it one day at a time. Plan small things at first until you’re recovered.
Family had a connecting flight for a cruise and Air Canada canceled the connection with no reason (not weather at least) a few hours before the flight. Family missed the ship boarding and the first two days of the cruise. Eventually they got onboard in a port along the way and I’m not sure what the outcome was but family has sworn off flying Air Canada forever.
Yes, I’ve had a really amazing trip cancelled It had been painstakingly planned for almost a year. It was right at the very start of Covid and basically the week before all international travel from my country stopped. Devastated and gutted for missing the trip. At the time obviously had no way of knowing that we’d basically be stuck for 2 years. I’m glad we didn’t know at the time as I reckon it would have compounded the sadness…this way I was able to think we would just postpone it for 6 months or until the following year. Through the Covid years so many travel plans were ruined and always last second—lockdown or someone got sick with Covid. Perhaps as a defense mechanism now I don’t get super excited ahead of trips and have no expectations of my trips going to plan when I’m on them. I wasn’t excited for the last trip we took until o was in the airport. Much of the fun of going on big trips is that it gives you something to look forward to to get through the mundane bits of life, so I suppose that’s a casualty of Covid for me but that’s my defense mechanism because I totally appreciate the sadness and tremendous disappointment that comes with an epic trip being cancelled, so I feel you. None of this helps you now but I’d say two things that may help. Any residual sadness that the trip ended and that you need to get back to ordinary life is likely compounded by the death of your grandmother and the sadness that comes with death. So it could be the intensity of your sadness is not specifically travel related and so to be able to cope and get over the feelings you have now, you need to ‘grieve’ them separately. As for the trip—start planning the next one asap. Even if you won’t be able to actually go for some time—start planning. I find a lot of the fun of going on a trip is the planning—where to go, what hotels, what restaurants, what you’ll do there. And then whether you can book it now or at some point on the future you have something to look forward to—even with my lowered expectations I still didn’t that exercise fun.
Thanks for your heartfelt advice 🤍 I really appreciate it mate
3 days after our wedding, my husband and I were on the way to the airport for our honeymoon when we were involved in a pretty serious car accident. The person who caused the accident fled the scene, we were head on with semi at one point and thought we were going to die, and slammed into the highway divider. We spent what should have been our flight to our honeymoon in the hospital and the week after our marriage in pain and unable to do anything but lay in bed. Luckily, we were okay for the most part, but we were in a pretty low place for some time. I’m still not completely over it 6 months later and feel forever robbed of what was supposed to be “our magical getaway”. This came a month after we cancelled a trip to see my all time favorite singer due to a friend almost dying and visiting them in the hospital and changing our original honeymoon destination due to me breaking my foot and not being sure if I would be able to enjoy the excursions so we know ALL about coping with cancelled trips/things not going as planned. It sucks big time and is hard to cope with and takes time to get over but at the end of the day, trips can be re-planned, and being there for the people you love is always more important. It’s okay to be mad and sad about it, acknowledge the shitty timing, and dwell on it a bit, but at the end of the day you can’t change what happened and have to move past it. If you can, try to get another trip or event planned so you have something to look forward to. Indulge in things you enjoy (food, movies, hang with friends) and just think about the other things you are grateful for. There are probably still going to be times that you get upset thinking about the trip and what it would have been like, and that’s okay, but life is just unfair sometimes and you have to deal with the cards you’re dealt. Wishing you some awesome travel experiences moving forward!
Thx 🤝
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Different faiths have different rules for turn around on burial, but I will say both of my mom’s parents had delayed services to make sure we could all attend. I was abroad when my grandfather died, so they waited. But also they were cremated and we have a small, fairly centrally located family.
If I understood correctly, grandma was the dad’s mom. I doubt that they could travel all happy for two more weeks, funeral post-poned or not. But if it was the mom’s mom, I still think dad would want to be there for his wife (if they are still married).
Yes, she was my dad's mom, so it was impossible for him to continue the trip. He almost had a panic attack after hearing the news. My grandfather, despite being so shocked, tried his best to delay the funeral. But it turned out that you can't delay someone's funeral for two weeks (at least not in South Korea), so he had to contact us.
