Catch The PLANE & get INSANE
"2020 Is A Drama For Travelers"
March, year 2020March 4th - the first case of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection was detected. "Patient zero" returned from Germany, where SARS-CoV-2 occurs.
March 14th - a state of epidemic threat began to apply in Poland.
March 20th – a state of epidemic began to apply in Poland.
"We will remember 2020 for a long time.
This is the year the COVID-19 pandemic broke out,
which caused the crisis which haven't been seen since the end of World War II."
[Luca Jahier, President of the European Economic and Social Committee]
Today, September 2020That's right, the year didn't start well for the whole world.
However, I would like to look at it from my own perspective, as a full-time traveler, currently on vacation. 😆
How did 2020 change my life?
Last year I took a total of 15 flights, excluding travel by other means of transport, this year I took 0 flights...
I'll start a bit dramatically, but don't worry, this story will end well.
In December 2019, my health condition brought me from La Palma to Poland.
The entire upper respiratory tract was seriously infected, and unfortunately I don't trust the doctors in the Canary Islands, so I went to see doctor in Poland.
On the way, it turned out that my Grandma was not in the best condition,
which made me decide to stay for Christmas.
Unfortunately, Grandma couldn't wait to spend Christmas together...
Although it was not easy and I entered 2020 with sadness in my heart,
immediately after the New Year I started looking for a job, successfully!
At the beginning of February I was supposed to fly to Lanzarote.
The contract has been signed, the flight has been booked, packed, everything is ready!
A few days before departure, the mourning deepened - Grandpa joined Grandma in heaven...
Even though it was even harder, I was determined to finalize my departure.
On the day before my departure, I was visited by my high school sweetheart, with whom things didn't work out because my heart chose to travel, but we stayed in touch over the years.
We spent a very nice evening and suddenly my intuition started going crazy!
Arguments between intuition and mind lasted all night:
"Fly? Don't fly?"
"Could this be my long-awaited Prince Charming?"
"To risk or not to risk?!"
When the alarm clock rang at 5 a.m. the next day, I felt that I had to stay in Poland.
My intuition has never let me down, so I trust it implicitly, even though sometimes it is completely inconsistent with what my mind tells me.
After making the decision, I must admit, I regretted it...
It was hard with the grief and it was hard with the thought of the canceled flight, which I didn't like very much,
BUT INTUITION DOESN'T LIE!
You'll probably think I'm crazy: "She listened to her intuition instead of going," but it hasn't disappoint me.
Right after all these events, long and frequent visits to the church, God seemed to have sent me an Angel, he appeared.
My Beloved from years ago in a completely new light.
Our friendship quickly gained momentum and in mid-February we decided to give each other a second chance. Although it was difficult to convince him that this time I would not abandon everything in the name of travel, he decided to trust me.
Shortly after that, my brother helped me make the decision to move in on my own.
Later, it was a matter of weeks when we moved in together and even "adopted" a dog, who have been waiting for me until I had my own place.
The beginning of the year was crazy and even though I didn't realize it at the time, in an amazing course of events and new, previously unknown adventures, it ensnared me.
In March, I started working at the reception, but at the end of the same month I resigned because of the coronavirus.
What about travel? Where is the travel here?
That's right!
Ever since I found out in early May that I wouldn't be returning to California this year due to the pandemic, it started to be hard. Very hard...
The awareness that for who knows how long I would be stuck in Poland because of a little virus was overwhelming...
It got worse every day, and every month without travel was another shot straight to the heart.
Due to the fact that one of my main priorities is health, despite the opening of borders, I did not want to risk.
As I never did now I would check the news, watch events and listen to the nonsense the media feeds us, I've become completely crazy!
I checked the statistics every day, created some of my own, and in fact, I was even afraid to go to the store, and when I did go out, the disinfection process was hilarious, looking back on it. 😆
Mi Amor tried to organize small trips that helped, but for a while...
One day it got to the point where I completely lost my will to do anything.
I felt that my life without travel made no sense!
After all, UNTIL I was 18 they were my biggest dream, and FROM the age of 18 my whole life.
My angel helped me survive the worst moments, and in July he organized a seaside holiday.
HOLIDAY - something I haven't experienced in 11 years!
