As the world returns to what is now regarded as ‘the new normal’, let’s look back at a few lessons we learnt during our time in lockdown as a result of the global pandemic of COVID19 and our plans moving forward. After all, the true meaning of growth is learning from the past and finding better ways to achieving a more fulfilling future.
Before the lockdown in March, if we’d been told that, in our supposedly developed world, with all it’s riches and it’s scientific and technological know how, people would be fighting over toilet paper at Tesco due to an impending lockdown due to the threat of a global pandemic… we’d have laughed! It would have sounded like a big joke that even the best Hollywood screenwriters would have thought would be a completely unbelievable story! But it happened, and we all realised even the simplest of things we took for granted. Meeting up with friends & family for dinner and drinks or even just our daily gym workout; they all became things we had to forgo, and we were suddenly stuck at home!
We live in a very fast paced world and sometimes we forget to give ourselves the much needed time to think, rest and recuperate. Nature, unfortunately, also suffered from this insatiable quest of ours to meet unending personal or career goals. With the imposement of a worldwide lockdown, we were forced to take a big pause, see our world in a whole new dimension, find new ways to do things and do a lot of soul-searching (and for me, time to catch up on a LOT of sleep!). On top of all this, it gave nature the chance to ‘breathe’! Pollution was massively reduced and some of the big city views we’re so familiar with became much clearer, and for the locals the air was much cleaner. The effect it had on nature was astonishing!
Once lockdown was in full swing, our attention was drawn to nurses, healthcare workers, public transport staff, delivery drivers, teachers, waste collectors, retail workers, PPE manufacturers and cleaners. They all (and others – it’s a long list) made an unbelievable difference to the lives of many during the unprecedented times we were in. We had great fears and concerns of contracting COVID19 but those people were relentless in their efforts to keep us going, and they’re nothing but heroes. We say a very big THANK YOU to them all!
With many people going through the pain of losing a loved one to COVID19, dealing with the prospect of losing their job or of missing out on their goals & ambitions… it was a very stressful time. It still is! But we are certain that ‘this too shall pass’ because we are relentless beings. From Zooming our way to new jobs and relationships to face masking on planes to visit our favourite holiday destinations; we’ll keep moving forward until a Vaccine is discovered & COVID19 is a distant memory.
We often procrastinate on our travel desires and goal; “maybe next year, I’ll go on that trip”. If there is one thing we’ve certainly learnt from this disaster, it’s that we need to travel and discover more places while we can! Every opportunity to give your mind and body a break from the mundane or to learn about a new culture should not be wasted or taken for granted, because no-one knows what’s around the corner!
Because we’ve missed travelling so much, below are some of our favourite recent pictures from our trips. We hope you enjoy!
We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.