My husband and I will celebrate our 12th dating anniversary this upcoming Friday, and we were hoping to travel to San Antonio, one of our favorite destinations, for a much-needed vacation out of town.

Then, the quarantine happened.

When it first started around mid-March, my initial hope was to still go to the hotel. However, this situation has spun out of control.

The COVID-19 outbreak hot spots have become a game of whack-a-mole.

As soon as one city or county recovers, another outbreak pops up somewhere else. Most, if not all, hotels on the San Antonio River Walk or nearby have shut down.

So, we tried to figure out a way to still feel like we’re having a vacation when life feels like a stay-cation right now.

Scrolling through Facebook I saw a graphic for Marvel. It was a timeline of all 23 Marvel movies based on when they were set, and that sparked an idea.

We are still planning to get off early this Friday and will begin watching the Marvel movies in that order.

We will be wearing Avengers T-shirts, drinking from Avengers cups, eating superhero-themed food on Avengers plates and marathoning the 23 Marvel movies all weekend.

This is a time to use thought over money to set up a creative date or birthday party or improvised vacation.

This is a time to connect in a meaningful way and to remember that spending money isn’t everything. This is a time for self-care, one doesn’t need a full 24 hours or a yoga retreat to spend some time on themselves.

Had a beach vacation planned?

Get outside and have a water gun fight all day, make fun tropical smoothies and have a dance party. Planned on going to Disney World? Watch Disney movies, play dress up, build a princess castle out of cardboard boxes. Needed a romantic getaway? Set up candles and a hot Pandora playlist, order in or cook something delicious together, eat breakfast in bed and don’t worry about dishes until Monday.

So, quarantine or no quarantine, vacations can still be had. Get creative.

Revise the plan, but don’t cancel it.