Jamaica Me Sad; Jamaica Me Happy

That trip to the tropical island is going to have to wait a bit

My wife and I came to a decision over the last few days. We aren’t going to Jamaica as planned in September.

Hopefully the world will be closer to being back on its axis by then, but even so, we have decided to call that particular trip off for now. We booked it over a year and half ago, so it feels a little strange to now be devoid of that particular entry on the calendar.

The reason for the advanced booking was that it came of visiting a Sandals resort in September of 2018. We went big; really big, on that trip as a splurge. We stayed in the Millionaire Suite and it was aptly named.

But that trip came at a crossroads of turning the page after several bad chapters for both of us, and opening the cover on a brand new, and much more positive and prospective book. It didn’t hurt that some post-divorce “blood money” from a prior bad relationship for one of us helped cover the exorbitant expense — in fact, it made it all the better!

While you are at a Sandals resort, they offer you a pretty tidy discount on future trips. It works pretty well because you have been blissing out at one of their properties for several days and are in a fog of pampered elegance helped along by tropical drinks and exceptionally polite staff. Who wouldn’t want more of that? And at a discount — sign us up!

So, on the surface it feels like a bit of a bummer to be missing out on 10 days in Nirvana, or Valhalla or whatever constitutes your idea of tropical paradise with a butler. But, on a deeper level I am relieved and really quite happy to have made the choice to pull the plug — for two reasons.

First is the money. While we weren’t headed back to the Millionaire Suite, we had penciled in a “low-couple-hundred-thousand” bungalow (that’s not what Sandals actually calls it) that was still going to be pretty expensive once you factor in airfare and all else involved.

Since booking this trip, we have made some pretty significant decisions about when we both will leave the formal working world for a more transient lifestyle that has us patching together a few different income streams to get by. It turns out that will be sooner rather than later; probably in September 2021.

In the meantime, we need to tighten up our budget significantly, so forgoing this expensive trip makes a lot of sense in reference to pursuing some bigger goals and dreams.

The second reason I am happy to make this decision is a bit less tangible, but also meaningful. Simply put, it feels really good to bring some certainty to our world that is very uncertain right now.

We no longer have to worry about whether international travel will be open come September, and whether the flights we had booked will be available in a new landscape for airlines. Just crossing that incidental worry off the list creates a significant amount of calm for me.

It vaguely reminds me of a Rush song lyric that someone used as their senior yearbook quote at my high school; “Even if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice”. By not pressing forward as planned, we have removed ambiguity and doubt about whether going on the trip was a good idea.

Now it doesn’t matter, and that is very freeing.

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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.