2022 travel goals & Planning
Nothing would be more fitting to kick off 2022 than sitting on our living room couch in a fuzzy robe with our dog. Christmas lights glowing and our television featuring a replay of a mid-2000’s movie we’ve seen a thousand times before. This was the mundane, quiet scene encapsulating the end of 2021 thanks to COVID - yep, it finally caught us.
In one sense, it was a vulnerable moment for us after almost two years of avoiding the virus. On the other hand, it was a relief to say our triple vaccination status protected us from the worst symptoms.
Despite the fact that we were forced into isolation for the past couple of weeks and had to cancel all of our family and holiday plans, it did provide us the opportunity to start dreaming about 2022.
2022 Travel Goals
As we look to the year ahead, we’re filled with excitement and anxiety at the same time. It continues to be a one step forward, two steps back scenario when it comes to travel during COVID.
Given this blog is the reflection of two people, we figured it would be fitting to share what each of us hopes for this year.
Adam’s Goals: My priority for 2022 is to return to the Netherlands. Originally our trip in 2021 was meant to be in the summer; however, we had to reschedule multiple times due to the ever-changing COVID restrictions. When we finally made it there, it was fall, so it was very rainy and cold. I’d like to go back when the weather is better and explore further. I’d also like to take the opportunity to travel through the rest of the Benelux region and France. Hopefully, Asia will start to open up to travel again this year. Should this happen, I’d definitely like to prioritize visiting Hong Kong. Aside from visiting the city, I’d like to do some hiking in the surrounding mountains.
Ariel’s Goals: Honestly, I have no set plans for 2022 given the constant unknowns of the world. Every time I feel like I can get my hopes up to lock in a trip, something unexpected happens like a flood in our condo or a new COVID variant. What I can say for certain is that I do want to prioritize travel to spend quality time with family and friends. We were fortunate to have our immediate family come to visit us in Chicago in 2021, but I’d like to also see some extended family this upcoming year. Some destinations on my radar include somewhere warm for a winter getaway with my mom, Washington DC in the spring for cherry blossom season, London in the summer, and California in the fall (both Adam and I have a ton of family and friends there). I also want to get a couple of hiking trips on our schedule like Glacier National Park in Montana and pretty much anywhere in Colorado.
2022 Travel Planning
We can’t state it enough that figuring out how to plan a year of travel is particularly tough when the pandemic struggles are still so real. The number one rule we’ve had since the start of traveling during COVID is to not travel…but when we do, only book refundable tickets and hotel/attraction reservations. This way we can be as nimble as possible with the ever-changing restrictions.
We’re approaching our travel planning through a series of steps:
Note: This is not taking into account the “realistic” ability to visit certain countries. We’re just allowing ourselves to dream of places we’d actually want to go.
Write down dates for commitments already made and/or in motion
Major events - weddings, bachelor parties, birthdays
Condo maintenance - in December our condo had a flood, so we’re getting the floors redone
Friends and family - a priority for this year
Tickets already purchased - concerts, theatre shows
Make a list of places we’d like to revisit (by season)
Netherlands (summer)
California (fall)
Colorado (any time)
London (any time)
France (summer)
Ireland (spring/summer)
Scotland (spring/summer)
Greece (spring/summer)
Hong Kong (any time)
Make a list of places we’d like to explore (by season)
Glacier National Park, Montana (spring/summer)
Belgium (summer)
North Carolina (fall)
Germany (fall - ideally around Oktoberfest or winter for Christmas markets)
Finland (winter)
Japan (spring/summer)
Canada (any time)
Africa (spring/summer)
Korea (any time)
Note the major holidays observed by our companies to leverage time off
January 17 (Monday) - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
February 21 (Monday) - President’s Day
May 30 (Monday) - Memorial Day
June 20 (Monday) - Juneteenth
July 4 (Monday) - Independence Day
September 5 (Monday) - Labor Day
November 24-25 (Thursday-Friday) - Thanksgiving
December 23-26 (Friday-Monday) - Christmas
December 30 (Friday) - New Year’s Eve
From there, we pull up a calendar and a notepad to start outlining the year based on what we believe is in the realm of possibility.
Spoiler alert - January and February we’ll probably be in Chicago given the recent Omicron variant and getting our condo floors redone.
The rest of the year ahead will be a very touch-and-go situation based on how the new COVID variants play out around the world. Even if we’re able to get into another country, we want to be mindful of the environment, openings/closings of businesses, and testing requirements.
What are your travel goals for 2022? Let us know in the comments below or share with us on Instagram.
