My genetic makeup has always been chock full of Wanderlust. My Great Grandmother Hedin fondly referred to me as a, “Gas Ass”. I got these Wanderlust genes honestly, as my parents spent the entire winter researching the next summer’s trip. A favorite winter pastime in my childhood was studying maps, no really! This insatiable desire to travel, recently culminated in an 18 month whirlwind world tour, but I still wasn’t sated. I still have many places on the never been, and far too many on the visit again lists. In 2019, I visited many places in Asia including Wuhan China. So thankful my trip occurred in 2019 vice 2020. I knew there was a reason I retired “early”.
As I sit on hold, with yet another travel company, to work through a series of complicated cancellations my Wanderlust is completely dried up into a tight hard little ball. I have very good friends that don’t have the travel bug and quite frankly I never understood them……..until today. If the Corona pandemic is having this impact on me, I can only imagine the impact on those without the travel passion. Remember the song, “Bye Bye American Pie” – just rewrite the words “I went to the levy and the levy was dry” to I went to Expedia/Booking.com/Marriott/Air Portugal/Jet Blue/VRBO and hit cancel, cancel, cancel.
I was scheduled to depart for Italy the first week of May. Yeah, Italy the latest country to put huge portions of the population in quarantine. I feel so bad for them as they rely on the tourists to keep the economy churning, but it would be irresponsible to even attempt the trip, so I continue to wait on hold for the travel agency. I just looked at the ncov2019.live website (this is the one a high school kid developed that constantly scrapes data from CDC, WHO etc.) Italy seems to be particularly hard hit, not only with the number of confirmed cases but the death rate associated with those cases seems higher than anywhere else. I haven’t found an explanation that makes sense yet for those numbers.
So some of you may be thinking Boo-Hoo so she has to cancel a few trips what’s the big deal. I can honestly say it’s not the cancellation of the trips, it is the complete dissolution of my travel passion that I am mourning at the moment. I’m positive the Wanderlust will return to previous highs, but just like the stock market it may take awhile.
On the positive side, I have recently taken up quilting. What a great “shelter in place” hobby. The good news is I can get all the tutorials on YouTube, I seem to like buying fabric so there is a stack of to do projects so I shouldn’t get bored. Perhaps I’ll end up a home buddy! And one funny for the road…….
WanderlustandWhimSea 
Barb, I am confident your wanderlust will return. And you can still do all that planning, but just for some yet to be determined date. And I am so glad that for now the “travel bug” has been replaced by the “quilting bug”. And yes, fabric collecting and half-finished projects are just as important as completed quilts: remember, it’s all about the journey. So keep us up to date on in-progress photos of all your creative projects.
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Oooh the fabrics! I now know fabric designer names and have my favorite thread color. It’s a whole new world out there and an almost cult like following. I also have my favorite You Tube teachers. Going to see Missouri Star Quilts in Ocala FL tomorrow!
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This breaks my heart. I hope your wanderlust returns quickly and the virus dissipates even quicker. Stay healthy. Miss you.
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Thanks Debbie – missing you too!
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You have been in my thoughts lately and glad to know you safe at home. Your wanderlust will return and for now, enjoy your new hobby…..I think you also have a crafting gene!
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Thanks Dyanne. I don’t know if I have any crafting talent but I am excited about my new crafting zone. I just went to IKEA and bought peg boards for organizing. I like the organizing part too!
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I feel your pain! We had to cancel our trip to Alaska due to the Corona virus. Our cruise ship was the Grand Princess, the same boat that was not allowed (until recently) to dock in San Francisco. Lots of hold times on the phone and airlines. Still need my points back from American and money returned from a couple of excursions. Sad because we were going to visit Jacob in Fairbanks at Ft Wainwright. The good news is his release date is now in mid-August and he will be home for a month before starting car mechanics school in Phoenix. Florida here we come.
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WOW – you really can feel my pain. I think even if they dipped the entire ship in Chlorox it will be a tough one to keep afloat. I can say that Alaska is worth waiting for a trip in the future, but understand Jacob will beef to new adventures. When are you coming to Florida – to visit or to live? Where?
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We are coming in June – going to Sanibel for a week and then Orlando area to visit friends for a few days. We are planning on moving to Winter Springs in summer of 2022. I retire in Oct 2022, so Dave will mostly be down there and I will live with Zach or my sister in law and friends. Can’t wait to explore more of Florida! Will let you know if I am down your way.
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Sanibel is awesome! I live very close to St Augustine, a very popular place to visit.
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Better to stay home and buy more TP!
On Wed, Mar 11, 2020 at 10:19 PM WanderlustandWhimSea wrote:
> wanderlustandwhimsea posted: ” My genetic makeup has always been chock > full of Wanderlust. My Great Grandmother Hedin fondly referred to me as a, > “Gas Ass”. I got these Wanderlust genes honestly, as my parents spent the > entire winter researching the next summer’s trip. A favorite wi” >
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Actually I do need to buy TP!
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Wanderlust schlaeft nur. Sie ist immer in Dir.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
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ein sehr tiefer Schlaf
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