Travel, Food, and COVID

Let me start by telling you a story. There I was, deep in the jungle, or I mean my room. Ha, yes, yes, my room; this story does not start in the wilds of the world. It started in my room, looking for ways to tell stories, share photos, and sometimes share advice. Do I have a lot of knowledge in any of this? Not really, but I do like to tell stories; I love to take photos, and above all, I love to travel.

Now, back to the story, there I was, creeping around the depths of the internet looking for answers, or as you might call it, research. Things were going well. I had my social media presence, but I wanted to give more; I wanted to connect more than just posting photos with some clever saying and where the photo was taken. That brought me here; I looked and researched and came up with what I thought was a creative website name, and just like that, I launched my very own travel website. I had lots to say, and I was saying a lot.

I was writing and posting at the start of my website adventures, and I thought that would be enough. It turns out it still wasn’t enough. To be honest, I’m not sure how all this works. Somewhere between working full-time and traveling as much as possible with the family, I enjoyed all the websites and social media stuff. Even though I struggled with website design, If it weren’t for my daughter editing my stories (my early writings were so bad), they would have been readable. During COVID and my layoff, I took classes on web design, which helped some. It is something I plan on continuing. I can say that my website has suffered lately. You know, working and all.

The website does give me this great outlet. I love the idea of being a writer, which is so odd cause I wouldn’t say I like to read. I love to share stories and photos, and I enjoy what a website and blog offers. Now, I’m not quite sure about social media. The creative side of social media is excellent, and seeing and interacting with other like-minded people is great. Now, dealing with algorithms and people trying to sell you likes and followers is so overwhelming that it takes so much of what can be great about social media. What do you? If you stop, you leave so much on the table. Listen to me telling you what it’s like. I know what you are supposed to do, but I have no idea what to do. Better is I have not done what it takes.

I wish I had the answers and was doing what I love. The reality is that I am just here, like a lot of other people, trying to figure out what a post-pandemic world is to travel in. As I mentioned earlier, my website has suffered as of late. Which is terrible for me; whatever is on it is up to me. Granted, I still need to deal with SEO and Google. It’s not as daunting as any social media is. Back to the original statement in this paragraph, what does a COVID world look like? Well, I can tell you, it’s much less travel, less money and more precautions. It would be best if you had masks and vaccinations and maintained some space between me and you.

The less money statement is that you were a COVID casualty and lost your job, and the new job pays less. Less travel statement is just that, on top of the fact you could not travel to some areas. You needed to quarantine, or the border was closed. You needed a negative test result. In 2020, we had to cancel a bunch of trips, a couple of big ones. My 50th birthday trip, my wife and I’s 20th wedding anniversary. Yeah, big trips, but one was with our granddaughter to Paris in December. Funny, that was one of the more essential trips.

Speaking of travel, it’s not that hard. You need to follow some rules. Now, depending on your political views (unfortunately), you may find this more complicated than it needs to be. Now, I try not to be too political, but I need to address COVID and travel requirements during COVID. My statement is simple: we do not live on islands. Making masks and vaccines a political statement was dangerous. We have spent years trying to eradicate life-threatening diseases (we have accomplished it or tested them). Now, we are seeing measles and polio making a comeback.

This is not to say you need to listen to me. I know this: we relied on people getting vaccines to help those who could not. I don’t understand how hard it is to wear a mask. People wear masks as part of their job all the time. I cannot understand why this concept was so hard. Last year, we finally made up the trip to Paris with my granddaughter. We wore our masks, were socially distanced, and got our vaccine boosters. When it was time to come home, we all took our COVID test and tested negative.

Now, I know some people will disagree with what I just said. That’s okay. I do know that my statement still holds true. We do not live on an island. It is not a complex concept to understand. If you don’t understand this, know that we live in a society where we must get along; we live next to each other and work with one another. Sometimes, what you think is personal freedom is just selfish and dangerous. You cannot do what you want while driving or yell fire in a movie theatre. Okay, now this is getting a little preachy; that was not the point. It takes a little effort to be a decent person with just a tiny bit of compassion for your fellow human being.

As we move forward with all of this, what do we do? Do we sit and complain about how things used to be, and when will we return to normal? The answer is no; we will never return to what used to be expected, and complaining about it will not do anyone any good. Lockdowns, wearing a mask, and being vaccinated are the new normal. Let me clarify if you want to travel outside your home; these are the new norms. I don’t see any of this changing, and as the population grows, the world is getting smaller.

Well, I am choosing to adapt and redefine what it is to be a travel photographer. Really, what does it mean to be a traveler? For that matter, I have thought about this quite a bit lately. Photography is just a byproduct of travel. I will always be a photographer whether I travel or not. Calling myself a travel photographer is just a way to cover a multitude of disciplines. If I were honest, landscape and street photography are the two disciplines I spend time with. Because of this, I spend the most time on education, execution, and the types of photographers I follow on various social media platforms.

I think what travel has become is the bigger question I have been thinking about. What is travel, and why do we feel the need to travel? This is a personal question that only you can answer for yourself. For my wife and me, for that matter, travel is about seeing new places, no doubt; I mean, that is the focus of travel. Now, I am going to expand on this. I think many people will also agree with this statement. How many people travel to see new things but still eat at the same places I can eat at home? My wife and I always try to eat in new places we cannot get at home. This is very important; how can you genuinely travel and not try fresh food and restaurants? If you see new things, you might as well try new foods, right?

Speaking of food, this is truly one of my most important topics. For me, food and travel go hand in hand. With this idea, I will shift my focus to my website. I am going to incorporate food into my writing. I will start reviewing restaurants, hotels, and foods from my travels. This gives me a new purpose and subjects to talk about. I love to eat, I love to cook, and I love to drink wine. So why not talk about them? Stay tuned. I am trying to get myself writing again; I’m trying to get my photos edited. I have to say I am excited about this new direction. Don’t worry; I will never stop talking about travel and photography. Let’s eat, travel, and talk too much about it. Hahahaha!