My hubby and I have a trip planned this week to Spain and ending in Lisbon, Portugal. The coronavirus has been a hot topic in our household and among friends and relatives.

I believe we have the option to reschedule our air travel, but I haven’t contacted the airline yet. Its a new airline to me, Tap Portugal, leaving from San Francisco, so I will check in with them tomorrow,  And some additional good news… Our hotel in Barcelona, which is our first stop, extended the date we can cancel for free. Yet, we flipped a coin three times to see what that might suggest we do, and we had three “heads” in a row. Heads was GO!

We are not stay at home people. Chances are if we stayed home we would be taking public transportation a few times a week, eating in restaurants, stopping in coffee shops and grocery shopping when needed. Other than the airplane trip, I can’t decide how to handle this trip. Go or no?

I’m going to wait one more day to make the decision. The number of coronavirus cases in Spain rose quickly the past two days. If the trend continues into tomorrow, the decision might be easier.  I think I’m waiting for our flight to be cancelled, and if its not… I think we should go. Or do I?

I know others are struggling with similar decisions.  Some people would criticize and say no one should be traveling, but here are my thoughts:

• If someone on the plane to Spain was deemed contagious, it would be a bummer to be quarantined in the beginning of our trip for two weeks of our three week vacation
• If all of the museums are shut to the public, our trip would be less interesting
•  If we were rerouted in the middle of our trip because some regions of Spain would be off limits, I would be ok and flexible but it would take some adjustment and quick last-minute planning
•  Depending on where we might be if quarantined, the hotel bill could be much more expensive than our original plans
•  If our air travel at the end of the trip is cancelled, that could be problematic
•  If someone on the return flight home was deemed contagious, we would run into potential problems unless we could make it home. We have 600 miles to drive back to Portland.

I’m still sleeping on it tonight, but we will discuss in the morning and make a decision.

Here’s to health and a decision we can live with…