SHOULD WE TALK ABOUT HOLIDAYS?
It’s February I know! We’ve all been hunkering down, sitting tight and doing our bit. In November I wrote about how I felt a bit January like. It all felt discombobulated and drizzly. And January 2021 has been marked by 31 rather serious days. My children are back at school - virtually. It’s been dark when their school day ends and we’ve pounded the same muddy lanes and fields in wellies every … single … day.
But the good news is that January is over. See ya! I know it’s still extremely cold and pitch black by 6 p.m. and I still intend on being tucked up in bed by 9.00 p.m. (am loving this by the way) but we’ve done it! We’ve given things up, made resolutions, drunk cleansing vats of water and most importantly done as we’re told. Stayed in. Goodbye detox, face masks and no sugar. I know we still have to be cautious and realistic but my new favourite phrase which I am boring my husband and children with is “let’s be cautiously optimistic.” Let’s officially bid farewell to January and let’s laugh, plan and throw off the sugar-free suggestions. I for one am already popping a few crème eggs into my shopping basket.
Travel wise there is also a whisper of optimism hanging in the air. The fantastic news that one in five adults have now had their first COVID vaccine holds the promise of a future. There will be dreamy beaches and stony beaches; we’ll order cocktails or chilled beer from local brewers - extremely loudly - and one day look back on our lockdown days and Boris’s daily press conferences. There will be real tans, fake tans and we will have fun again. I’m not saying it will be tomorrow, or that it should be long haul or life altering, but when it happens, it’s going to be delicious.
The start of a new year is normally marked by change. We reflect on what we have done right. Or wrong. And how we’ll do things differently. Duncan Craig, travel editor for The Sunday Times writes that the best bit about his job is “…what we create: the challenge of coming up with fresh ideas and presenting them in a compelling way.” As we move towards a new reality, the art of travel and navigating the disruption is what we can do differently. And so, as we patiently wait, there are options which we can save for, while we ready ourselves for when our borders re-open and COVID 19 is suppressed.
This month I’ve been busily exploring fresh possibilities for my clients, whilst carving out robust, clear terms and policies. Some trips are long-haul in far-flung places, booked ahead with flexible terms, whilst others are quintessentially off-grid British holidays in little harbour towns, or luxurious farmhouses. What lies ahead is unknown but there are opportunities, and in the words of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s autobiography “Tomorrow will be a Good Day.”
So in the spirit of being cautiously optimistic - bring on the vaccines, bring on planning holidays and do let’s bring on talking about holidays, again.