Ha, what a joke to post a 2019 travel plan post in 2021, but alas, when mental health strikes you down, sometimes that’s the way it works. I decided to still post this, as I wanted to look back later on and recall what I had hoped to accomplish vs what actually happened. After all, I didn’t do one for 2018, and I sort of regret that. Without further ado, here is my part-lookback slight revisionist plan for 2019!

My plans were pretty firm for the first 9 months of the year: surgery, follow ups, my best friend’s bachelorette party, a trip to New Orleans (with a dash of Houston thrown in), and my best friend’s wedding. Other than that, I hoped – again – to get down to visit my dad in Florida, and to potentially explore more of Canada.

I had originally planned to go back for an Ottawa visit in February, but then my surgery was scheduled for the month of March (in Ottawa). I was getting nasal polyps removed and adjusting a deviated septum. I don’t want to get too much into it, but suffice to say I had a bit of a rough go of it and instead of spending the typical 1 hour in the recovery area, I was there for over 4 hours. Either way, it’s been an absolute game changer for sinus-related and allergen-related issues.

It also doubled as an excuse to return to my favourite city in the world and see some of my absolute favourite people. I got that excuse in both April and May again as I required two post-surgery follow ups.

June saw me heading to New Orleans, a city that has held a coveted spot in the top 3 of my travel wishlist for countless years. (Spoiler alert: it did NOT disappoint). We flew into New Orleans and immediately drove to Houston and spent two nights there so we could check out NASA (another place which did NOT disappoint).

Everything about New Orleans has held my heart for so long – especially after visiting. The people, the culture, the music, the entire vibe just screams ideal aesthetic to me. Despite the heat and despite a couple travel setbacks, the trip was one of my all-time favourites. This trip would come to mean even more to me, as it’s the last major trip I took before Covid-19 broke out. Stay tuned for those posts!

Following my New Orleans and Houston trip, I was back in Ottawa in July. Is there anything more fun than drinking mimosas like ladies and then throwing axes in fancy dresses? I hoped not, because that was my plan for Brit’s bachelorette!

It’s been a goal of mine to get back down to Florida since my last visit in January of 2017. Since then, my dad has moved from my childhood home, and I have yet to see his new place. I’ve been lucky enough to see my dad in person since then, but it’s just not the same as getting to see the place he now calls home.

Every year without fail, one of my top travel dreams is to head to western Canada (specifically BC). Each year I hopefully add it to my list of potentials, but have yet to actually make it there. Partly due to finances (flights there are ridiculously priced) and partly due to lack of proper vacation time options. My eventual goal is to get a job I can do remotely so that I can follow my travel dreams more often. Alas, I wish I could say 2019 was the year that happened, but here it is in 2021 and I’m still not working a remote job. Such, as they say, is life, however I am a firm believer that it is never too late to make a dream happen.

Until next year!