I am really happy that my blog is back. Since the end of 2018 it was offline. After the birth of our daughter Juno I didn’t have time to take care of it, especially since there were some technical challenges to solve. In the meantime Juno is one and a half years old and things look different again. I’m back – as a blogger with family. We got Juno used to traveling early on. She has already spent almost 4 months abroad. But now we are in the middle of the corona crisis, or more precisely at the beginning of the pandemic, and long distance travel is taboo for the time being. In this article I would like to give you an update on how we are doing as a family in these times, how we live our daily lives – I deliberately don’t say “cope” because that’s too negative for me. How do we manage to continue the lifestyle of our choice despite great restrictions? We love exploring a lot of places.
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Revival of the travel blog in Covid-19 times?
Hiddentraces is not only about traveling to distant destinations, even though we have done a lot of that over the last few years. It’s about (re)discovery and deep immersion, no matter how far away the places are. As long as you don’t live in a place where there is a strict curfew or where it is only allowed to go up to 100 meters from the house, you have plenty of opportunities to discover things, even if many places are still closed. There is so much more! You can be sure that I am acting responsibly, because we take Covid-19 and the measures seriously and stick to the rules. Another aspect is that already now many people dream of traveling. They are making plans for the time after the crisis. A travel blog is always good for ideas and inspiration.
How we live our everyday life now
My husband Chris and I both work full-time. Before the corona crisis, our daughter went to daycare full-time. Three days I worked in the office, two days in the home office. So working from home is not entirely new for me. Since the daycare centers in Bavaria have closed, Chris and I have been working completely from the home office and Juno is at home with us. That’s a certain challenge, but since we are two parents, we manage the daily routine quite well. As far as we can influence it, we try to avoid having meetings at the same time if possible. Juno has a playpen and generally seems comfortable with playing on her own at certain times. When she’s not in the mood to pull the DSL cable (help!), she’s also allowed to crawl around. Even though we are busy, it is still very nice to be together as a family all day and to get to know more about each other’s lives. To keep the energy level high, I take little virtual yoga breaks with office colleagues from time to time. The transition after the end of the working day is made possible by a change of location: We live near the city limits of Munich and every evening we go for an extensive and sporty walk out into the countryside. Afterwards we have dinner and before going to sleep I practice Yoga Nidra meditation, which makes me sleep deeply. Sometimes the days are already exhausting and I am often tired in the evening. But these measures help me to recharge my batteries and feel fit for the challenging situation the next morning.
Is it really a life without travel?
For the Moment, the Germans are asked not travel. Staying in hotels or holiday homes is not allowed. People from Bavaria should not go to busy daytrip destinations such as the famous lakes south of Munich or popular hiking trails in the Alps. We would not want to do that. Neither do we want to contribute to the rapid spread of the virus, nor do we want to get infected. Therefore we look for trails in the country, which are not overcrowded. I find them with the help of hiking maps. We head for parking lots that are not located in larger villages, because there it can be difficult to avoid people. Since we are currently outdoors every day, we have discovered an incredible amount of new things in the last few weeks: Forest paths, enchanting farms, picnic areas without people, picturesque spots with a view of the Alps, reed-covered ponds, romantic sunset spots and much more. All places which are relatively close to us and which I would probably never have seen under normal circumstances. At the weekends we go for longer hikes. In a certain way I continue with my life of traveling and exploring, which is so important to me – only in a different way: slow instead of fast.
Deceleration of life?
For many people, the corona crisis, despite its horror, has led to a deceleration of everyday life. I can’t say that in our case, because we have to cope with the double burden of work and childcare at home, but the way of our mobility has become slow. We move around in places of relative proximity. We meet crowds of people only when we buy food. In the evenings, instead of full subways and traffic jams, we now experience the smell of the forest and the chirping of birds and sometimes a sunset with the Alps in the background. It doesn’t feel that bad.
Exploring nature with Juno
What of this time do we want to keep?
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