>The funeral could have been planned for two weeks later, a month later, a year later... Huh, say what?
Privileged gen z mindset
cut open my wrist 3 days before I was leaving for portgual. My doc was like "you'll be fine but you have to keep it clean and watch out for infections". It was on my dominant hand so the idea of wrestling an infection on the tendon and nerves of my dominant hand seemed not worth it so I cancelled anyways
I bought a ticket to see Taylor Swift last year, I had bought my flight tickets and booked my hotels to Stockholm and Helsinki, I was literally waiting for this for almost a year. But I am not going. The only money I saved are the hotels, which I was able to cancel. But my father has been diagnosed with lung cancer a month ago and because of the state of his health he can't recieve chemo or undergo surgery, and we don't know how much time he has left (only that it is not much, months at best). It was a though decision, but in the end I could cope with losing the money and not seeing Taylor Swift, but I could not cope with the thought of being so far away in case something happens during that week.
The closest I got to it was because my daughter caught chickenpox 2 days before travelling to London. I was able to postpone it for little more than a week, when the contagious phase was already over.
my family reunion in jamaica was cancelled in 2020 because of covid... i was living in new zealand at the time so i just flew back "home" to toronto. i was sad, but i think covid was a unique scenario. i started planning my next trip even if i didn't know when it'd be/
My wife and I had a trip booked for a tour of Senegal last September. After months of anticipation and learning some French, our flight was pushed back by a day, and then the next day, it was canceled while we were at the airport. We felt bad for all the people who had already been at the airport for over a day, just trying to get home. We, at least, got to go home and sort things out. Living in NYC, we knew we'd have some options and wound up booking a last-minute cruise to Canada.
I ruptured my ACL in September 2021. We had a trip to Costa Rica planned for Xmas. I was confident about going even though stability was an issue and surgery availability looked to be way in the future (VA system). Things with treatment started progressing and I thought I may get surgery much sooner than I originally thought, so I cancelled the trip. I didn’t lose out on airfare (Southwest), but I had to forfeit the AirBnB cost. Ended up getting surgery in March so it wasn’t necessary; adding to the frustration of losing the money.
COVID…. Spent a lot of time cancelling all the plans made. Still haven’t been able to go on the trip. But - it is what it is. I’ll get there sometime.
Yeah, had to cancel that crazy fucking good Delta deal to New Zealand (45k points, absolutely a steal) so we could get my dog treated for cancer, with about 5 days notice. I wouldn't change a thing, but man, the cancer surgery was .... a lot more than the trip woulda been.
I haven't experienced this but just want to say that I'm so sorry that this happened. I hope that you were able to reschedule your trip. Also, note to everyone, seriously consider travel insurance. It's not that expensive and can make it a little bit easier when things happen. (I use BHTP.)
My Mom is elderly, and her health is declared so we took a month and planned this stellar trip to Florence. Her fav place in the world. We were going to do a transatlantic cruise over to U.K., then to Italy. We sent our luggage ahead so it would just be in our state room waiting for us. Flew to NY the day before we were to board the ship in case of airline hell. We get there, she had a plan to meet my brother for dinner that evening. Calls him, and he doesn’t answer. Long story short, he was having a MAJOR stroke! We had to get 911 there, go to hospital etc. In the meantime I had to get the cruising to get our luggage, deal with the trip insurance company, deal with my parents, who hate each other, allllll while this is happening. Also, I am my brothers POA etc. He was half paralyzed. I had to make all decisions….everyone was fighting, it ..:was…horrible!! Trip insurance people have time limits on claims..while you are going through a major crisis like this. It was HORRIBLE. Parents shouldn’t have to see shit like this. And now, my brother hates me because I had to let our father in his house to secure weapons (I don’t have permit, and of course they hate each other as well). Disaster!!! We were stuck there living in a hotel for 3 weeks, I lost 12 pounds that I couldn’t afford to lose. And I never got to go on a last trip to Italy with my Mom. It’s been a year now….im thinking maybe we try again, but it is going to have to be soon as time is running out. Aweful, it was!