This trip gave me a lot, it lifted my spirits, and although soon after my return the sadness and regrets related to the lack of travel returned again, in August I accepted the situation that fate had put us, travelers and others.
When I finally realized, after so many months, that the world of travel now looks this way and not differently, I finally started to notice the possibilities that opened up to me in the following days (and will remain my sweet secret for now), and which will lead to greater travel in 2021.
Intuition... 😉
To find out how this year influenced other travelers, I did a small interview, here are their answers:
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"2020 for me isn’t the best time to visit a new country I mean from the moment I step in my home country airport I have to be sanitizing my hands until I leave the airport in Canada. Once leaving the airport I head straight to the location that I’m going stay in with I will be undergoing a 14 days quarantine. Since I’m here to work I have to limit my public interactions this mean there will be little or no interaction for myself and others around me."- Kedar, Jamajca
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"My travel plans for 2020 have greatly affected because of the covid pandemic. I was supposed to go to Nashville during good Friday weekend but I had to reschedule that trip for Columbus day weekend. Since the USA response has been so terrible because, people care more about their "freedom" than if people die. I will most likely have to reschedule that trip again because Nashville is only in stage 2 of opening, and by Columbus I doubt they'll be open. So as the saying goes, "when life gives you lemons make lemonade", so I'll most likely go to LA since I have friends that live there and I want to get out of the Northeast. I haven't left the Northeast all year long. I was also supposed to do a Euro trip this year for my birthday and I had to cancel that. I was supposed to do London > Budapest > Istanbul > then Istanbul back home to NYC. I tried to get my money back from the different airlines but the best they could do is give me a voucher. Hopefully I can use those vouchers and travel sometime in early 2021 once they open the borders up to Americans."- Juan, New York
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"Mi opinión es que este año ha sido desepcionante. Ya que tengo un negocio independiente y por la situación de este Año 2020 todo se me ha declinado igual mis planes de viajar extranjero. Pienso que tendrían que eliminar el 2020 del calendario."- Yonel, Dominican Republic
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"2020 has surprised all of us. As for me, it started amazingly in Germany and Thailand, with plans for development and visiting the whole of Asia, but.. fate lead it all in other way and for the first time in 10 years, I’ve got the opportunity to spend over 5 months in Poland with my family. Heartbroken, but without any remorse, because it was not my choice, life arranged everything like that. And then, in a week, everything changed. I found myself again in the United Arab Emirates, where I used to live before, and got a „school of life” at that time. I came back with new perspectives, a great chance for development and peace of mind, which I was looking for a long time, searching for my place in the world. Appreciate everything, don’t take ANYTHING FOR GRANTED! Never give up, make your dreams come true, life can surprise you."- Agata, Poland
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"2020 it has changed travel mentally in general aspects and brought both positive and negative things. On the one hand it has been more difficult to ever to buy flight tickets due to massive cancellations happening from one day to another. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed my travels this past summer more than ever due to low tourism in comparison to the past years, for example it was priceless to visit places in Rome with very few people."- Xabi, Basque Country
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"As someone who has worked overseas and also has family overseas the pandemic has made it hard to make plans to see my friends and family again. I have family in indonesia, some that I haven’t seen for 7 years and I was hoping I’d get to reunite with them this year, as well as some friends I made working overseas last year. It’s hard not being able to see the people you love but I hold onto the hope that we’ll all get to travel again soon, the most important thing is that my country and family and friends are safe at the end of the day."- Tika, New Zeland
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"For me traveling in 2020 was really stressful because everyone was telling me that I cannot make it but I did it. I get where I wanted to be. I've enjoyed my work and during the lockdown I was working on myself. I've tried to handle it and now I am traveling again from Mallorca to Lanzarote. Basically it was more difficult and with more restriction but if you are strong minded nothing is impossible. It hasn't limited me, I've got where I wanted to be and I managed what I wanted to manage."- Barbora, Canary Islands
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“Usually I save traveling for the summer when I don’t have too many responsibilities! But this year I had to cancel my long-distance trips because of corona! I was still able to plan small trips like to San Diego and Palm Springs, but we mostly stayed in our AirBnB instead of going out.”- Gabi, California
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"La pandemia de verdad cambió mucho. Yo no he visto todo este cambiamiento porque durante la cuarentene estaba en Lanzarote donde lo pase y me fui pa' Gales. Sí, estamos malos todos pero si sabe luchar pues nada, tira pa'lante. Porque para mi covid, todo eso parece una tontería."- Sisqo, Italy
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"My flight was canceled, but I managed to go to Italy for work and it turned out that many people were still traveling. Overall, this situation made me understand that I need trips, even small ones, to live. I can't stand being in one place all the time. I get terribly bored."- Martyna, Poland
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"Bueno bueno, ¿¡como empezar?! Déjenme contaros una historia agridulce, ehm más agria que dulce...
