You call it going stir-crazy, I call it wanderlust. This pandemic has been difficult to weather. Not only is it forcing us into a ‘new normal’ but we are being given timelines without an end date.
I don’t mind wearing a mask, or not going out to dinners or missing a summer of festivals. What is really tugging at me is wanderlust. It’s not the craving to leave my yard, or drive to the next town over to shop. My heartstrings are tugged by the desperate want to travel. A difficult feeling to grapple with, when I am more confined to staying at home than when I was broke and in school.
I yearn for the sparkling coastline of Greece, for the nervous anticipation of arriving in a new country or city. I am craving the taste of foreign cultures, and making bold decisions that I never usually attempt at home.
I want to be pushed out of my comfort zone, to go to bed way to late and wake up way to early so that I can soak in every possible moment.
There is something delectable about breathing the air of other places.
I’m sure I’m not the only one yearning for adventure. Its odd how in a country with massive amounts of open space, that I feel claustrophobic.
With fingers crossed, I hope that by Spring 2021 travel will be in the books again as I have decided to give in to my wanderlust to visit the Balkans in June. And it may seem silly to be planning trips while we are still in the middle of a pandemic, but it gives me hope.
This trip gives me something to look forward to this year, besides the unending stream of COVID-19 discussion. Looking ahead to travel gives me this spark of excitement again.
For a lot of people you don’t even have to travel far to become excited about something in your future. Plan a camping trip, or a night in with your friends, or start a project that you’ve always wanted to do.
I think now more than ever that it is incredibly important to find something to look forward to. This pandemic can be exhausting and having something that makes you happy is so important, now more than ever.
Don’t let the bad times get you down, do something that makes you happy. In the long run if it pulls up your spirit, you wont regret it. Besides, who couldn’t use a little more happiness in their lives right now?
shaela.dansereau@pipestoneflyer.ca
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