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The past week has marked the one year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, and so much in our lives has changed.
Today, I am back from my extended break and will answer the two questions I have received most frequently over the past year.
1. Are you going crazy without travel?
I can’t tell you how many times friends said, “you must be going crazy being stuck at home!” Despite having full-time jobs and three kids in school, before the pandemic we traveled about once a month. It was natural for people to assume that I would be going stir crazy without my regular hits of travel excitement.
In fact, the opposite proved true. I totally embraced the opportunity to be at home and enjoy a slower pace of life. In part, I think that is because in recent years we had made a real effort to visit so many of the places at the top of our list. Because we had taken so many great trips together, giving up travel for a year didn’t feel like a huge sacrifice.
During lockdown, we borrowed some of our favorite pets, for some puppy/kitten love.
What’s more, all three of our boys are in high school now (and two are graduating this spring), so having added time together before they leave the nest felt like a gift (although they no doubt would love nothing more than to never have another family movie or game night).
I don’t take for granted for one moment that we were able to stay healthy, employed, and relatively sane, and my heart goes out to those who have not been so fortunate.
2. Where have you been?
Many people have reached out (thank you!) to ask about the blog over the past year. You may (or may not) have noticed that I have been silent since March 2020. That was by design. In my day job as a translator at an international organization, I was suddenly overwhelmed with work, as we helped countries deal with COVID-19. That led to 12-hour work days, six days a week, leaving me with little energy to devote to pursuits other than keeping my family safe and fed (Do you remember those early days when grocery store shelves were bare and we washed all our groceries? Holy cow, acquiring and preparing food for three teenage boys was WORK).
Eventually my schedule eased, and I had the mental bandwidth to think beyond everyday survival. At that point though, I was not comfortable promoting travel when the greater good demanded that we all stay home. So, I decided to put the blog on pause.
Now, with the U.S. vaccination effort well under way, I am feeling more hopeful and can envision a future once again that will involve boarding an airplane and discovering new places. So, you’ll find me here on the blog again, where I’ll be writing as often as I am able.
It feels good to be back!
How about you? When do you anticipate feeling it is safe enough to travel? I would love to hear what questions you have about travel in this new era. Or better yet, let me know where you’d love to go when the world opens back up to us!
It was a great article, thanks for sharing!