Op hoop van zegen

"Op hoop van zegen", very loosely translated, means "hoping for a blessing". I might say, though, (simply) "fingers crossed".

When I founded this little hamlet on the Internet a couple of years ago, I had grand and honourable intentions: I wanted to demonstrate to the world at large that people approaching/of retirement age (like me!) can still set off, explore, and experience new and exciting destinations. Not only that, but they can do it without benefit of a travel agent or a tour operator....and certainly without traipsing about behind a waving flag and a stopwatch indicating just this many minutes to see what needs to be seen. And they can plan every adventure themselves!

I entered a kind of competition the other day. One of the best travel food bloggers ever (Mark! Migrationology!) posted a link to a Star Alliance contest. The prize? A RTW  trip for two!  My dream of dreams! Can you imagine the photographs I could take? I have zero hope of winning, truly, but I really do believe that the "older" market is an untapped one. Not everyone can muster enthusiasm for a bus tour with included everything.

As I said: no hope of winning. But I do hope that we going-grey-but-still-fit adventurers become a recognised faction. If there was a vote involved, I would smile disarmingly and hope for the best,  but all I can do now is raise a bit of "honoured-citizen-awareness". :-)

indeed, indeed

So, speaking of best-laid plans: we did not take that trip to Myanmar after all. Abdominal pain a week before departure led to an emergency room visit, half a dozen tests, a diagnosis, and surgery, which in turn led to a month-long travel veto. And so it goes.

But: people! Please travel insured! We had not only flights to cancel this time, but several accommodation bookings, and that prepaid boat trip down the Irrawaddy too. We had gone for the "free cancellation" option with all of our Agoda reservations, but the timing meant some costs, and those were covered by our insurance, as were all annulled transportation costs. Having to cancel a holiday two days before you fly is distressing enough without losing vast amounts of money because of it.

We waited until I was well and truly healed, and then we consoled ourselves with a wonderful week in Lisbon.

And it was good.