Plans for the rest of the year

So, the corona situation around the world is not looking any better and I’ve slowly accepted the fact that travel will not be on the cards this year. As I don’t really want to accept this situation, I’m still harboring a minuscule hope that a vaccine will be developed this year. On the other hand, even if a vaccine is developed it’s not likely to be available until next year.

I’ve decided to try to stay positive and come up with travel ideas in dear old Finland. A big issue for me is that in recent years we’ve traveled abroad during the holidays to escape Christmas. Of course, most places do celebrate Christmas at least to some degree but somehow, I’ve felt it’s been easier to get away from the hype abroad. Now, I need to wrap my head around spending Christmas holidays in Finland. Somehow, I feel that I cannot escape the hype and the feel of stress that it causes if I’m not abroad.

Regardless of these feelings I’ve been thinking maybe we could spend the holidays up north in Lapland and do some downhill skiing. If we rented a cottage or apartment, I could skip the holiday foods by cooking myself. I know there are plenty of Christmas oriented vacation options in Finland but as that is not what I want, I need to figure out options that don’t involve any holiday stuff. One thing is for sure, as we’ll be off work for over two weeks around the holidays, we need to come up with something to do as staying at home for the entire time is simply not an option.