Istanbul is No More

Tuesday, May 5th, 2020

My Google calendar shows we should have arrived in Istanbul a few hours ago and by now we should be settled into our hotel in the old part of the city. Instead, I’m sitting in my family room looking out the patio door at a chilly, rainy day in Minnesota.

Our trip to Turkey was booked in late July of 2019 and for the next six months I researched, watched YouTube travel videos, read blogs and began a list of all of the exciting foods I hoped to try. We would arrive in Istanbul on May 5^th and spend a few days exploring the city on our own before joining a group tour. 

13 Day Turkish Treasures Tour. Gate1Travel.com

Our 2 weeks of travels would take us through all of western Turkey including Ephesus, a night on the Mediterranean Sea, and even a balloon ride over the ancient city of Cappadocia.  But then came February and news of this mysterious virus started popping up.

Cappadocia, Turkey. Gate1Travel.com

At first the virus didn’t seem all that serious. Word was that it wasn’t any worse than the seasonal flu…just a slight cough and maybe a fever. When our final payment was due towards the end of February, there were no cases in Turkey and less than 50 confirmations in the U.S….certainly not enough of a concern to cancel the trip.

However, as soon as we had made the payment, I had an uneasy feeling. The Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined off the coast of Japan and the coronavirus cases started to grow. News of travelers being quarantined in other countries started to make the news as well. I dug into the fine print of our travel insurance only to find out that claims due to a pandemic wouldn’t be covered…or would they? It just wasn’t clear.

The clock was ticking because we were only a few days before the point of no return with our final payment. Once that final payment date passed, we would lose a good chunk of our money if we cancelled. The more I debated, the more anxious I became. Knowing my mental health was at stake, one week after making the payment, we decided to cancel. Just getting through on the phone to the tour company proved to be difficult but eventually we were promised a full refund, minus the $400 deposit which we would not get back. Once the decision was made, I felt a load had been lifted from my shoulders. At that point the $400 seemed like a fair price to pay for peace of mind. With hindsight being 2020 (how ironic, huh?) we could have waited until the tour company cancelled the trip and gotten a full refund. But…in late February the trip being cancelled didn't seem likely.

Up until now, almost all of the posts on my blog have been travel related. But now with our adventures severely curtailed, our “souvenir memories” will continue…but be made closer to home. As spring is just beginning to reach us here in Minnesota, we are savoring the days when we can be outdoors. On days that are warm and not too windy (which are pretty rare) we bike around the lake on our recumbent bikes. The trail is just yards from our front door and a full loop is exactly 6.75 miles. On the windier days, I choose to walk instead. My paths take me along the shores of the lake and through a couple of different parks. As I walk, I thank God that we are still able to enjoy His handiwork in nature in the midst of the pandemic.

A few times we have ventured a little further from home to enjoy a nearby lake or to hike in one of Minnesota’s state parks. On the latter, we ventured off the groomed paths and hiked through the prairie grass and stone bluffs. Spotting deer, pheasants, wild turkeys and other animals made it seem a little more adventuresome. However, seeing an intertwined mass of slithering snakes was just creepy…the stuff nightmares are made of!

Two months into this new normal and I have no idea what tomorrow will hold, but I do know WHO holds tomorrow and am thankful. It makes me sad that we are watching as family milestones, birthdays, and holidays have started to pass by only acknowledged by video chats. Currently our small town is one of the "hot spots" in the nation. A couple of days ago we had the distinction of having the 5th highest number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 per capita out of all of the counties in the U.S. And the number just keeps growing and growing due to an outbreak at a local meat processing plant. Yet, I feel we are very fortunate in that our family has not been impacted in ways so many others have experienced. 

Bob and I have reached the point in our lives that I envisioned would be filled with lots of travel. I had a list of trips planned for several years into the future and now those dreams have been put onto the shelf. Cruising has been one of our favorite types of travel and I’m not sure we will ever be on a ship again.

I could throw myself a pity party, but instead I will choose to find joy in the small day-to-day adventures and be thankful for the experiences we have enjoyed in the past. Yes…this is the perfect time to pull out my souvenir memories and remember the good times as I look forward to what God will bring in the future!