Erá el 31 de diciembre 2019 y yo positivo como siempre pensando que nos espera un año grande o como suelo decir yo: "Esto era mi año para brillar"... Me preparé la lista de "Propósitos para el Año Nuevo", y aparte que quería mejorar mi estado físico, limitarme de comer tanta comida china o aprender por fin a surfear me propuse también como un verdadero viajero visitar 5 países nuevos. Todo erá preparado y listo para estrenar. Mi cuenta bancaria erá un poco más ligera ya que me acabo de comprar el billete para Tailandia de paso visitando también mi amigo en Malasia cual conocí durante mi viaje en Sri Lanka. El plan viajero perfecto; conociendo los templos tailandeses, las playas vírgenes de Malasia y al final unos días conociendo Singapur y sus maravillas ...y a la vuelta a Europa todavía una chiquita visita de Bélgica donde vive mi amiga ... "¡Venga tío! Ya vas por 4 países - solo te falta 1 país más y se cumple tu propósito del Año Nuevo" me decía.
Empezamos entonces el Año Nuevo y yo lleno de expectativas e ilusiones me iba trabajar con mi mejor sonrisa. Estaba contando los días para poder salir de viaje, extender las alas y sentirme libre. La verdadera libertad que te da descubriendo los sitios nuevos, perdiéndote en las calles de los países desconocidos, probando la comida típica,...y de repente se escucha por todas partes que en China hay un bicho raro, que la gente tose mucho y que no se recomienda tocar a los demás, que va a haber restricciones de viaje etc etc... Todo el mundo me decía: "Oye tú, tú que vas a Asia mucho cuidadito que hay un bicho por allá..." y yo con mucha tranquilidad respondía: "No te preocupes, aún faltan casi 3 meses para salir, yo me voy sí o sí - a mi no me para nada y nadie..." pero la peor escena se convirtió en realidad... Por un bicho microscópico se paró el mundo, la gente empezó a taparse la boca y la nariz, los restaurantes y bares cerraron sus puertas, mucha gente perdió su trabajo, los países empezaron a cerrar sus fronteras y en la tele y prensa no hubo otra cosa sino el coronavirus...El mundo se paró y las preocupaciones tipo: "¿Dónde tengo mi pasaporte?" o "¿Como llego a la estación de autobús más cercana?" se convirtieron en preocupaciones de "¿A ver si no pierdo el trabajo?" o "¿A ver si me puedo permitir este lujo, lujo que antes no consideraba lujo?". Pasaron meses, encerrados en casa, viviendo de los recuerdos de viajes de aquellos tiempos. Los tiempos "Cuando se podía"...Cuando se podía viajar sin restricciones, cuando se podía sonreír sin la mascarilla, cuando estornudar o toser no erá tan mal visto, cuando se reunía la gente, cuando...
Y llegamos a septiembre, sigo aquí en mi isla en el medio de océano Atlántico. Mejor no me voy a envolver de hablar sobre el virus porque es un tema muy delicado y ahora "no está de moda" tener opinión diferente que las masas. Lo único que sé que el año 2020 me robó muchas ilusiones, ilusiones personales, laborales e ilusiones de viajar, conocer y descubrir... Con mucha incertidumbre e inseguridad esperando como va desarrollando la situación y cuando podré de nuevo extender mis alas y decir de nuevo: "Soy el ciudadano de mundo - Aquí me tienen; here we go!" - Martin, El gringo canario
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Let me know in the comment - how your life has changed beacuse of covid?