
When last we spoke, I had QUITE a few trips on the books – that’s changed. I’ll bet it’s changed for you, too. Take this time to reflect and plan.
- Spring Break to Hawaii – canceled
- Spring Break to South Beach – abruptly ended
- April in Hollywood for my beloved TCM Film Festival – Canceled
- May in New Orleans for a Travel convention – Canceled
You see the pattern here.
I made my last business trip in March (that’s my flight on March 4th pictured above). At that time, we were focused on no hugging, not social-distancing. I gave my team the option of staying at home, but we all agreed that we’d take the necessary precautions to get some face-time. For us, we’d just been grounded for a few months already, so we were raring to go. During those 2 days, we slathered ourselves with sanitizer and exchanged tips for opening/closing doors without using hands. Instead of a typical meeting table where everyone vies for access to power outlets, we vied for the isopropyl alcohol. It wasn’t normal.
Days later and only hours before our planned trip to Oahu, I told my husband I worried about getting stranded in Hawaii. Southwest Airlines understood my concern and helped me pivot to a new itinerary. By switching to South Beach, for a high-end, 4-night getaway, we’d be a little less stressed and come back refreshed. We landed, had lunch, had a heavenly meal in the Art Deco district….and, called the airlines again. We came home the next morning. Being away just didn’t feel responsible. It wasn’t normal.

We have a new normal now and I have to remind myself that adventure doesn’t have to require an airplane to a far-away place. I’m not going to write one of those up-lifting pieces that paints a big silver lining on the whole situation. There are enough of those already floating around out there. Instead, I’m going to tell you 5 ways I’m channeling my energy and maybe this will stimulate an idea for you.
1. Make a List
(You’re kidding me, right….?) No, seriously – if I don’t write down what I want to accomplish, I’ll scroll news on my phone, flip channels and ultimately (literally) waste an entire evening and have nothing to show for it. Instead, I start jotting down tasks in the Notes section of my phone. When I have a lull and think that there’s nothing to do, I can refer to my list. Low and behold, there is infact something to do, and ipso-facto, something to accomplish:
- What’s something you want to accomplish TODAY?
- How about something for the weekend, week and month?
- Crossing off something ahead of schedule can seem VERY productive. Still you have to know what that something is in order to cross it off – so write it down now – get it out of your head.
- What about something you’ve been noodling for ‘someday…..’ Could you give it an hour a week? A little progress here and there might add up to helping you finally get it off the ground.
- Even if it’s menial, write it down – an hour for reading? Write it down, do it, cross it off. LOOK – you accomplished something.
2. Leverage New On-Line Options
I mentioned before that channel flipping is a terrible time-suck for me and then I feel like I’ve literally wasted my time. Note: Killing time and ‘wasting’ time are 2 different things in my book – and, it’s a shame to waste time. So, I have a few things I want to accomplish to this end:
- Select films to get excited about.
- Build on my Letterboxd list – Letterboxd has a lot of film nerds in one place. Build your own lists that you can keep private or make public. I have them for Christmas, Halloween, certain locations like Hawaii and Vegas. Movies enhance moods for me. Edgar Wright posted his Top 1,000 and that’s been a good solution for my husband and me. We found 82 mutually acceptable movies right off the top. No more fighting or scrolling – just pick one and start viewing.
- Many streaming services are offering first-run movies (think – would’ve been in theaters if not for all this). The price of rental is about the price of 2 theater admissions.
- Museums are on-line (!!) Can’t get to NYC, no problem. Didn’t have the funds or the time to make it to Florence? Just pull up a chair and your laptop.
- How about a Broadway musical? (for FREE)
- Film Festivals are going to be available from home, too. Think: SXSW and even TCM is going to host an at-home version. I’m hearing it’s all at no charge.
3. Move Around
Clear your head. With minor precautions, you can go outside and move around in the fresh air. Take advantage of not being stuck in a boardroom, and take that teleconference on the move. Explore your options. If you let yourself sit at home and eat chips (I’m assuming you do this, too…) just because your normal social options are off the table, you’ll decline emotionally and physically. Stay active. Have you noticed all the on-line workouts? While the gyms are closed, those classes you normally didn’t have time to get to are now available on-demand? This is HUGE for me. I’ve been curious about Zumba (don’t judge me), but I hate to try things publicly that might make me look silly and uncoordinated (because I’m in fact silly and uncoordinated). So, I’m trying it at home.
4. Pick up the phone
Ordinarily, I’m not one who calls to actually talk now that I have so many other (more efficient) options for communicating. I’m an extreme introvert, so I’ve recently found the shelter-at-home to be a license to stay home and I’m not hating it. But, that’s not true of everyone. Some friends are struggling a bit. I plan to make my relationships stronger by connecting via phone and (gulp) video to make us all feel less isolated. So, this has been kind of a new (again) experience for me. Very old-school. Pick up the phone – you’re probably not interrupting them. Literally no one is “just walking out the door” at the moment.
- I’m hearing and seeing amazing pics of virtual Happy Hours – and, there’s no driving involved.
- Friends are doing Facebook Live videos that I’m now addicted to – and, you can host watch parties for almost anything. This is totally social.
5. Plan what comes next
When all of this is done, and it will all be done at some point, what will I do next? Where will I go? On several levels, we all might shift perspective. If you have income now, you’re probably saving a lot more than you were before, so maybe a splurge. If you’re negatively impacted economically, then your future travel will shift shape, but it doesn’t have to be scrapped. Budget travel options are out there in abundance for a good reason – lots of people use them. Put pen to paper and think about what you want next. With the right perspective, a new paradigm in and of itself can be a motivating project.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.”
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
We have to band together and support one another. Travel will be (or maybe have already been) hit harder than it was post-9/11. This is an industry I love and I want to help them get back on their feet. I still have a trip planned for late-summer. Keep the faith – prices will be extraordinary. Turn that into a boon by booking the trip you couldn’t afford last year when they were charging top-dollar. Win-win opportunities are out there.
So, where to start?
- Pick a location (or more) and plot a course for 4-6mos from now
- Book at today’s prices
- Order a guidebook to be delivered
- Start collecting pins @ Pinterest (lots of good tips there)
- Start following the boards and forums @ Trip Advisor for your destination
- Use Trip It to start mapping your days and excursions
And, as I reflect on my travels this time last year to Singapore, India and my beloved film festival in Hollywood, I could get a little down. Or, I could look ahead and know that future travel will be a little more special to me because it’s made itself even more rare.
Until then….
Adventure doesn’t have to happen on the road. It can be anywhere – trying a new workout, learning a new skill, identifying what this recipe might have tasted like without all the impromtu modifications……(again, I assume you do this, too).
Use the slowness of the universe to explore things you didn’t previously have time to – whether that’s reading a book, watching the AFI Top 100, or trying your hand at a new endeavor. Adventure is where you seek it and you can convey yourself emotionally and intellectually….that’s kind of like travel, right? That’s what Ann’s doing a lot at the moment.