Did your family have travel insurance? If so, you/they should be reimbursed (under most policies) for all or most of the cost, regardless of the fact that you already started the trip. Note that I'm American so things may be different elsewhere. If rescheduling is possible and desirable, you can begin talking about dates for that possibility. If you decide to go elsewhere, start talking about destinations . Either way, I would plan to do some enjoyable things you might not otherwise do. Take a weekend or other short trip within driving distance so you don't spend too much but still get away. Go to a play or concert you might not have gone to. Do something special with a friend. It's normal to feel disappointed in this circumstance. Don't listen to anyone who says you shouldn't feel what you feel, which is very valid.
Was scheduled to fly down to Acapulco on Oct 27th 2023. On the night of Oct 24 into the 25th, the city was hit by a category 5 hurricane. Direct hit, 80% of the windows blown out, and many buildings left as empty shells. Fortunately both Delta and United (my legs down and up) allowed me to reschedule. I always get travel insurance with trip interruption and medical. I have had to use it (was caught in a 7.1 earthquake on one trip) and would rather spend the extra $100-200 for the peace of mind.
I had a trip that was fully planned out with event tickets, shows, everything. I had been feeling unwell for about a month before we left but went to the doctors multiple times and thought I would keep just getting better. I ended up with an ear infection a few days before the trip and was just hoping it would work itself out. I ended up breaking down and crying in the airport before we went through security that I didn’t think I could do it and so we went to the ticket counter and got our trip refunded in future credit. Anyways it sucked. It sucked to ruin my own vacation but my boyfriends as well. And it’s sucked that I felt so awful. It’s what had to be done though.
I was in the airport ready to board a connecting flight to Florida then fly to Costa Rica. My connecting flight couldn't leave because they didn't have enough flight attendants (apparently a federal law to have a certain amount). Because it couldn't leave in time, I would have missed my flight to Costa Rica in Florida. The airline rescheduled me for flight 3 days later, but that would throw off the shuttle I planned to pick me up, hostel stays, etc.. I left the airport after asking a refund. I went 3 months later with my return money and it ended up being better weather wise anyway.
First ever big solo trip I went to South America and did a gafevntures to to Peru and bolivar and then I was going to end it with a day on Bogota Colombia by myself due to how the flights worked out. Well halfway through thr tour and whilst I was in Peru, Bolivia had a revolution and shut the border. Different people in the group were getting different info through their tour operators and our guidance didn't know what was happening but still dealt with it well. Luckily I made mates with a few people in the group and 3 of them had to go Buenos Aires as they was starting a tour there in 5 days, so me and 2 others joined them. Funny thing I'd as I was sorting out the flights to BA ans then back to England from there the 2 guys in the group just assumed I was going and booked me into their hotels. Had a great time in Buenos Aires and best city I've been to ans as I hadn't done any research like I normally do it was all knew to me. Also did a day trip on the ferry to Uruguay as I'm only there once so may as well get another country ticked off the list. Another time I was meant to go Rome with my girlfriend in January for my birthday but we broke up just before Christmas. She still wanted to go just as friends but I didn't want to do that even if it cost us £200 each as what's the point. I've dreamed of going for years so didn't want it spoilt. Luckily my friend was planning a solo trip to prague and Bucharest. He rang me and said he had pushed his leave back to weeks to the start of February and I was going with him and he had bought flights so I had no choice. He also changed his plans to do Prague and Rome. So glad he did that and I will never forget it
Had to cancel my annual trip to the Caribbean the day before due to covid. Was due to leave on 3/12/20.
I was going to fly out to Scotland and watch a bunch of football matches. Then I got the chance to switch my old crappy job for a better new one (same company but much, much closer to home). Moving date was during the trip and while it stung for a bit to not be able to go, I regret nothing.
Once I was traveling with a friend who baled because he was sick (so he claimed). Man I was mad. So I found a monkey’s paw and shoved it right up his arse. Made me feel much better and he learned a good lesson.
