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| During an uncommonly heavy rainstorm in Sumbersari, Bali, I went out to the freezer in the garage to get some ice. I saw this long black thing, referred to as an omangomang in Balinese, moving along the garage floor. I called out to Tom to come to see it. He grabbed the camera and came running. Creepy. Was that an eye looking out at us? |
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Many of our readers who are also on lockdown in many parts of the world posed an inquiry, “What will be the first things you’ll want to do once you arrive in another country, once free of a lockdown?”
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| A perfect sunny day at low tide. |
It is possible once we leave Mumbai, we’ll end up in quarantine for our first two weeks. This may be a self-quarantine in a holiday home or a government-approved hotel. It will be disappointing to be required to spend the first 14 or 21 days of a 60 or 90-day visa in quarantine. But, we may have no choice.
Will this requirement deter us from visiting a specific country? No, not if it’s a location we feel confident we’ll enjoy once the quarantine has ended. It’s purely a by-product of the times of coronavirus.
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| Suddenly, the legs came out of the long black shell, and the crustacean dragged itself along the garage floor. |
In actuality, it would concern us if a country had no safety requirements for incoming international travelers. We’re totally fine with continuing social distancing, wearing face masks, and frequent hand-washing, which we, along with the rest of the world, as a requirement for years to come.
However, the question as to what we’ll want, what we’ll do, and how we will live in the future as other world travelers may do as well, in part, is subject to a see-how-it-goes scenario.
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| An ocean view while the van was moving through traffic. |
After we’ve done so well living in this small single hotel room, will we be less inclined to rent smaller holiday rentals in the future? Over the years, we’ve stayed in a few properties described as “studios” for short periods to full-sized four or five-bedroom houses/villas.
From now on, I am anticipating we’ll prefer to book a full-sized freestanding house. Having space is particularly appealing at this time, more than ever in the past.
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| On the left is a restaurant, and on the right is a data (SIM) card store. |
A pleasant view is a must. The view out of our hotel room’s windows and the corridors consists of rundown abandoned building sites, apartments, and office buildings. We don’t plan to book property of any type in a crowded downtown area in any country.
However, as mentioned above, some countries may require international visitors to stay in government-approved hotels in downtown areas during a mandatory quarantine period at their own expense. This fact won’t deter us from visiting such a country, but we’ll be anxious to have the quarantine period end, allowing us to move to a holiday home in outlying areas.
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| Motorbike drivers stop at the beaches along the highway for a lunch break or purchase products from roadside stands. |
Necessity and desire for me will be an excellent place to walk even if it’s limited to the property’s grounds in the event lockdown status prohibits outdoor exercise. Based on what we’ve been reading thus far, few countries prohibit outdoor exercise, unlike here in India, where it is strictly forbidden at this time.
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| A few stretches of the highway can be less busy in the nearby town of Nagara. |
That’s not to say. A big juicy steak wouldn’t be appealing during that first week. Although Tom has no problem eating chicken regularly, he prefers beef and pork for most meals. Often I make pork or beef for him while I have chicken or fish.
As time goes by, I have less and less interest in eating pork with my passion for warthogs and pigs of all types. I’d never been able to be a vegetarian with my restrictive diet, nor would I want to give up all animal protein. As we age, animal protein may be a great source of strength, muscle retention, and healing.
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| Commercial building along the highway. |
The feel of a breeze on our faces, the sounds of birds singing, the rustling of leaves on trees, the views of a sunrise or sunset, the smells and sounds of the ocean, a countryside scene, savoring the magnificence of wildlife. Above all, the joy of companionship and lively chatter with other humans sounds good to us.
Freedom. It’s all about freedom, which for us has been the foundation of our desire to travel the world. For now, it has been stripped away, as it has been for people from all over the world. In the future, will we experience that powerful sense of freedom we so much relished in the past? Only time will tell.
The more each of us commits to aid in reducing the spread of Covid-19, the sooner our freedom will be restored to enjoy our beautiful planet and all the treasures it has to offer.
Photo from one year ago today, June 15, 2019:
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| It was thrilling to see white sandy beaches with little to no debris in Connemara, Ireland. For more photos, please click here. |