Venice in May, Ibiza in July, Indonesia in August, Brazil in October.

Towards the end of the year we’ll return to The Datai hotel on the Malaysian island of Langkawi.

In 2020 we will go to Kenya’s Maasai Mara and then back to China. The main summer holiday might be a “round the world” ticket on either of the main airline alliances.

Well that was written in early 2019, before 2 major issues (my cancer recurrence and the covid-19 pandemic) occurred!  We did manage a short break to a chilly Venice in May, in July I managed just 2 nights with friends in Ibiza before coming back for MRI scans.  My doctors allowed me to go to Indonesia in August before my surgery, and the operation happened in October when we should have been in Brazil.  But I was delighted to recover well enough to be able to go back to Malaysia in December.

In January 2020 I closely followed news of the coronavirus outbreak in China, and we made it to Kenya for a short safari in February.  When we got back, as the virus spread, airlines started cancelling flights to Asia, including our BA flights to Shanghai. But I got a refund and booked to go to Brazil and Argentina instead.  I filled my time researching and planning an August Round The World trip, but this became increasingly difficult as the global travel restrictions caused more and more flights to be cancelled around the world.  So I gave up on that plan in early March.

By the 3rd week in March the UK government advised against all foreign travel, Argentina closed its borders and Brazil started to get infections and deaths, so the April trip to South America had to be cancelled.  I booked those flights through Air France, but they’re only offering vouchers rather than cash refunds, but I’m kind of OK with that; it’s not in accordance with EU law, but I understand an airline’s desire to protect its cashflow in these disastrous times for the industry. I just hope they don’t go bust before I can use the voucher!

We have a trip booked to Montenegro in May, though I expect that to be cancelled too.  So with restaurants and hotels being closed too in the UK, my lifestyle has ground to a complete halt!  What incredible times we’re living through.

I hope you all keep safe, and I hope my favoured airlines, hotels and restaurants survive this difficult period. Rest assured, as soon as I’m allowed to, I shall be in the skies again!