When I decided to sign up for this year’s NaBloPoMo -ish exercise coordinated by my blogger friend Melisa, I thought about updating the photo header for the blog. After all, I had set this blog up in 2016, when I was on my break from full time work and thought that beautiful photo taken in Florence during our May 2016 trip with friends, was a reflection of a new attitude on life. To take the time to enjoy the view; to not stress about life, focus on the family, pause to really embrace travel experiences without the nagging sense of commitments at the office…

But here we are today. At this particular moment in time, November 2020, during the 2nd wave of a global pandemic, we are not able to experience any travel. We are stuck.

I used to complain about all the travel I did with work. Being away almost 40% of my time for work, to Europe and across Canada, was not easy with school aged kids. This was compounded by the travel that my husband did as well. But travel for work certainly had its perks. Many of my answers for those facebook “where have you been” quizzes, were a result of work travel. Denmark, Sweden, England, Ireland, Germany, France, Portugal, US, Bahamas … I look back and they were really great experiences. Especially since I was on my own – I love my family, but outside of the long days of meetings, there was usually opportunity to see some of the local flavour whether it be food or culture, and sometimes sights. I was never really good at taking extra time, though, always in a rush to get home to family.

We would also try to take a couple of family trips a year. Our last trip was to Boston in 2019 and it was not the smoothest. These kids are bigger people now, interests differing – they don’t always want to hang out with the parental units even when we are paying for food. We discussed that the next trip we would need to get two rooms – sharing is no longer an option. The kids want their privacy – yeah, they want their privacy and to get away from snoring parents. What we wouldn’t give to be able to travel like that now.

When I decided to look for work in 2019, I was fortunate to be able to have the option to look for something on my own terms. I landed a role that was 100% remote work from home, with travel to head office in Washington state as frequently as I felt necessary. I was looking forward to that flexibility, to be able to visit the Pacific west coast for a change. I made it there three times before we went into lockdown five months in. Now everyone is working from home. I anticipate I will get back there again, but the big question is when.

So for now, I will think about what to do with the look of the blog. Like life, it probably needs a change. But I could do with another dose of Tuscany just about now.