Vacations During the Pandemic with the Happy Hour Ladies
Vacations During the Pandemic with the Happy Hour Ladies
Today is the last Friday of the month and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics.
We are right in the middle of the summer, and summertime is usually a time for vacations. However, we’re also right in the middle of a pandemic, so I’m checking in with my friends to see how the pandemic has impacted their vacation plans and how they’ll vacation when this is all over.
What are we drinking?
Melanie from Dear Debt, Lola Retreat, and MentalHealthandWealth.com — Virgil’s Rootbeer (Dry July)
Tonya from BudgetandtheBeach.com and Tonya-Stumphauzer.com — Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Liz, Mrs. Frugalwoods, from Frugalwoods.com — Gin and Tonic (with locally made gin - Bar Hill Gin)
Shannon — Cavit Pinot Grigio
Podcast Notes
The Happy Hour ladies take a month off every summer, so there will be a re-aired episode the last Friday in August.
Tonya and her friend, Dave, recently went to her friend’s house, near Yosemite, on Bass Lake. Sometimes you need to take a chance, because this was one of the best things to do for her mental health.
Tonya recently moved, has been working seven days a week, and has been trying not to spend any money. This was not a planned trip before COVID. It was a risk, but she needed to get away to relieve the stress.
Melanie doesn’t typically vacation in the summer, because it is the most expensive time to travel. She spent a month in Mexico in January, and she spent a couple weeks in Europe in February, and she is glad she did. She came back five days before the country shut down. This was her big vacation for the year.
Right now, L.A. is the new epicenter for the virus. Things are not going well with the number of positive cases. When you get to the point where your mental health is affected severely, look at taking the risk of taking a little time away.
Melanie is doing a lot of self care and is trying to enjoy staycations. She was hoping things would be better for travel in the fall, but she is just riding out this year and doesn’t have any travel plans.
The numbers will need to go way down for Melanie to travel again. She is not comfortable going into a restaurant right now. She is trying not to get hung up on the disappointment of it all.
Liz hasn’t really changed her behavior and she and her family are acting as if it was March. Normally, everyone visits their homestead in the summer, usually back to back all summer long.
Liz and her husband would have gone away for a couple nights in June for their 12th anniversary, but her family didn’t visit and care for their kids, and they didn’t want to go away because of the risk. All of the events in Liz’s town have been cancelled, including the big 4th of July party.
The great thing is their land. If Liz can be alone in nature, it is like a vacation. Her family is spending a lot of time outside and they are trying to do all of the family stuff they did before.
Liz’s in-laws have talked about visiting in the fall for an extended visit, but it depends on what it looks like at the time.
Liz has been able to hike with some friends and also have some friends over and they eat their own food outside. The hard part is they can’t have their kids’ friends over, because toddlers cannot social distance.
The silver lining is the relationship between her two daughters. It has been incredible to watch them. Kids need to be around other kids. If Liz didn’t have a second child, she would be really concerned for her daughter.
Normally in August, Shannon and her extended family rent a house in the summer in a cooler location. She bought plane tickets earlier this year and two weeks later, her dad canceled the rental.
Shannon has a trip booked soon, because her son still wanted to go. She needs a change of scenery, because this is the longest she has gone without traveling.
COVID isn’t going away anytime soon and at some point, you will need to take a risk and go out for your mental health. There needs to be a slow progression, based on the severe cases. We need to figure out a way to live with this virus in our lives.
Liz’s kids haven’t had a regularly scheduled visit to the pediatrician, but she will take them when it comes up. She did do one telemedicine visit. Some pediatricians are doing curbside service, where the doctor will examine the child or give vaccinations while the child is in the car.
Melanie has gone to the doctor this year. She feels it is okay, as long as there is distancing in the waiting room.
The happy hour ladies discussed broadway, film, and television.
Shannon recommends the new Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix. She binged the whole series this weekend. Queer Eye is another good option.
Shannon posted a video of mask effectiveness on her Facebook page. Click here to view it.
TAKEAWAY: My biggest takeaway is that every decision we’re making seems like a series of calculated risks, and you have to make the best decisions for your physical, mental, and financial health, where vacations are concerned. There are no right or wrong answers, where your vacations are concerned, but I truly believe that no matter what you are doing, wearing a mask is the right answer and I hope you’re doing that wherever you’re going this summer.
This pandemic has impacted all of us in a number of ways, and, in particular, it’s taken a toll on our business at The Financial Gym. A number of our clients are impacted by layoffs and furloughs and others are concerned for their financial future, and the Financial Gym could use as much help as possible. If you’ve considered joining, there’s no better time than now as we have a number of promotions happening. If you’ve ever thought about gifting a membership, you can now do so through our website, or if you’d like to contribute to our Black Lives scholarship program you can also find more on our website. So head over to financialgym.com to get signed up or to support us today.
If you have any topics you would like for us to talk about during happy hour, please feel free to email me at shannon@fingyms.com or tweet to me at blonde_finance or join the private martinis and your money Facebook group and let us know. Until next time, take care!!