Travel Plans on Hold: Navigating a Sick Day Instead of a Getaway

We were about to head off on a 10-day trip to Iceland and my four-year-old daughter came down with a cough and became so unwell she had fallen sleeping while playing just hours before takeoff. Luckily the flights I booked allowed us to change flights up to an hour before takeoff, having to pay only a couple hundred dollars per person to change. It was a tough decision, but it was the only option given how awful she seemed to be doing.

We decided to delay the flight by just one day, thinking all she had was a cough caused by a virus. That evening she had a high fever and I immediately questioned the one-day delay, wishing I had given us at least two more days of rest before heading out.

I had purchased the tickets at such a great price. They were nearly half of the average cost to fly to Iceland, but now after the change - and if I have to change again - the cost of the flights may be even more than average.

When planning a trip with kids is a good idea to buy refundable tickets. Lesson learned! Usually it costs extra to book refundable tickets or a membership fee for the airline, but it’s something to consider if your kids are in school or if it’s a season with typically higher rates of viruses spreading.

Although we’ve already booked the camper van and Iceland, I haven’t booked any excursions and the only accommodations I booked are for the first two nights in Reykjavík, Iceland’s capital city. Unfortunately those two nights will most likely not be used, and if we still end up going, I will likely have to get the camper van a day or two late. Thankfully I planned the rest of the trip to be quite flexible in order to accommodate the kids. I assumed some places, we would want to stay longer than others, or that travelling from place to place each day might make them tired so I gave some leeway to spend a day or two in each place if needed. This later departure date means we might have to miss the northern part of Ring Road around Iceland, but we will still be able to see all of the beauty of the south.

When booking a trip that falls near back to school periods or seasons with high rates of illness, the likelihood of your kids getting sick is greater. Taking this into account would have helped me plan more effectively for unknowns - and I’ll continue keeping our daily plans flexible for future trips in case of illness.

Right now, we are just waiting to see what happens and playing it by ear. In the meantime, I can make sure that I’ve double checked everything we’ve packed and can reevaluate all of our excursion options. Thankfully, I haven’t booked yet!

Packing for Iceland is different than packing for any other place we’ve been to because so much gear is needed for the variant, constantly changing whether. I had to purchase many new items, and it will be a good idea to recheck that I have everything we need.

In the end, I think it’s helpful to find some reason for everything happening and to see the light in it; the weather is supposed to improve in Iceland in a day or two, I also get more time to pack and make sure we have all of the necessary items and more, and I didn’t book any excursions yet for some reason (unlike me!), so other than the accommodations in Reykjavík and the extra cost to change the flight time, so far there is no loss except time.

The other plus side to the delay is, I’m still a bit tired from our road trip to Montreal & Maine which we just returned from 5 days ago. We drove to a bookfair in Bath, Maine to meet Tui T Sutherland (a favourite author of my daughter’s), and the journey included 4 days of driving over the course of 6 days! Upon returning, I got everything ready for Iceland. I could use an extra day or two of rest.

Check out The Ultimate Packing List for Iceland for a detailed list of everything you need to pack for a 10 day trip, including a list for kids!