I know it’s not a big deal in the scheme of things – you know, the unbelievable global pandemic we’re all living through right now – but I’m beginning to miss travel quite a bit.
In fact, I’ve come down with quite the case of wanderlust.
This morning, I made myself some tea in my favourite mug – featuring the ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by the legendary Hokusai. A little token picked up on one of my many trips to Japan. And just seeing it sparked lots of pleasant memories of traveling there, but also a twinge of longing to get back on the road soon.
I’ll admit the first few weeks of lockdown were a welcome break from being constantly on the road for work. But I also had to cancel a number of holidays, including the trip I’d been looking forward to for over six months: Tokyo.
And now, on day 47 of my own personal lockdown experience, I’m beginning to wonder when I’ll next be on my way to somewhere lovely. In addition to canceling Japan, I’ve had to cancel three trips to Dublin and Barcelona, a trip to Paris for the Six Nations rugby, as well as a visit to Sitges for Pride and will almost certainly be canceling my next planned trip to Tokyo in August. And my weekend in Helsinki.
Yes, 2020 was going to be a travel-filled year. And now it’s…something completely different.
On top of this, I’m also aware that travel is going to be changed forever after this. The airlines that survive will charge us more to get where we’re going. Airports will be even more unpleasant places to spend time. And some of my favourite places, like Tokyo, will possible be changed utterly by things like social distancing.
It’s all up in the air, pardon the pun; but change is certain.
And while I’d love to head somewhere far away once lockdown is lifted, I don’t want to endanger my own health or that of those around me. So I’m beginning to realise that travel will probably need to wait until 2021.
On the flip-side, I and all my family are healthy and dealing well with lockdown. I still have a job and we’ve survived relatively unscathed so far. And yet…with all the restrictions on our daily lives, it’s my ability to hop on a plane and visit somewhere new that I miss the most.
I’ve been keeping a list of simple things I’m looking forward to, once this is all over, in my Bullet Journal. Maybe I’ll share some of those here in the coming weeks.
MacPsych on the move 
The funny thing is, I’m starting to feel like I’m getting used to being locked-in. I’ve been working from home since January which already cut down on the amount of daily travel and interactions I was doing. We’ve always done at least 4-5 trips a year that required flights, and travel will still (hopefully1) form a big part of our future. But right now, I’m actually fine with not having a booking for a trip; and I’m surprised at that! I’m still assuming that at some stage I’ll be back travelling again, and we had actually planned on reducing travel until 2022, due to other plans.
And I’ve heard from several people just this week that they feel like they’re getting used to being at home all the time too.
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Weirdly, I’m quite happy being stuck at home. So I’d be happy to remain in lockdown for as long as it takes. But not having a single trip to look forward it what’s tough right now. Let’s see what the autumn brings… Hope you’re both keeping well!
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