Just when we thought we will be off to new adventures, this new Covid variant is once again complicating matters. We are holding our breath for Christmas in London – will we doing a staycation or staying home?
For New Year’s we are off to far flung Cornwall – away from the crowds to Poldark country. But what happens after New Years? It’s all up in the air!
But last night, it was announced that England will go into Plan B – greater restrictions due to rising rate of the omicron cases.
When will all this stop?
May’s comment: We’ve excitedly made plans for January. We had purposefully waited for this year to pass. It would be our first travel abroad since February 2020 – to another two of our bucket list destinations. And just days after we’ve booked our hotels, the news of the Omicron variant was announced. And with each passing day, rising number of cases throughout Europe meant increased difficulty in crossing borders, some have shut down. We really don’t quite know what to do. Should we postpone? Cancel? Do more staycations? Or accept that it will still be another winter before we are allowed to travel again. It may come to that.
2021 has in some way been more difficult than 2020. The first lockdown was a reprieve and it was as if the world needed to stop and breathe (albeit into our facemarks) but when 2021 came along, it all felt so angry, negative and it seemed to have brought out the worst in society.
We’ve continued to stay safe – fully jabbed and boostered, still wearing masks indoors and social distancing as much as possible (staring down anyone who comes close to me). We were ready to travel again, cross boundaries and explore the world, checking out new places – ticking off more bucket list items.
Plan B for England was announced last night – though it doesn’t change much for me on a day to day basis, it does signify that the variant is spreading fast. Along with that, implications not just for us but for where we will be travelling to. In the dark days of winter, it is easy to feel disappointed, defeated and deflated – just when we thought we could resume life as we know it.
And so a little reminder from Ashley to hold onto hope and tap into the joys of Christmas is a better way to go – was timely.
Hold on to hope. I’ve had a fair few friends and strangers ask me lately – “Do I think we will go back into lockdown?”
Looking slightly deflated at the thought of their plans to travel and celebrate fade into another few months of facetime on the sofa.
My response? I have NO idea, though I do know that the best way to move forward is to hold onto hope. That we will soon l be free to roam the beautiful world and be with our chums and loved ones. And in the meantime?
At least for now, tap into the simple joys of each day … after all it’s Christmas! And whatever the future holds, we will get through it together.
With love, joy and hope anything is possible.
Keep those Merry chins up!
