well, this is depressing. We have to cancel our trip.

I hope you are not out money.

I am a fervent believer in the wonders of the USA for travel. The Grand Circle area of S UT, the deserts of AZ, the amazing Yellowstone/Grand Teton area - these are world-class attractions. You are not losing a vacation. You are gaining an opportunity.

Earlier this year, we drove from Sioux Falls to Denver through N NE, and it was great. The Bluffs of N NE are pretty amazing. Scottsbluff is a small city in that area, dominated by a huge mesa (the bluff). Then we went to Cheyenne, and down to Denver. We have in the past gone west from Denver through the state on I-70 - again, another world-class trip. Then there is the Moab/Canyonlands/Arches area. Another amazing set of places.

Don't feel cheated! Get your park pass and visit those USA National Parks.

Get we soon and keep on traveling.

I know how you feel. We were supposed to go to Croatia this past April, and I had to cancel for medical reasons. My arthritis suddenly worsened so bad that I could walk only with a cane or walker, and it was impossible for me to go to Croatia. Because the pain was so bad, I had to move up my hip replacement surgery.

But the upside is that we are leaving for Croatia on September 3. I re-scheduled the exact same trip for September. I can’t wait to go. But my elderly FIL has been having some issues, but he is fine now, and my husband has 4 siblings who can help if something comes up while we are away. I am cautiously optimistic we are heading to Dubrovnik on Tuesday!

Mega-bummer!

I had to forego European travel for medical reasons in 2015. But the results were excellent and I was back on the plane for 6 weeks in the UK in May-June 2016.

You'll enjoy either CA or LA and have more time to fine tune your Ireland and Italy trips.

I feel your pain. We had to postpone plans for two transatlantic trips between summer 2018 and fall 2019 because major renovations on our home got massively delayed. Then, a family member announced getting married in early summer 2020 all the way across the North American continent from us. Frankly I'm not enthusiastic about spending all that money to travel to a US destination for the wedding, and it will likely mean once again we have to postpone Ireland. Life happens!

Oh my. I'm so sorry. I had to cancel (postpone) a Croatia trip two years ago because of surgery that couldn't be postponed. Sigh. It's hard when you plan and get excited, and that delicious carrot of a beautiful trip is just beyond reach but getting closer, closer... and then it gets snatched away. I'm glad that you do have other trips in 2020 and 2021 to look forward to. In the meantime... If you do decide to head to Louisiana, specifically New Orleans, PM me and I'll send you back my recommendations for places to eat and things to see in this lovely city. (I just sent these to another forum regular, earlier this week!) Be well, and let us know how you're doing!

I am so sorry! That is a major bummer, but like Paul of frozen north says, so many great USA places!

We were supposed to do a week long rafting trip of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon this past July, but long story (not medical) we had to shorten it to a 2 night trip at the last minute. But, that wasn’t the worst of it, we had planned the week long trip with friends and we sorely missed their companionship when we had to change trips. I also felt that we let them down because they signed up for the trip because we were going! Probably the most disappointing thing to happen to me in the last 10 years.

I am so very sorry to hear that Photobearsam. I hope you and your husband can recover and recuperate from your illnesses. Ireland will still be here and we will look forward to welcoming you in 2020. The lighthouses will still be here too 😀.

Oh, so disappointing for you! But please listen to your body that it’s exhausted and do everything you can to take a pause.

Hope your next year’s trip will be even better!

Oh, I am so sorry! You seem to do such a good job of planning trips for the three of you! But you need to take of yourself - and sciatic pain is awful. But it CAN get better and you will enjoy your trips even more. You are not letting anyone down, although I understand that feeling. As someone said, life just happens.

Well that sure sucks. In the meantime, speedy recovery to you both . . . you now and hubby soon.

thank you all for your kind words of encouragement.

No we are not out of money....LOL

Sometimes it takes a big event like this to tell yourself you are ready for a change. We are looking at changing the way we run the business and making sure we don't get to this point again in the future. We are also looking at changing the nature of our business to start the transition to something else that would let us retire earlier.

We have pushed Ireland to 2020 and Italy to 2021.

We will take a cruise this winter if we don't see major improvements in our stamina or we will go to California if we are feeling better.

It was just disappointing at the time but I am making my peace with it.

I cannot thank you all enough. Your advice and help so far has been incredible. This site is the best place on the net to find REAL advice and not get skewered..... at least not daily....LOL

I will have time to plan Ireland and Italy so they will be as close to perfect as I can make them.

You all rock.... so helpful and I really want to tell you all how thankful I am.

I am sure you didn't let anybody down. Sometimes we all need a wake up call to re-evaluate our life goals and priorities. I went through similar. You already have a whole lot to look forward to and the planning (for me anyway!) is half the fun. And now you have that "gift of time" to accomplish that. Take care of yourself. If you don't do that, you can't take care of anybody else! This is something I learned early on when I was only "qualified" to teach 3-5 year olds in CO rather than the high school English classes I had been teaching in CA before our move here. This was a turning point in my life and taught me a lot. Look at this as valuable and make the most of your change in plans. Your Mom and Hubby want the best for you, too, and I know you are giving that to them. Your still-in-place/alternate plans sound terrific, too.