Good Morning,
2019 was the year where I travelled less than ever before. I unfortunately missed out on a few trips that I had planned and booked however 2020 will be the year where I re-ignite my passion for travel and explore again.
I’ve got a few trips planned already and a few others bubbling under the surface with dates to be finalised. The excitement and build up to a trip is one of my favourite parts of the process. Planning out what you might want to see or do, restaurants you want to visit or organising a trip around attending a specific event such as a concert or show. I love it and having something booked in the not too distant future always helps keep me motivated through the dark days of winter.
My first trip of 2020 will be in February when I travel to Suffolk to visit a dear friend. We didn’t manage to see each other in 2019 as I had a second surgery around the time I had flights booked to visit. One thing I discovered recently which you might not be aware of is that if you book a flight but don’t travel for whatever reason i.e. you arrive late to the airport and miss your flight or your unwell/unfit for travel or your plans fall through or you can no longer get time off work, you can claim back the government taxes of your flight booking. Now I had 4 flights booked last year which I didn’t travel on and although I probably could have claimed my travel insurance due to health being my reason for non-travel, I didn’t bother as my focus was elsewhere at the time. I also didn’t know when I might be fit enough to travel and therefore didn’t want to simply change dates as I would have had to pay any difference in cost plus an administrative fee which almost always surpasses the price of a new ticket.
As tax is a large part of the cost of flights, particularly on low cost airlines including Easyjet and Ryanair, it can result in you getting back most of your money back even if the reason for non-travel was entirely your fault. There is also NO TIME LIMIT on how far back you can claim. It’s obviously not something airlines advertise and it’s well hidden in the small print of the terms and conditions however it was extremely easy to obtain a refund. All of my flights were with Easyjet and I didn’t want to spend half an hour waiting on hold to speak to someone while paying how ever much per minute for the pleasure, particularly as the purpose of my call would be to obtain a refund. Instead I jotted down my booking reference numbers (very important to keep these kind of details) and went on live chat on the website, asked for a refund of the government taxes on the bookings and the advisor responded saying the refund had been processed. It honestly seemed too good to be true.
My second trip of 2020 will be in March when I’m off to Venice. This is another trip that was booked for last year that didn’t happen. Luckily we were able to get the accommodation refunded and most of the flight cost back which makes re-booking a whole lot easier. I can’t wait to explore more of Venice, it’s such a unique place.
My third trip of 2020 will be in May to somewhere I haven’t been exclusively before, Barcelona. I’ve travelled through a couple of times but I’ve always wanted to visit and love the idea of a city break with a beach element too. I only have a few days there and I’m starting to research what I want to do in order to get the best out of the short amount of time available.
We plan to do a family holiday in June this year and while the details are not yet finalised, it’s something we plan to commit to. It’ll be lovely to have a holiday with my nieces and explore somewhere through their eyes too.
I will obviously need to squeeze a trip to Paris in at some point. I love the city more and more each time I visit and an annual trip has become a necessity tradition.
I have a big birthday in November this year and I’m currently deciding where I want to celebrate. I’m looking at Mauritius, the Maldives and Mexico. It’s difficult to choose as I love the sun but options are more limited at that time of year along with available flights from Glasgow. It’s most likely going to involve a connection and I need to accept that if I want to be somewhere hot, it’s going to be a long journey. It’ll definitely be worth it though.
Do you have travel plans for 2020?
xo!