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Charla Huber: Trading in a Mexico trip for a 'Mexican' staycation

When our plans and lives are interrupted, it’s so easy to get frustrated and feel like we are the only ones who are being affected
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B.C. Finance Minster Selina Robinson and husband Dan Robinson created a Mexican staycation in Coquitlam, after cancelling their trip to Mexico due to rising cases amid the Omicron variant, Charla Huber writes. COURTESY SELINA ROBINSON

When I watched Dr. Bonnie Henry’s ­Christmas Eve updates, my fingers were crossed, hoping that my plans wouldn’t need to change.

Thankfully, they didn’t need to.

It felt like Henry was speaking extra slowly as I braced myself for the possibility of not getting to visit with others.

COVID-19 and the Omicron variant are real risks and if my plans needed to change, I would have accepted it.

When I listened to Henry’s updates, ­worrying about more restrictions that could limit my small celebration plans, I thought of B.C. Finance Minister Selina Robinson.

I’d seen on social media that she chose to cancel her trip to Mexico, prior to the ­government’s announcement asking ­Canadians to limit international travel.

“If she had to change her plans, I can change mine, too,” I thought to myself.

Last Christmas, there was a lot of public outrage about elected officials who were travelling internationally. As a former ­newspaper reporter, I know that those are the stories that make headlines and people want to read them.

Robinson’s post highlighted that there are many people who are following the ­guidelines and assessing the risks as they emerge.

“A lot of people commented on my post that they cancelled their trips too,” ­Robinson said. “It wasn’t just me.”

The 10 days Robinson would have spent in Mexico she spent at home in Coquitlam, trying to enjoy Mexican moments at home.

When we chatted on the phone, Robinson was in her kitchen making guacamole. The day before, she went to the beach and put her toes in the sand — although she noted that the sand wasn’t warm and her husband was surprised when she slipped off her shoe in the middle of December.

A couple days later, the “white sand” she referenced in her posts was snow. Robinson put on a bikini and took a dip in the pool at the Poirier Sport Complex in Coquitlam, then donned a bathing suit in her yard for sunbathing.

On Christmas Day, Robinson’s post read: “As the locals say ‘Feliz Navidad.’ ”

“We booked our trip back in September under the caveat that things could change,” Robinson said, explaining that they watched updates closely as Omicron emerged.

Everyone has been under immense ­pressure and there is a lot of frustration and fatigue in our communities, she said. For Robinson, that pressure meant the trip to Mexico was much more than just a trip.

“When we cancelled, I went home and had a good cry,” she said. “It doesn’t go without grief.”

I thanked Robinson for sharing her story with me. I appreciated her glass-half-full approach to her disappointment. It’s hard to make the right choices. It was powerful that she, as someone in a leadership role, shared this with others.

When our plans and lives are interrupted, it’s so easy to get frustrated and feel like we are the only ones who are being affected, or to get caught in the mindset that our ­sacrifices are greater than those of others.

Living through these uncertain times, it’s not beneficial to compete with others on who has it harder. We can build a better sense of camaraderie with others when we share our disappointment, followed by taking positive steps forward.

“We will get through it,” Robinson said. “This pandemic will end.”

And when it ends, I hope Robinson gets to enjoy her trip to Mexico with real sand.

Charlahuber@outlook.com