As I wrote last week’s post on the Snowy Mountains I got a real case of wanderlust. Actually, let me rephrase that – my wanderlust increased significantly. Being from Sydney I have been in lockdown for the last 3 months, only leaving to go for walks or occasionally shopping, and I must say I have increasingly struggled with being cooped up. I am very blessed to be living on a big property in a rural town, but even so, I miss being able to travel. Or even being able to do something as simple as go for a hike in the forest or climb around on rocks at the beach. These are things that I miss more than being able to go shopping for clothes in person or go to the movies (although I certainly would love to be able to do both those things!)
As I wrote about my experiences walking in the Snowy Mountains and looked at photos of my time there, it made me really miss being able to explore and to plan trips, whether for a day or for longer.
So that’s exactly what I’ve started to do. Even though everything is uncertain and there is no way to know exactly when I might be able to travel, I have started to plan future adventures. For me, part of the excitement of a trip is the planning stage, looking at all the possibilities – the walks that I can do, the natural attractions that I can visit. Although I know that I can’t fit it all into one trip, I still love looking at all the options. I have multiple lists of places that I want to visit, some locally that I can do in a day and some weekend trips, and even an international one.
I honestly have no idea what I will be doing even over Christmas – whether I will be able to travel interstate to visit family, or even travel within New South Wales. This is fairly new for me, until this year I have had my Christmas plans booked well ahead of the end of the year, but this year that is a bit difficult since I have no idea what restrictions will be in place.
But I am hoping that interstate travel will be allowed by early next year, as all of my family live interstate. In the past I have travelled down to Melbourne to spend time with my siblings and travelled north to Cairns to see my parents, both of which I hope to be able to do next year.
So even though I don’t know if it will be able to happen or not, I am starting to put out ideas of adventures, trips that I could go on with my siblings, or walks that I could do with my mum. It feels odd at times, because it is so normal to make plans like this, and yet I haven’t been able to do it this year. But it feels nice – nice to have something to plan towards and research ideas for. And I hoping at lease some of these plans will be able to happen!
The Barefoot Adventurer 