15 years and still wandering

It’s been more than a year since this pandemic started. I can’t say it’s been more than a year since I last traveled, but it’s been a while.

Back in February when the new cases seemed to be tapering off and active cases were low for a densely populated metropolitan, I was able to take a weekend off to the mountains of Rizal for a much-needed break.

It got me eager to do more staycations, but the cases went up again due to the new variants of the coronavirus that are more contagious, coupled with people getting laxer with maintaining the minimum health protocols to protect themselves.

It’s frustrating, but at the same time, I have come to an understanding and acceptance that it’s going to take a while before we go back to a semblance of what “normal” life is.

The virus seems to adapt better and faster to ensure its survival, and I suppose there’s a lesson to be learned there. If you can’t adjust and adapt to the situation, you’re not going to survive.

We’re all doing our best and the pandemic is testing our mettle to its breaking point. The question is, how do you respond to it?

I was lucky that I was already seeing a therapist to help me with my issues when the pandemic started. I believed it greatly help me with being able to cope with being cooped at home.

It empowered me to find solutions to help myself. While I can’t say that I am completely and totally okay, I am coping well, considering my circumstances.

One of the things that helped me was baking. Last year I wrote about baking my first bread. It got me wanting to do more with the oven and it led me to try new recipes and eventually to set up my home baking business, Therapy Ni Tita.

Compared to my online work where I am sitting in front of my computer the whole time, baking has me on my feet, bustling about in the kitchen and focusing my mind on the task at hand. For the first time in years, I am spending most of the day with my eyes not glued to a screen.

Doing this also made me realize what it is I really miss and love about traveling: logistics. The act of planning my every step to complete that journey and figuring out how to get my baked goods to my customers. I find joy in plotting the addresses for delivery on Google Maps, much in the same way that I do when I’m plotting places that I want to visit for my trips.

It’s a whole different journey we’re in, living with COVID-19. Similar to the trips we take, we may be going to the same places, but we’re doing different things and seeing different sights. We just have to find the path that makes the most sense to us and makes us happy.