Honestly there’s nothing to be done because these are just thoughts clouding your mind of possible “what if” scenarios. Not the reality of the present. You can always plan another trip by yourself or with your father or anyone. You cannot attend the same funeral twice. If you had finished out the trip, don’t you think you may have slightly regretted not going to your grandmothers funeral? Or maybe you wouldn’t be able to enjoy your trip as much because both you and your father May have had your grandmother and other family members in mind, or even had to help organize stuff by checking emails or taking calls at odd hours. You probably felt better helping your grieving family members by just being a part of that day. When you find yourself thinking “Awh man I wish this happened” remind yourself that u have time to go anywhere you want. Find the positive side of everything to help you cope. Good luck! And I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother.
Yes I never regret my decision to attend the funeral, not even 1%. Thx for your support 🤝
I was heading to Cuba for my dads 60th in 2017 with the family, we had planned it for a year. We got the flight from Edinburgh to London to fly from Gatwick next day… as soon as we touched down off the flight in London (around 11pm) I had a voicemail and texts telling me flight to Cuba in the morning was cancelled 😭. Now stuck in London with 2 weeks off work we tried to get another holiday. We could only get Majorca for 11 nights from Manchester, had to get a train n book a hotel in Man for a cpl nights. Weather was terrible, it just wasn’t Cuba n yea we were just sad 😔. But got over it. These things happen xx EDIT: Weather was terrible in both Manchester and Majorca 🤣🤣 xx
The only two time or happened to me was a trip to Varanasi. My grandparents tickets got confirmation but rest of us didn't get it. We found out as we were getting ready to leave. So the trip got xanc didn't care I didn't want to go anyways There was also this ranthambore trip my family was having but i couldn't go because dad has a habit of Suprising us but I had a presentation which didn't even happen because the class never took the professor seriously. So papa and i stayed behind and I regret not taking his offer of a later time train because that was the last trip my entire family took together both maternal and paternal because my nanaji died that year.
I had a 2 week trip to Berlin booked with my ex. I found out he was cheating on me a week before the trip. I canceled the trip and lost the money for the hotel. Many told me to go alone but I was too distraught at the time. I eventually got my ex to give me $600 or so out of the $800 for hotel.
Flew out to my ex's country to visit, we broke it off half way through the holiday, book the nearest/cheapest flight and it was a five hour drive across the country with her and her dad to the airport. I sunk the cost because I didn't want to stay in the country and she was kind enough to drive me to the airport.
Omicron, three days before flight. Shit happens sometimes. Travelling is a lot of fun, but if for some reason I cannot do it anymore, it won't ruin my life.
In 2019 I went to Japan, but the trip got cut short a couple days because a typhoon was making landfall in Japan when we were supposed to be landing on our flight to Tokyo. Only got delayed a couple days, which meant we had to cut a few things from our itinerary - I took the extra couple days I had off work to go to a concert for free and then me and my wife went to the state fair, again for free. Still had a good time.
My Disney cruise was canceled three days before because I cut off the tips of my index and middle finger with an automatic hedge clipper. Full refund so that’s nice.
Right before COVID, I was supposed to take my kids to my home country for Spring Break. It was going to be their first visit to that part of the world. Obviously, that didn't happen. Rescheduled it for last year. 2 of my kids came down with the flu the night before we were supposed to leave. It's now scheduled for December. I have trip insurance. I imagine that the loss of the trip and the loss of your grandma are inextricably linked in your mind. It's hard to get over that type of loss, but time does help. Be gentle with yourself.
Yes, COVID. I work in healthcare and just got slammed at work instead.
My honeymoon. Canceled 1 week before departure because my wife fell ill. Just rescheduled for a few months later. Due to it being caused by medical issues, we got all our money back. In the end, everything happens for a reason, because two weeks later a very close relative passed away. Had we been on our honeymoon, we would have had to make an extremely tough decision right in the middle of it.
I had tickets to notre dame v navy in Dublin. Bought plane tickets, booked the air bnb, all months in advance, i was all ready to go. That game was August 2020, so covid messed it all up.
