Could We? Should We?
Planning our travel is part of the fun, a big part. Currently though, it has become more stressful than we even thought. We are constantly running through scenarios. What about this schedule? What about this place or that place? Will it even be open? When will we be able, or feel comfortable, flying? The only thing certain for us is where we do not want to go. The uncertainty is where we could, and should, go.

This is the first time in four years (since we became location independent or ‘homeless’) that we have not had a future Marriott stay planned! Sad to see on the App that we have up coming trips (image to the right). We hope to change this soon.

Low, Low Prices
One thing is certain…by booking future travel now we can get some amazing deals. Hotel rates have not changed very much but International flights, package tours and cruise prices may be at an all time low, even for bookings up to two years in advance. This is not necessarily true for domestic travel. For example we could fly to Amsterdam as we had orginaly planned in October for $789 on KLM (round trip) or fly to Winnipeg instead with WestJet for $679. Cruises on NCL (our usual cruise line) in 2021 and 2022 are available for less than $100 CDN per day.

Risk Free
Another thing that has changed is cancellation, credit and refund policies. Most airlines are currently offering no charge flight changes and free cancellations which is unheard of. Hopefully these policies will stick around! You may even be offered bonuses to take credits instead of full refunds. We know travellers who have already received bonuses for cancelled cruises. We ourselves received a bonus week stay voucher from our own timeshare company when we cancelled the last two weeks of our trip this spring.

Tolerance and Flexibility
Planning and booking a lengthy and distant trip for the future comes down to flexibility and tolerance to accept a change in plans. We could spend time planning out our winter and then be required, or choose, to change the plan given the situation at the time. But, with the planning being part of the fun this is just fine.

We still have a cruise from Venice booked for October which we are not going to take. We plan to move our deposit onto a cruise sometime in 2021. From where? When? To be decided shortly (or not)…

We, Jeff and Tara Ciecko of CK Golf write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other an Industry Blog where we comment on general business and internet marketing best practices, sales strategies and give golf industry related opinions. We have owned CK Golf  for 12 years and provide business services to the golf and other industries. As of July 31, 2016 our life and our business became ‘location independent’. Our 19th Hole Blog is about the places we visit and the things we do. If you have any questions or comments, or happen to be in the same location as us please reach out and contact us anytime.

Related Posts