It has been a quirky, crazy, unpredictable year and I for one am very happy to see it come to an end. We would like to thank each of you who stuck with us this year as we adjusted and adapted to our new normal. It was not the year we expected, but, it could have been much worse.
Maintaining a Retirement Lifestyle blog presented challenges this past year, but next year we plan to return to our regular Picture Retirement format as we resume travel in the first quarter of 2021. We will kick off our adventures with a trip to Jekyll Island to celebrate Valentine’s Day and join the treasure hunt for beautiful glass orbs. It is a repeat of a trip we made a couple of years ago and loved.
Barbados is still up in the air, with no conclusive dates, but Thanksgiving in the Cotswolds and London are booked! There will be a few road-trips inserted along the way, with hopefully another attempt at making an Alaska cruise and Canada happen.
In addition to sharing travel related posts, I will link to Thursday Doors, Sunday Stills and Trent’s Weekly Smiles as often as I have something to share. In 2021 my monthly wrap-ups will be sorted under Mind, Body and Spirit, where I will list my attempts to maintain a balanced lifestyle. Those categories will substitute for a WOTY (word of the year) and hopefully serve as a guide to living with intention.
We expect to receive our vaccines by April and while that is not an end-all, do-all, to the crisis, it is a place to start and will give us confidence to move about more freely. Of all the lessons learned during 2020, I think the most important for us was a reminder to be flexible, maintain a sense of humor, and be grateful for all that is good in our lives.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
In lieu of sending Christmas cards this year I made this little video to message to family and friends. Christmas is a time for love, laughter and good tidings. We wish you all those things and more. Enjoy!
Picture Retirement 
Hi Suzanne – Merry Christmas to you and your family and I look forward to seeing where you take your blog in 2021. We’re grateful for zero covid numbers and the chance to get together with our family for Christmas – we won’t be travelling anywhere outside Australia in the foreseeable future – we’re happy to stay put and stay safe. No vaccinations either until I see whether any unusual side effects appear in those who were early adopters! Glad you can travel again and I’ll be doing my travel vicariously in 2021! x
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Leanne, you are fortunate to be able to gather safely with your family. No need to rush in to take the vaccine if you really don’t need it. We are at a very high risk here in the states and our mobility has been severely restricted. We will roll up our sleeves as soon as it is available to our category. Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas to you and yours! I, too, have started making reservations for 2021 in the hopes of doing some of the things I couldn’t do in 2020! Let’s make 2021 a wonderful year!
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Dawn, let’s hope so. Merry Christmas to you!
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Suzanne, Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your family! Thank you for the lovely video and your warm wishes. I look forward to your updates and continuing our blogging connections in 2021. Your travel plans sound exciting, particularly to Canada 🙂
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Thanks Natalie, this was my first attempt at a video, so not sure if it would work. Merry Christmas to you and wishing you a happy new year.
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Suzanne, Merry Christmas and I hope 2021 will be filled with great travels and adventures. Your travel plans sound great and it is lovely to have things booked to look forward to. Like you I can’t wait to have the vaccine, fingers crossed it will not be too long.
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Gilda, I have high hopes for the vaccine. I hope not too high. For us, it is the difference between doing what we love and well, not. Cheers to 2021 and opening borders.
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It’s great to hear you have some travel planned. Looking forward to future blogs!
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Thank you Tracey. We are hopeful that all will go as planned. Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Merry Christmas! Your video was very warm and festive. We’ve made travel plans for August and our fingers are crossed that we will be able to go. Looking forward to seeing your pictures of Jekyll Island… that treasure hunt sounds like fun!
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Thank you Janis. We have had a festive December. I hope your August travel plans work out. Have a Merry Christmas.
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Merry Christmas Suzanne. I’m glad to hear you are scheduling trips. I think our collective confidence in a better 2021 will help make it a reality. I look forward to seeing photos from and hearing about your travels. I’m especially glad to hear you will be participating in Thursday Doors. Enjoy the holidays and stay safe as we enter a new and better year.
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Dan, we are optimistic about 2021 and yes, very hopeful that our collective confidence will make it a reality. Florida has a deficit of interesting doors, but I plan to do my very best. Thank you for taking on the responsibility. Looking forward to a new year. Happy Holidays!