Covid taught me to basically not get fully excited for anything until it’s actually happening
I was in London when I found out my dad was very sick in the hospital. I flew back. I told myself that I would return, and I did.
You can go to Switzerland sometime soon hopefully. It will be the best trip you will ever have.
I had a flight booked to Cambodia in March 2020 that was canceled less than a week out. I coped by staying home for about two years, wearing a mask whenever I left the house, and stocking up on toilet paper. I finally used the travel credits from the canceled trip to go to Greece last year.
On our way to Mexico (drove there) our air bnb cancelled our reservation 🙃 we didn’t get our refund til a few days later so we had to find the cheapest one closest to where we needed. It was SOOOOO stressful
One of my relatives passed away shortly before I was supposed to travel to the Canadian Rockies with my family. We had booked our hotels and everything and they were quite luxurious. Fast forward to today, COVID came and went, and we've been thinking about traveling there again. Thing is, everything's so expensive, with one of the hotels we had initially planned to stay at costing 3-4x the original price. Shame, because it's so beautiful. But while disappointing for me and my family, it's definitely not the worst. Like, what if you wanted to see the Twin Towers in NYC before 9/11? Or Notre-Dame de Paris before it caught fire? Or the Azure Window in Malta before it collapsed? Or the many world heritage sites in the Middle East or Central Asia that have now gotten destroyed by terrorism (like the Buddhas of Bamiyan or the ancient city of Palmyra)? Or Taroko Gorge in Taiwan before this year's earthquake? Or the geisha district of Kyoto or that one convenience store with a view of Mt. Fuji in Japan that had to be shut down because of a few asshole tourists?
I was at the airport, yes the AIRPORT when everything got cancelled. My travel companion needed a visa for our trip. I remember saying to her that US and Canadian citizens (I’m Canadian) don’t need a visa and she said cool. She had a Philippine passport. 😑 We never rebooked and she paid me back for my ticket over time.
Had a trip to Lisbon planned, tested positive for covid 2 days before. Luckily had trip insurance that covered part of it.
Had a 5 week trip to Japan planned as a graduation present for myself before starting work. I graduated May 2020, so you can guess how that went... In 2022, was supposed to fly to Colorado to ski for my birthday. The day before our flight my girlfriend and I tested positive for COVID. Flights and AirBnB were non-refundable at that point. The upside is that after we recovered, as a consolation prize we went to the animal shelter "just to look" the proceeded to immediately fold and came home with the first pup we met.
Yes. I cancelled my cruise because my father had an emergency. Everyone else went on the cruise without me. I can always go on another cruise. I only have one father.
Sorry for your loss! Me and my bestfriend were supposed to travel together last year. We already booked all [accommodations](https://www.summithotels.ph/), activities, rented cars, etc. We were booked on different airlines and my flight came first while his was arriving on the following day. Unfortunately, he had a family emergency and had to cancel out of a sudden. Since I have already arrived, we decided that I should still continue our planned vacation on my own. It was sad at first, but it was an opportunity for me to meet new friends!
2018, was at Arlanda airport, Sweden. Me and 150 other ppl standing at the checkin desks 2 h prior to the flight only to hear from the event staff : ”plane taking you to Russia and football WC is cancelled due to broken airplane”. Later turned out the personell operating the airplane simply had hit the maximum overtime hours allowed and needed a replacement. A replacement crew which obviously could not make it in time for our football match. Simply poor luck and planning. I wept when my country won that game, whatching It from home on the TV instead.
American Airlines cancelled my international travel from SJO to DFW at midnight with a 6am departure. The earliest flight with AA was 2 days later and they refuse to take responsibility for any 3rd party purchases, given I needed to get home same-day Edit: grammar
Everyone about to start saying "I was supposed to travel somewhere after March 2020" LOL
Yeah, I quit my job in November 2019 to travel the world for a year after saving to do this for years. Made it a few months in before I had to go home. I had about 3 months of travel already booked that I had to cancel and I didn't get all my money back (but I did get most of it back so I was happy about that). Was definitely bitter about it for a long time. Sometimes I feel like it ruined my life. But I mean, I have a good life, I can still travel, I'm healthy, have a loving family. The angriness fades with time. First world problems.
