It's now been two and half years since this pandemic took over our world and changed so many parts of our lives in ways we never could have imagined. It changed the way we interacted with others, the way we went about daily routines and certainly the way we travel.
Looking back on the past two years and reflecting on the trips I've been able to take, the places I've seen and experiences I've had as this pandemic changed our world, I'm brought back to that first "pandemic" trip I took to Croatia.
Two years ago, it was nothing short of six months on an emotional roller coaster wondering if my trip would happen, keeping up with the endless changes, and if I would be able to safely pull it off. There was the chatter of the many naysayers that quite honestly probably thought I was crazy for trying and the unfamiliar feelings of extreme stress and anxiety that I'd never experienced before when traveling as I'm generally a very chill and relaxed traveler. Two years later, it's all still very fresh in my mind.
When I think back to those 24 hours before I boarded that nearly empty plane at Washington Dulles for Munich, Germany, I still feel those emotions of excitement, fear, exhilaration, and nervousness as if it was just yesterday. The anticipation of waiting for the results of one of my two PCR tests to come back to the fear that my nearly empty flight would be canceled. Looking back, I don't think I truly exhaled until I got to my room in Dubrovnik, Croatia on September 11, 2020 and subsequently shared a blog I'd written two days before on my journey to get there, nervous to share it until I had safely arrived. It still, two years later gives me chills when I read it, no matter how many times I've read and how clearly I remember every single detail from that summer. Then the subsequent blogs after I returned describing each leg of that 18-day trip that will forever have a place in my heart. Despite the three very memorable international trips that came after that first one in the last two years, it will also be the first place I went to during the pandemic. And it will always make me smile when I think about how beautifully it all turned out. I had experiences I'll never have again (i.e. walking the walls in Dubrovnik seeing only five other people taking in the beauty of the surroundings without having to wait for random strangers to move out of my perfect shot.) It's almost hard to put into words why it means so much to me, perhaps it was the people I met, the places I experienced, or just the feeling of freedom after months of living in the fear of the unknown and still not knowing what was to come.
September 7, 2022
So, here I sit, deeply introspective two years later because in two days I take off for my next solo trip. Somehow it seems almost fitting that I start my journey in a place where my trip was supposed to start two years ago. A place that I had begun to research and read about before I had to shift and cut it from my plans completely when I realized that I would not be able to enter the country due to the COVID-related restrictions at the time. A place I'd hope to visit in April 2021 until I had to shift those plans as well as the restrictions had not been fully lifted.
While I booked my flights months ago and <knock on wood> they have remained unchanged for the first time of any of my travel by air both domestically and internationally since September 2020; a huge change from that trip two years ago where it felt like my flights were changing every few days up until my departure. My carefully laid out plans remain in tact, albeit a few changes have occurred in the last day or so but nothing has been canceled. Just a few minor shifts. If nothing else, travel over the last two years taught me to roll with the punches and know it'll all work out the way it should. In the end I'm going to be exploring a country that is new to me; one that I read about, researched, and anticipated visiting two years ago. I'm excited. I'm ready. And I can't wait to wake up in a new city. One I've heard nothing but wonderful things about and experience for myself to see if it's truly as beautiful and magical as I hope it will be.
Yes, you're probably guessing where I'm headed. If you've been following all my blogs closely, you just might have figured it out. Or if you recognize the location of the cover photo, you might know. But in keeping with the trend I started two years ago when I posted my first blog in my Croatia series of posts, I told myself that I wouldn't post this one until I'd arrived. And if you're reading this now, it's now three days later on September 10th, 2022 and.....
Hello from Ljubljana, Slovenia and the view from my hotel balcony. Adventure, exploring and learning all about this city awaits. And I can't wait to take you along with me.
"If we were meant to stay in one place, we'd have roots instead of feet." - Unknown
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