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Suzanne, Glad to hear you’re booking travel for 2021 so we can see your pictures. I have a friend that has a home in the Cotswolds and hope to see it someday, but perhaps you can do that for us. I loved everything about your video. You have a beautiful family. Sending best wishes for a wonderful Christmas. Joe
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Thank you Joe. I had a fun time choosing photos from our December activities and figuring out IMovie. We are optimistic about travel in 2021 and can’t imagine another year without it. Wishing you and Helen a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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Merry Christmas and New Year’s blessings to you both. Loved the videos. I have not done a great job of keeping up with you this year as I had hoped. Looking forward to next year. Glad you are able to make some travel plans, that speaks of HOPE!, Michele
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Michele, unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to keep up with this past year. Thank you for stopping by to exchange Christmas wishes. Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Hi, Suzanne – I especially like the Christmas video that you made for family and friends. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
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Thank you Donna, just something fun to do with my time. Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year.
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Quirky, crazy are great words for this unpredictable year, Suzanne. I look forward to reading about this treasure hunt of glass orbs. I am hearing how more and more people are making plans for 2021 and actually booking trips. Wise words about “a place to start.” I extra, love, love, love your video. A nice way to share the season and the smiles. I wish you and loved ones a peaceful, joyful season.
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Erica, we have participated in the treasure hunt twice before and did not find one. Hopefully, the third time is a charm! I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Peace, love, and joy to you and yours this Christmas and always. If I were inclined to choose a WOTY this year it would definitely be ‘optimistic.’
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Merry Christmas Suzanne!
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It’s always a good plan to reshape your blog and morph into new excitement for a new year. Thank you for sharing your wonderful images with Sunday Stills, Suzanne. Merry Christmas to you and yours! 🌲
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Terri, I am hopeful that 2021 will bring new opportunities for all of us. I know you must be ready to start this new phase of your life. Best wishes.
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I love your festive holiday video! And your hopeful plans for 2021. Here’s to a much better, brighter year! Merry Christmas!
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Thank you Laurel. Best wishes to you guys as well. Stay warm!
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Merry Christmas to you and the family. It has been a very unusual one by far, and l bid it adieu without hesitation. Let’s hope 2021 is a much better one for the world. I haven’t even thought ahead to travel yet, but inspiration will come when it comes. Happy New Year and Happy Holidays!
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Kem, I can’t wait to hop on an airplane and go somewhere – anywhere! Holding on for a bit longer and yes, cheers to a better world in 2021! Wishing you all things good and happy.
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Hope you had a good Christmas. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. Love the video 🙂 🙂
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I hope your Christmas was merry, Suzanne. Here’s to a happy new year!
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I hope your Christmas was fabulous. Thanks so much for the connection this year. We had plans of getting back to England in October/November 2021 but not sure whether Australia will open up travel in time for us to do it. Sigh.
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Jo, we are banking on the world being vaccinated and opening up by the second quarter of 2021. Surely by November 2021 that will happen! Otherwise, we will be untangling deposits and licking our wounds once again.
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Happy holidays to you and yours as well. I am impressed that you have booked a trip so far in advance…as for us that never seems to work out, whereas the “fly by the seat of your pants” last minute booking seems to work better haha.
It will be interesting how the whole topic of vaccines plays out. I admit to feeling a bit nervous until more time has passed and we know long term if there are any serious side effects.
We have been very fortunate as we have been able to avoid Covid, and also to arrive in destinations just before the doors close within days or a week, such as happened with our new chosen home in Zipolite in Oaxaca Mexico. We also were on a plane a day before the airports closed in early March in one of our former homes in Sri Lanka, and the airports have not reopened yet.
It all seems so surreal as of course there are so many in lockdown or quarantine that we feel very blessed and fortunate to be road tripping in Mexico by carefully selecting areas and places with a relatively low number of covid cases.
Peta
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Peta, booking early is a leap of faith that we hope works out. As far as the vaccine, I will be the first on line as soon as I am eligible. A few counties in Florida are already up to my category and things are going well. There have been some adverse reactions, but nothing life-threatening. For me, it is better than feeling paranoid about everyone that passes me when I am out in public.
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So glad you linked up this post with us as we shared our bucket lists for winter. Hope you will come back on the 21st to let us know how your plans are progressing for travel in the new year. My friend Natalie and I do a wellness post on the last day of each month and would enjoy having you join us with some of your posts on mind, body and spirit. I truly believe we cannot be completely healthy or well if we don’t work on all of those areas! Wellness isn’t just an ideal weight and rosy cheeks of good physical health.
Enjoyed the video glimpse into your holidays. You have a lovely family and a beautiful home. Happy new year.
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Thanks for the invitation. I will make a point to check out your wellness link-up. Hopefully, I will have progress to report!
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