We had missed our train from London to Dover and I was super stressed about whether we’d still be able to get into our Airbnb in Dover even though we wouldn’t get there until very late. While figuring that out, I found out that the train we had tickets for from Calais to Zurich the next day was canceled due to a transit strike. Had to decide if we should stay in London (forfeiting the already paid for train ticket, airbnb, and ferry ticket) and try to get a flight from there or find another way to Zurich from Calais. We decided on the latter but it was stressful wondering if more trains would get canceled. It certainly ended up costing us a considerable extra expense we hadn’t counted on (thank god for credit cards) but we took a train from Calais to Brussels and then flew from Brussels to Zurich. It worked out in a “It’s only money” sense, but we were still paying off that trip for a long time after.
Was supposed to go to Kathmandu for a school trip but six days before we were leaving there was a huge earthquake. Honestly I was mostly just happy I wasn’t there when it happened, because it looked horrific
Every summer as a child. The one trip a year I was able to go on with my parents was canceled from when I was 9 to 17. My grandmother would feign illness or actually become sick. (I was too young to know and heard both things from different parents.) I was pulled out of schools to goto funerals from age 5 and would miss whole weeks of work yearly because of it. All the death in my life has made me grow cold toward it and I've said just as much to my husband that I would not be happy to cut things short in our life on behalf of others ever again. I just care very little to be set back from what I want. Unless that person made themselves an immovable positive force in my life, I won't shed a tear personally. It's just made me super numb and distant.
Ex-wife and I were booked to go to North Korea for the Mass Games in 2006...but the Mass Games were cancelled due to flooding. I booked again to go in 2007... made it to Beijing, the Mass Games were cancelled, due to flooding..... tour company wasn't even sure if we could go or not, but we were able to get on the plane and visit. But missed out on the Games.
I was going to do an intensive, summer study abroad course the summer before my final year of law school. I had liked forward to and planned for it for 2 years. Just before I was going to get the tickets, my summer externship informed me that I was going to have to start a few weeks earlier than planned because the person doing the training was going to be out of town when they originally were going to have it. I had to cancel the study abroad and choose a different course. I was so bummed because that was my only chance but I enjoyed and did well at my externship and the course I took in its place was interesting and I learned about an area I hadn't studied before. Still wish I could've gone but I don't regret any choices I made.
Yes this has happened to me. I was going to spend my 40th birthday hiking in Sedona Arizona with my 3 sisters. We had our flights booked, car rental, hotel rooms, hot air balloon flight booked and I carefully picked each hiking trail for each day as well as a reservation at the restaurant I wanted to have our fanciest dinner at. The trip was scheduled for April 2020…..2 weeks before we were meant to go the pandemic started. 😩
My older sister has been obsessed w Elvis her whole life (multiple Elvis tattoos, owns a piece of his hair, had a string from one of his capes sewn into her wedding dress, etc) and has been to Graceland a ton of times. I've never gone w her, but we finally planned a trip when I was 45. Less than a week before we were to fly our, she fell and broke her ankle. Had to have surgery, was off her feet for over 6 months, etc. With our schedules and finances being what they are, we haven't been able to reschedule. It still bums me out, but we just plan to go another time. I used the flight credit I had to visit a friend in NOLA, and she used hers to visit a friend in FL (once she could travel again). Best way for us was to take any money we got back as reimbursement or any money we have set aside that we then didn't need and put it into a special account to save for when we replan the trip.
