It’s been nearly 15 days we’ve had to hole up in our apartment.
We’ve been getting by as best as can be expected. We’ve got food. We’ve got TV and subscriptions to more streaming services than we can count. Records, books, and plenty of downtime on our hands to enjoy them all. We are even able to go for walks…well, for now.
I’ve never been one to stay home much. I’ve always enjoyed getting out there both near and far and when this whole thing started, I worried about how the cabin fever would affect me, but luckily being a homebody has not treated me too badly. I’m sure my wife cooking up a storm of delicious meals every day has helped with that.
However, it’s easy to feel as if there is no end in sight and things will likely get much worse before they get better, but I’m still optimistic. I look forward to getting back to life before corona.
I miss the weekly workshops and prompt sessions with my writing group. I miss mundane things like hopping in my car to go run errands. I miss meeting up with my friends for tasty beers at the local brewery. I even miss heading to that godforsaken Midtown for work. I used to avoid Times Square like the plague, now I crave the throngs of tourists bumping into me as they gawk at the larger than life billboards.
Most of all, I miss travel.
“We go THERE so we can come back and appreciate the HERE…”
One of the things Suzy and I bonded over when we first met was our love of travel to places near and far. It seems as if we are always hopping on a plane. We were fortunate enough to have the means to fly to somewhere nearly every month last year, In fact, we were lucky enough to spend a weekend in Asheville, just as this outbreak began. I didn’t think much of the city when we were there but now I look back fondly on the short time that we were there, exploring a place I have never been to before. That was just 6 weeks back which now, seems like a lifetime ago.
Since we met each other, travel has always been our thing. For the past four and a half years we were always planning the next jaunt. Italy, Mexico City, Charleston.
Obviously, we’re not planning much these days, but one of the things that has gotten us through the mundane routine of sheltering-in-place is talking about where we are heading to once life gets back to normal. One thing is for sure, we plan to get the hell out of dodge if and when this pandemic comes to an end.
“Where should we go,” we find ourselves asking each other. “LA? Mexico? Both?”
Or maybe to London for their killer jazz scene as of late. Suzy is willing to indulge in my latest obsession.
We are not sure where we are heading next, but we know we are heading somewhere because it sure as hell beats being nowhere.
It’s like this…nothing and I mean NOTHING provides a life well-lived like getting the hell out into the world. Being to places you have never been before will open your eyes and feed your soul in a way that buying endless amounts of stuff ever will. I truly believe, that traveling, if you can do so, will cure you of the melancholy that this pandemic has inflicted upon all us.
There was a line I read in the travel section of TheNew York Times by writer Reif Larsenwho sums it up best on why he looks forward to traveling again soon…
“We go THERE so we can come back and appreciate the HERE…”