{"id":10347,"date":"2021-02-19T21:58:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T02:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/?page_id=10347"},"modified":"2025-06-21T20:04:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T01:04:41","slug":"travelogue-florida","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.anniee.net\/?page_id=10347","title":{"rendered":"Travelogue: Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 2021
\n<\/strong>Where We Stayed: Hampton Inn Mount Dora, Margaritaville Resort Orlando
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Mike and I spent about a week in sunny Florida.\u00a0 Our first time traveling anywhere since the pandemic began and our first time traveling together\u00a0(we did well, I think!)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So what was traveling during a pandemic like?<\/div>\n
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First of all, I know and realize that we were doing what we were not supposed to be doing. Traveling. We were those assholes. I know it, I acknowledge it, I own it. I understand if you are beyond annoyed with us and the choice we made.<\/div>\n
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We had no idea that we’d still be in pandemic hell now when we booked this trip last spring. And Mike’s TEDx Eustis talk was a non-negotiable. It was happening and it was happening in person. So we rolled the dice and decided to go.<\/div>\n
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I had A LOT of anxiety before this trip. Normally I get so excited for vacations but this time I had a pit in my stomach about it. But honestly… it was amazing. I was beyond impressed with all of the precautions and rules and changes that the airports, theme parks, restaurants, etc implemented. We were masked 100% of the time “\u201d as was everyone else “\u201d unless we were actively eating or drinking (and even then, we were away from other people). If we took pics without a mask it was because there was not another soul around us. Our temperatures were taken before entry to the parks every day (we went to Disney but more on that in other posts!). The queues for the rides kept people spaced 6-8 feet apart and had plexiglass barriers everywhere. Hotel check in and out was contactless. No housekeeping unless requested. Stores had capacity limits. The parks had capacity limits. If you thought the parks looked empty in my photos it’s because they were. It was all so weird but also so wonderful to see everyone cooperating with all of the changes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Now I know that there are no guarantees and even with all these precautions and our best efforts, we could still get COVID. For the next few weeks, I tracked my temp on a daily basis and I wasn’t around my parents without all of us being masked, etc. (As I’m writing this now, three weeks later, I can say that we are all fine and no one got COVID due to our trip — and for this we are lucky!)<\/div>\n
But the biggest positive of this vacation was what it did for our mental health. We were so excited everyday “\u201d happy with renewed energy. The change of scenery was much needed and we didn’t take it for granted.<\/div>\n
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I’m breaking the blog posts up — a general Florida post plus many separate Disney posts.<\/div>\n
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I like reading trip re-caps with bullet points, so here we go!<\/div>\n
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