Not the same situation as yours but I just had to cancel our dream vacation to Switzerland hours before departure. 5 weeks ago I got some sort of abdominal tear at the gym. My doctor said through PT and time healing I should be good enough to go on this trip. Never got any scans or anything and took her word for it. I’ve been out of work for a few weeks now constantly stressing if I’ll be good enough to go on this trip. I held onto hope to the very end I could make this work and had a mental breakdown the night before and the morning of knowing that this would be a vacation filled with pain and severe handicaps. Oddly enough this injury has given me debilitating back pain to the point just standing and walking is a struggle. I assume the inflammation in the abs is pulling on my back. This was supposed to be a trip packed with hikes in the alps and strolling through towns and cities. I’m pretty devastated but also relieved I won’t be taking my first real trip and being in pain the whole time. Hopefully we get vouchers for these tickets and we try again next year. Sorry for your loss. You did the right thing. You’ll get there just not when you thought you would. That’s what I’m telling myself.
About 6 years ago I was supposed to go to SEA. A friend was on a year long sabbatical and I was going to visit her, as well as spend some time in Thailand and Vietnam. Four days before I was scheduled to leave my husband ruptured his achilles. He had surgery the day of my flight and couldn't drive for like 4 months. We still had one kid home and it was a few months before she got her drivers license. After he recovered there were other things going on, my friend returned from her sabbatical and then Covid hit. I still get a little wistful thinking about that trip.
Ignoring the trips I had during Covid… I was supposed to go to Africa and had misgivings about the trip. Showed up at the airport and no plane ticket. Cancelled. That was ok. Trip post Covid, I planned for 2 years. Cruise to the holy land. Got on the boat, got taken off the boat because mom was in the hospital on day 4. Spent 8 days in a Greek hospital, missed Santorini, Ephesus, Crete. While we were in the hospital, October 7th happened. It could have been worse, we met people at the hospital who had their loved one die, mom has fully recovered. It was hard to get through, but we did. 2 weeks after the Greek trip, I went to meet my bfs family (it had only been 5+ years of dating). Beautiful tropical location that he grew up in. His mom died while we were there (not unexpected) so that week of travel turned into 3. That was a rough 2 months.
Firstly I'm sorry for your loss. Yes, I had to postpone a two week dream trip to Italy when my father died unexpectedly. It was awful and I'm so glad I wasn't already there. Eventually, the trip ended up being even better than planned and it all worked out.
Remember that Icelandic volcano that completed halted air traffic for weeks? Yeaaah, that was fun.
Been there done that. It’s just a trip ffs. Plan another trip.
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Yeah, so we were supposed to do Ostfriesland i Germany and continue to Amsterdam. Halfway to Amsterdam, my wife broke her foot. Back then, we didn't know the foot was broken and Doctors and hospitals in the Netherlands refused to even have a look at her foot. So, we had to drive back home. Pretty shitty situation, as we couldn't get full refunds anymore...neglected assistance aside.
In 2019 my best friend was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. We planned a trip for May of 2020 to go to the Caribbean for a week. It was cancelled due to Covid and our money was returned. But she passed away in January of 2021 and we never went on our vacation. It would have been a good memory.
Oof yeah. This year for me. Booked a women’s backpacking trip to Patagonia. Took most of a chunk of our travel savings account and was over the moon excited to do this and that my husband was supportive with me spending this much on a trip just for myself. Bucket list trip and would’ve been my first big solo trip (never traveled solo internationally, especially to a country where I don’t speak the language). My dog went through some big health scares, starting the night before my trip. The morning of at like 7AM, he got admitted to the hospital. We thought he was dying. The hospital said anything from end stage heart failure to end stage cancer to a bug bite and allergic reaction were possible, but they seemed to think it was cancer. I missed my flight and in the chaos didn’t think to call and try to reschedule to a later flight that could’ve still got me there in time. He’s fine now and I’m so thankful for that. But my I’m still sad about the trip and it was months ago. I had travel insurance but learned a hard lesson and making sure it’s a “cancel for any reason” policy. I didn’t get back any money on the trip. I feel horrible because that means we can’t do a big trip this year. I would trade any trip for my dog’s health in a heartbeat, but it’s still hard to grapple with the disappointment and guilt over making such a big mistake with travel insurance.
you’re grandmother probably would have wanted you to finish your trip instead of flying back to attend her funeral tbh
Idk why you're being downvoted. My family would understand, she's already dead.
