Kellisa's Path: Kellisa Returns to Adventure Traveling

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Kellisa Returns to Adventure Traveling

Kellisa lost so much due to everything closing for the pandemic: her last 18 months of school, dances, proms, graduation, and the most costly, hundreds of rides on her school bus. While it was difficult to find a consensus during the pandemic, everyone seemed to agree that the elderly and those with medical conditions would be at high risk to develop severe COVID. We decided early on to play it extra safe with Kellisa and she remained in her room long after the rest of the family slowly returned to their normal activities.

Kellisa did attend a few events and on occasion went to the movies or out to eat, but travel always seemed too risky. Kellisa had rarely gone more than a few months without a flight since her very first back in May 2000. We even lost track of her flights sometime after she reached 400 years ago.

We took a quick weekend trip to see family in Peoria, IL in January 2023, just short of three years since Kellisa's last flight before lockdowns (PDX-SMF February 2020). Everything went well and Kellisa had a great time. She felt some anxiety after so much time trapped at home, but it was clear that she still loved to travel.

I didn't want to let too much time pass before another trip, so I planned a little trip down to Palm Springs, CA in early April 2023. I was a little nervous about how Kellisa would respond, but it was like the three pandemic years never happened. Kellisa couldn't stop smiling, giggling, and asking for "more" adventures.

Our travel day was filled with many highlights (see below) that were very enjoyable to Kellisa.

I can say that Adventurous Kellisa is back!