It has officially been over a year since I came back from my last trip I had which was right when COVID hit massively in the U.S. I must admit 2020 disappointed me unlike any other year because I had plans to explore and go on more trips by myself. I had plans to go on mission trips in a quite a few places for 2020 by myself. I even had plans to create more blogs about traveling solo as well but oh how things change.......
Then on top of this were some other plans I had but before you knew it everything became SHUT DOWN.
I still remember the day before I left for my trip like it was yesterday. Our principal had called for an emergency faculty meeting in the cafeteria before Spring Break. They were being up front and real about how it may be a chance that we won't come back and my body was a nervous wreck. Listening to all that news, while knowing that I would be leaving the country tomorrow with all this going on was A LOT TO PROCESS.
But even with all the fear kicking in, I still chose to take the risk and still go. I had already planned for this trip so why not go and make the best of this trip that I decided to go on knowing life will not be the same.
At first, I honestly was one of those people that thought everyone was over reacting. People were texting me and stuff while I was trying to still live my best life in the Virgin Islands. It wasn’t until day 4 or 5 that the spirit of fear started to really kick in once my school announced we will not be coming back for a while. This then made me concerned on what’s to come once I got back home 🏡.
However, I must say I still and will never regret taking that trip because now it was the last and only trip I ever went on in 2020. Now of course, I know there are many people still going out there and traveling. But traveling during a pandemic is like traveling from scratch all over again for me so I've been taking my time, doing the research, and saving moneyyy honey . I do plan to start back traveling again out the country this year but I will be starting small.
Sooo How have I been coping with not traveling for a whole year ?
Honestly it's been a STRUGGLE, not being able to travel, something I once saw as a form of therapy for me, got taken away from me just like that. Then being restricted to go experience other places and seeing death rates can subconsciously mess with you in more ways than expected. Let's just say I'm a lot more thankful for the simple things this year that have kept me like inner joy, peace, and love that truly can only come from Jesus Christ.
But after some time, therapy, personal time with Jesus, and lots of trial and error; I definitely have found some great ways to cope with covid and not being able to travel.
1) Taking Long Drives Just Cause : There is just something about driving solo without traffic that allows you to build a sense of peace. The scenery and wind blowing in your face with the windows down just brings calm. Plus you end up having the best conversations in the car with God and your inner self.
2) Walks in the Park & Nature Walks : In the earlier parts of the pandemic, I did a lot of walking around in parks and just random places in my hometown. I love the sound of birds and nature. It helps focus your mind on something else versus the noise in your head.
3) Working Out More : This one is interestingly surprising due to I'm not someone that was ever so crazy about working out. I dance a lot so I always saw that as my way of working out. But once we had to go back to teaching face to face at my job, it has been a great stress reliever for me after work. An app I use for this that's been great is the FIT ON. You can click here to download. Oh yeah and the app is completely FREE !!!
4) Beach Vibes & More from the Calm App : The Calm App has been an absolute blessing in my life. I would literally go find a quiet place, bring a journal, and WALA another escape created. BTW, if you are an educator you are eligible to get this app completely FREE by clicking here.
5 ) My Babe's Indoor Date Nights :
I must admit, God has truly blessed me with a special guy in my life. He came into the picture of December 2019, like can we talk about perfect timing.
( Anyways that's a future blog to come). But yes, it's just something about feeling loved, adored, and admired that can help bring a great amount of calm during these times. It's challenging dating during a pandemic but DOABLE.He would do indoor picnics, star gazing in/on the car, game nights and more. It's just good to have company, whether it's a friend or more than a friend, don't let this pandemic scare you away from connecting with people.
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