Needless to say, I’ve been on a travel hiatus as the rest of the world. I can’t even begin to discuss how much has changed in my life the last several months, B.C. (Before COVID-19). As recent as early March 2020, I didn’t even think I would still be in New York City today. Not because I had a trip planned, but because I was supposed to relocate across the country to the West Coast earlier this April.
In any event, I’m glad to still be here in New York. I love New York. I haven’t posted much about things to do or see in New York as I should have (being a born and bred New Yorker) and now seeing my city fall apart amidst this pandemic is heartbreaking. I know the city will bounce back though, but it’s crazy to me how much the world has changed so rapidly in a short amount of time.
I’m also grateful for all the amazing places I’ve gotten to go to before this shutdown. I haven’t posted about a few other places I went to in the past 6 months, including Tulum, Mexico (Jan. 2020), Barcelona, Spain (Dec. 2019) and Tenerife, Canary Islands (Sept. 2019). I don’t even know what travel will be like again. There is so much still unknown about this disease and the level of seriousness people are taking it varies widely from city to city, state to state, and country to country. I’m personally taking it very seriously. I know myself when I get sick; it takes me forever to recover from something even like a cold. I tend to develop these horrible, persistent coughs that don’t go away, I tend to lose my voice. While I consider myself pretty active and healthy, I know once I catch something I am the most miserable person ever so no, I do not want to chance it.
I’ve been pretty much isolating myself at home in my apartment in Manhattan over the past month. I actually haven’t gotten too bored at home, I can always find a way to entertain myself whether it’s reading, watching shows, playing video games (Nintendo Switch), cooking, FaceTiming with friends, meditating, or working out (anywhere between 30 minutes to 90, sometimes 2 hours!). And although I was unable to physically relocate, I’ve been fortunate to start a new job remotely regardless.
It’s nice to see my travel trip blog still getting visits even though I hardly am good about posting in between major trips! Over the past year both my Banff National Park and Torres del Paine/Patagonia trips have gotten over 200 views each (I do very little to promote other than link reports through Trip Advisor). I really do hope you’re finding this information helpful, and hope I can recap future trips once “normalcy” returns. I really have no idea what “normal” is going to be like. I started this travel blog in 2016 and given that I probably won’t be traveling anytime soon, I might post about past places I haven’t featured yet but has left an impression on me.
Stay safe and well!