Hello Summer Here I Come!!-Original Blog Post from June 24-2022 (From my Personal Website. The next Blog post will be to do a Follow up "Refelction" of that Blog Post)

About 2 years ago, or so, I had to cancel our trip to Panama, just 3 months before the trip. It took me literally 6 months to get my plane ticket refunded back, from two major airlines, one local and one from overseas.

The cancellation was due to something out of our control and not being able to enter the country of Panama, due to it being closed to outside travelers because of Covid 19, however, the 2 airlines didn't want to cancel and refund my money back, due to their cancellation policies, which didn't cover something like the pandemic the whole world experimented.

We were very disappointed to say the least and very sad we had to wait, once again, to visit family and friends, to have fun and relax in my so amazingly beautiful and lush home-land of Panama, however, as always, changing plans allowed me, to create others and to move forward with those new plans, and to do something else, which allowed me to learned and try a few things while we waited for the "uncertainty" of the time, to take its course and to eventually end.

Overall, despite all the restrictions and changes of plans and limitations, and worries, 2020 was one of the best years for me, in many aspects of my personal and professional life. Cancelling the trip to Panama, opened other doors and other opportunities for me, at the time I was not expecting, nor wanting.

In 2021 we were still waiting to enter the country of Panama, when suddenly and unexpectedly, a course of events that happened in 2020 surprisingly manifested in the later year. A great opportunity came my way, and I found myself traveling a lot, between Mexico and the United States, for about 3 months, relaxing, meditating, and enjoying myself for 21 wonderful days. (one of the best solo trips, I have ever made)

So here we are, 2022. After 2 years of waiting to buy the plane tickets, and after 6 years since our last trip there, we were ready to finally travel to Panama. I had requested and gotten my vacation time approved from work. We had waited for months, to make sure all the details of the trip were covered, and we would follow all necessary requirements, to enter the country of Panama, which still has a lot of Covid 19 protocols and restrictions, such as having to wear masks.

So, this is just a few months back, but I must tell you this as if present: We are very excited and starting to prepare and get the luggage ready. After my time off was approved at work, I first booked the hotel stayed in Panama City, because the hotels are filling up fast.

I found a good deal and I made the reservations. I started to look for flights and then I realized our newest doggie Lily has not been spayed, and to be able to be accepted in doggie day care, she needs to be. So, I hold on to buy the plane tickets until we get Lily spayed and until she has recuperated completely, about a month after the surgery, as the vet recommended.

And while we wait and wait, I start to hear the news about inflation and the gas prices going up and as I need to fill up the tank, I start to notice I am spending a lot of money just to commute back and forth to work. I become even more thrifty than I generally are, and then one day with a very short notice and due to inflation, I am informed the rental lease will go up by a couple of hundred dollars, when my lease contract will expired in just 2 months, and I have to decide now, if I want to stay or not, and if I stay, I will need to sign the new contract within a few days, to get also, the better price.

For several weeks I tell myself we can do it, we are going to Panama, and I don't want to accept the reality of the difficult situation. I daydream of taking naps in a hammock, by the beach in the middle of the day.

I see myself bared foot, walking along the beach, relaxing and just contemplating the amazing and beautiful sunrise and sunsets, while drinking fresh coconut water...I close my eyes and I can feel the warm sun on my body, the breeze on my hair, and I can smell the salty, white sand...Until the loud TV news comes up and the none- stop delivering of incredible and very sad news comes about and brings me back to our reality.

I asked my boss to let me work at home, to save gas and she kindly accommodates my needs. I also asked her to change my schedule to work as early as possible and the days I need, so I can find a second work that will allow me to stay afloat and not fall behind on any of my bills, and she also allows me to do that. (Am I blessed or what?) I know I am, and I am also so grateful.

It has been over 1 month since Lily had her surgery, and she is well recuperated and back to her active ways. As much as I wanted to, there is no way we can afford the trip to Panama, and all the associated expenses that comes with it, specially paying for the doggie boarding while we are gone, and specially being able to afford our expenses while in Panama. If things are expensive here, they are 2 times more expensive in Panama right now, which has been confirmed by one of my sisters living in there.

I had to call several people. I had to make changes to the reservations. I had to tell several people we are not coming to Panama just yet, and once again, I am somewhat disappointed and sad, and yet, at the same time, I am so excited and looking forward to my plan B, which I immediately started working on, after I decided we had to cancel plan A. (I didn't have a plan A nor B, but in my life, I always have more than one plan available, just in case)

I am looking forward to the upcoming summer months and all the excitement coming this way. So far, this year has been full of challenges and many difficulties, however, 2022 is going to be an amazing year, because with challenges comes the creative thinking, the opportunities and the solutions, and I always look forward to those new challenges and those new changes.

A year from now, I hope, and I pray, I can look back and remember what I learned from today, because it is always so exciting. Last year, on this very day, I don't know exactly what I was doing, but I do remember, around this month, last year, I was very excited about certain uncertainty and I was very excited about the fact, I was about to do something new, something exciting, for my benefit and I was trusting my decision, I was not afraid and I knew I had to do it in order to make some other changes in the future, and I knew I had to do it to be able to help others and I am in the process of doing that.

I am not coming home to Panama now, but it will be soon, and who knows, maybe it will be unexpectedly. In the meanwhile, let's have fun with plan B, and anything fun that comes this way, expected or otherwise.


Hello Summer, here I come!

-Nedelka-