I was going to Alaska, my first trip in months.

Early in the pandemic, back when we were getting news that California had just a handful of cases of COVID-19 — and before the pandemic felt real — I spent two weeks traveling several cities in California. I returned home just as the urgency flipped and the actual presence of coronavirus in the U.S. intensified.

I returned from California to my home in Kansas on March 6. On March 24, the stay-at-home order went into effect. Travel wasn’t front-of-mind for me during this uncertain time and all trips that were in the works were canceled but one — a women’s fishing expedition to remote Southeast Alaska. July felt so far away in March that I kept the possibility on my radar. Even though I really wanted to go, there were still a lot of considerations.

Read Jill’s story at Travel Awaits.