It's been a whirlwind two years. That two-week lockdown that started in March of 2020 turned into two months and than into almost two years. Two years feels like two weeks while also feeling like 20 years. Makes no sense, I know but neither does anything else.
I don't even know what year it is let alone what month it is half the time. Forget seasons. In my mind, it's still July even though it's October. Someone said the Celtic Colors International Festival has started and I was surprised at why it was starting so early until I realized this is the time of year it takes place. I was swimming in the ocean the other day. It felt like August. It's fall. I was wondering why I was the only person in the water until I realized that summer had already come and gone. The water is unseasonably warm. Even the seasons and ocean currents are messed up!
Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, I've had many ups and downs and goods and bads. One major down was not being able to travel, which, if you've been to my blog before, you know travel is something I enjoy doing a lot.
Despite this negative aspect of the pandemic, some positive did come out of it. Although travel has been my number one passion (tied with writing) for most of my life, I was able to branch out and learn a lot more about myself and discovered that I like to write about other things too. With the lack of travel came a lack of things to write about on my travel blog.
In my lockdown boredom and desire to continue writing, I started to branch out into other related and non-related topics. Self-help, alternative health, mental health, coping with Covid-19 and many other topics caught my attention and I put pen to paper and fingers to keys and came up with a lot of ideas and drafts to keep me busy through the long winter. Don't worry, I still have plenty of travel stories to write about from previous trips and my adventures around Cape Breton Island will always be something I love to share with my followers!
I don't know if this switch will be permanent or just temporary until things get back to normal. That's because I don't know if things will ever be normal again.
I'm not even sure I will look at travel the same anymore especially if things don't revert back to pre-pandemic. I'm not thrilled with mandated vaccines. I mean vaccines are great and I don't have a problem with the odd one but will I have to get a Covid vaccine every time I board a train forever?
And masks are great too but I can't imagine traveling in a hot climate and having to wear one on my face if I'm at the beach or walking a crowded night market. Having to remain 6 feet away from everyone is also a bummer when trying to mingle with locals and make new friends on the road. The lineups and extra steps involved in the current travel world make travel seem like more of a hassle than a relaxing vacation.
And above all, the fear of another pandemic breaking out while abroad and the fear of being exposed to a deadly novel virus so far away from home are also concerns. But, I'm normally someone who lets fear get in the way of my passions so I'm going to say that my new angle will one day soon simply be an addition to my travel writing. That being said, domestic travel in Covid-19 is always on the table for me. International travel will have to wait a while longer.
Another reason for this switch is the need to take some time to deal with the emotional and mental toll the pandemic has had on my overall physical and mental well-being and writing about it, sharing my feelings and thoughts and connecting with others who are also struggling seems to be the one thing that helps me cope most.
That being said, I hope you're all keeping well and being productive despite the upheaval to our lives these past two years. Remaining busy is one of the things that has saved me from a complete meltdown!
Having something to wake up for that takes my mind of the news and Covid this and Covid that is a blessing and I only hope everyone has something they can escape into when things get rough. Please stay tuned for a mixed bag of posts to come and stay safe out there, whether you're isolating at home or braving this new world on an adventure abroad!
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