Eleven weeks ago, we had to start working from home due to Covid-19 measures. Our employer has decided that we’ll be working from home until at least September. There have also been rumours it will last until January. It makes it all the more real that we are far away from returning to the way things were before the pandemic. Usually, I’m okay as I always find something to do and I welcome the calmer waters. But sometimes, I have cabin fever. I’m sure many of us can relate.
A few weeks ago, I felt the cabin fever coming up. I was just so tired of it all. I was bored, I felt trapped and I felt everything was just useless, pointless and unending. I found myself not being able to concentrate properly, and I just felt meh and blah the whole time. I love planning things, I love travelling, I love planning for my travels. And now I can do none of that. Travelling and being in nature (rugged, desolate, abroad) is a way to recharge my battery. Without access to some kind of escape into nature, I was driving myself up the wall. And while sometimes it helps to tell myself to ‘suck it up, buttercup!’ sometimes I need to wallow and simmer for a while to get my bearings again.
I decided to spend a week with my mom and cats. Mom hugs are a fantastic way to restore the soul. Same goes for cat cuddles by the way! I’m pleased to say that I have been completely adopted by our fur babies. ❤ It’s the best feeling to spend time with someone you love and someone you can completely be yourself with. Mom and I went on a few walks together, which was so nice. I also went on some walks by myself. I decided to go a different way and realised there was a nice path through a field with bushes and flowers. Never knew that existed there! Or maybe it’s new? It’s where I took the buttercup photo above. I love the smell of dry, hay-like grass combined with wildflowers. A herby smell, that reminds me of summer!
Apart from doing easy local hikes (there are no mountains here, so nothing is really hard!) I also decided I needed to do some kind of planning. While the ‘trying to live day by day’ efforts are continuing and yielding varying results (lol) planning at least something helps my brain too. Here’s what I came up with for when we can roam freely again…
- Do overnight hikes in the Netherlands and stay at one of those nature campsites to get that outdoor feel closer to home. Maybe I can try and get a friend to join me, but I’m unsure of my success rate with that, haha.
- Take some driving lessons as a refresh. I’ve had my driver’s license for many years and know how to drive safely. But because I don’t own a car, I don’t drive that much. I can borrow my mom’s car if needed, but that doesn’t happen too often. There are three specific goals I have for my driving refresh: build up stamina to drive for longer periods of time (more than one hour), feeling comfortable driving on the highway, and comfortably driving a van.
- After my driving refresh, I would love to hire a campervan and travel around Scandinavia, for example. Or travel New Zealand by van. Or both and all of it, because why choose?!
- Do some outdoor courses. I want to learn more about navigation, bush craft and river crossings. I think it will help me get more confident when I’m out and about. I will also have better skills to start doing more advanced trails, for example in New Zealand’s back country. I might even attempt some section hikes of the Te Araroa in the future. We’ll see! 🙂
Do you have any plans for after the pandemic is under control and we can roam freely again?
Alive and Trekking 
These are all great ideas. We have been lucky here in Colorado – we have been able to hike, bike, golf. I would like to go on an international trip, though I don’t think that will happen this year. We had a trip planned for Africa. It hasn’t been cancelled yet, but I think it most likely will. In that case, I will spend some time backpacking :-).
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Oh wow, Colorado! Now that’s somewhere I’d love to explore! How awesome you get to go out and do all that! Such a bummer about your trip to Africa but hopefully you’ll get to go another time. My trekking event was postponed and I cancelled everything (only my flight to cancel). Hoping for better times ahead.
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It sounds like you have found some great ways to feel closer to the days when you can travel again. Isolation must be much harder for a wanderer. I had no plans to travel in the immediate future because of finances but even if you can’t afford to travel it is nice to know that you have the freedom to roam if the opportunity comes up. I remember feeling desperate to travel when I was younger. Since I have lived in Tasmania I feel more content because I love it here. However, there are still parts of the world I would like to visit. Most of them won’t happen but New Zealand is a goal for me too.
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Thank you! It’s weird because I love travel but am also a very homey person, haha. Oh, I can totally understand you’re more content when you live in beautiful Tassie! I’ve been there once and I loved it. Will definitely return! And NZ is an excellent goal to have, isn’t it?
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We have a new caravan, purchased just before the virus took hold. It’s in storage now, and we’re looking forward to enjoying some trips in it soon. Travel within our state is allowed as of today, but we might wait a while to see what happens first.
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That sounds most wonderful! Smart to wait it out a bit, but an exciting prospect nonetheless!
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I must look up Te araroa..
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It seems like an awesome trail. Muddy and tough, but awesome, haha.
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It’s definitely hard to lock up some one with travel in their blood. I avoided that by starting painting again nothing like re visiting an old skill.
Definitely get back into driving helps get you off the beaten track not that you haven’t seen most parts of the world already lol.
Milford sound and hump ridge tracks were excellent hikes in NZ and I would love to travel around NZ by van and bike ride the rail trails when it opens up again.
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Most excellent that you got back into painting again!
For sure hard to stay at home with wanderlust! We’ll have to be patient, I suppose. It’s for a good cause, I remind myself, and that makes it easier to stick to the rules. Oh, there’s so much of the world I haven’t seen yet! I just can’t help loving Down Under so I keep coming back, haha 😉
That sounds like a great plan too, vanlife, getting outdoors! I’ve vaguely heard of the Hump Ridge Track. I should look it up 🙂 I had planned to go back to NZ in Feb/March but that is definitely not going to happen, especially for folks from overseas. Maybe a European holiday will be in the cards next year, who knows. I try to take it day by day.
Take care and stay healthy, Chris!
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Yes I definitely remember your love for NZ and I think it will be closed to us until after Christmas I think.
I guess it’s time to explore your own backyard which is often overlooked by many people. Oh I live here I’ll do it later, now is the time for later.
Anyway take care and stay safe
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So true! Been exploring my own city which is nice. Still…that travel bug, you know? 😉
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