After my initial efforts at sharing some of my musings and activities during this unique time seem to have been fairly well received, I thought it timely to capture some more of my recent thoughts as we start to move towards perhaps a new normal and a different way of doing things that have become our habits for such a long time.
As I mentioned last time, being in lockdown, like many of you that I have spoken with, has given me a welcome opportunity to reflect on things that I have not always had or made enough time for in my life. I love the outdoors and having always lived locally, Epping Forest has been my playground for many years.
In “normal circumstances” I would get my daily fix from either walking, cycling or running in the forest but during this “pause” and with the recent beautiful weather, I have loved making time to experience exploring it further and found it extremely therapeutic too.
I think Polly must now be one of the fittest 11 year-old (nearly 80 in human years) dogs in the area!
Another thing I have observed on my daily jaunts is the huge increase in people, especially families, all enjoying this beautiful outdoor space - walking, jogging, cycling, picnicking and embracing what previously may well have been taken for granted or simply ignored due to our busy lifestyles.
It is refreshing to see how much fun families can have together without the aid of screens or devices and strengthens my belief that with the changes we have all made to our lives during this period that more activity-based holidays will be sought in times ahead.
As confidence returns, I have no doubt that there will be many people just like me, itching to get away, and that demand for holiday experiences that include walking, trekking, cycling, canal boating and sailing will increase greatly.
I believe we will also see a huge growth in requests for road trip experiences in motorhomes and having personally experienced this, both in the UK and overseas, I can highly recommend it.
I am also sure that inter-generational family and friendship group holidays will be eagerly anticipated, especially those in self-catering villas. At Abbotts Travel, we are fortunate to have fantastic partners specialising in these areas that will enable us to provide exciting solutions.
In the meantime, I hope that the hairdressers are not too far behind the businesses like ours that are able to gradually start re-opening. I think I need help!
I hope to start seeing you all again soon.
Stay safe,
Julian