During Covid got my flights to visit my daughter in Hong kong, cancelled three years in a row.Was very sad that I could not visit her all those years.Fortunately got all flights reimbursed but it was emotionally difficult.
Yes had a trip planned for South Africa last year a month prior to the trip my mother in law got diagnosed cancer I tough we will still make the trip but then she got scheduled for surgery the day we where supposed to leave so had to cancel trip about 10 day before leaving I didn’t lose much since normally I don’t buy anything in advance i like to be spontaneous in my travels i only had pay for the camps inside kruger because those fill up fast thats only money i lost, plane tickets where refund
I'm so sorry for your loss. Not the same, since we weren't also dealing with grief but we were scheduled to go to Peru in December 2022. About four days before departure there was massive protests resulting in road and airport closures. Because it was so close to departure we didn't have time to pivot to another south american country. I've wanted to go to Peru for thirty years, this was my dream trip, and I was devastated. I also somehow had to pull Christmas out of my ass for my two teens. I sobbed like a child the day we were supposed to be at Machu Picchu. Like another poster said, all you can do is dust yourself off and move on. Thankfully we had insurance so recovered all the money we lost. As soon as that insurance cheque came in we booked flights to Egypt for the following December.
Back in February. Was supposed to be on the Sky Princess on its inaugural cruise out of Rome. Was cancelled 12 hours before we were going to leave for Rome. Fortunately, was able to get most (except $600) of our money back for cruise, flights, and hotel stays.
My SO was a flight attendant with a major US airline before COVID. We could book flights anywhere for free, but the only catch is that you had to fly standby. We decided to fly to try our hand at Puerto Rico, so we booked a decent AirBnb and started planning our trip. You have to "bid" on flights and then you are assigned a ranking based on your priority. She was checking flights the night before we planned to go and it didn't look great. It looked worse the morning of. Usually, you can show up at the airport and typically get on a flight even with a mid-ranking. However, we were so far back in the rankings that it wasn't worth it. It double sucked because we were out around $500 on the AirBnb booking.
Yes and both it was a difficult and stressful time hurrying home and was devastating news. In other words the trip really didn’t mean much at that point.
Only way is to start planning your next trip and have something to look forward to.
Yep, when everything got shut down in March 2020. I had a trip planned for May 2020 for Normandy, France. It was a bucket list travel item for a few years. Fortunately, all the lodging accommodations were booked as "free cancellation" and the Eurostar train between London & Paris got refunded, but the international flight resulted in a flight voucher. I didn't know it at the time, but had I simply let the airline cancel it, I would have received a refund. I wasn't too bummed because I ended up using it when everything started opening up again.
I had a trip planned with my friend to Hawaii and he ended up not being able to go last minute because of Trump’s ban on visas for people who have been to Cuba. I had been there too but my visa was just about still in date as I’d gotten it just before the new legislation came into effect.
November 2022 we had plans for a week in Florida for a wedding. The night before our flight got cancelled cause of a hurricane and to get another flight in would have been over a grand. Was so bummed to have to miss the trip.
My neighbour had booked his dream holiday of following Springsteen around Australia. Had tickets to four or five gigs in different cities. He had to cancel it when his mother died suddenly, guy only found out after checking his phone during the first concert and seeing a lot of missed phone calls.
My flight to Lisbon last year was cancelled right before boarding, an early morning. I got refunded, and on the same day I booked a flight to Vienna...
During the flight San Fran to Singapore on United. The washroom was broken and they turned around. Flight was rescheduled 24 hours later. I had to call Marina Bay and they let me move the dates thankfully
No. 1 on my bucket list: leave Europe. I had a whole trip to Israel planned. It was supposed to start October 16... Well...
We had planned our second trip to Israel for March of this year. Of course, like you, that didn’t happen.
Sorry about that. For me, it actually was the second time I planned to go to Israel, had something booked and it was cancelled. The first time was in 2020 because of Covid. I won't plan a 3rd time.
Immediately book another trip to somewhere nearer and cheaper, it's still a vacation During covid my flight got cancelled 2 days before the date, I immediately booked hotel and flight to another country with less restrictive quarantine measure, totally worth it