First world problem whining here too. I don't know WHEN I will get to take a vacation. I freelance for a small company, so I have to ask for time off way in advance. We also have to arrange to kennel the pets. Things just seem too uncertain to make any major plans at the moment.


It especially sucks because in the few years before the pandemic, we had to cut back on travel to finish saving to buy our house. Basically, the rental market had gotten completely out of control with rents doubling over a few years and landlords becoming very demanding. We were renting a falling apart house from an elderly landlord who didn't think she had to maintain it. We also had severe neighbor issues. We had to move from there, but at the same time, renting didn't make sense any more.

I don't regret buying the house, prices have gone up so much in the last few years, we would not be able to buy now. However,, we didn't have much of a chance to get away in the last few years while we saved the rest of the down payment. Now we have money to travel, but it's probably still going to be a while.

I am grateful for a friend that stayed with the pets for a few nights in February 2020 so we could at least get a short getaway before the pandemic arrived here.