It's going to be very different travel

 

My sabbatical is going to be very different from travel as I've experienced it in the past.    While I fully expect to have a great time, and am very much looking forward to it, I know that it will be a different experience.  These are some of the things I am considering. 

• I'll be wearing a mask a LOT.   While I expect to be able to ditch it when outside, at least most of the time, and when sleeping, the truth is I'll be required to mask up when I visit the sights I'll visit, when I travel on a plane or a train, and when I'm around people in general.  I'm going to carry a whole bunch of KN95 masks with me, in addition to a dozen or so homemade ones.   
• I may not be eating out the same way.   Restaurants might not be serving for in house consumption, or even be open!   I anticipate lots of takeout and more meals out of grocery stores.  It will be harder to take my brother and his family out for dinner when I pass through Hamburg.   There will be no friends made because we ended up sitting together at a table in a restaurant, or sharing a drink in a pub.   I won't be spending evenings listening to local music in a nightspot (although I might be able to do this for outdoor concerts.)
• I will take lots of Covid tests.  I'll need one for every flight, I'll need extra ones in Scotland and Israel (unless guidelines change.)
• My vaccination certificate will get some use.  good thing I had it laminated, and immediately stuck it in my passport. 
• Hostels might not be an option, with their large bunk rooms.   So lodging might be quite expensive.  Likewise, I might do a lot more camping.  Almost certainly I will camp most of the nights of the Jesus Trail walk.   I'm likewise not sure about the overnight ferries to Patmos.    I may end up sleeping some nights in KN95 masks, who knows.   It will be strange.
  
• As I said earlier, I'll be skipping 3 sights that I had planned on:  Scrooby in England and Leiden in the Netherlands, where the heritage of the UCC from the Pilgrims come from, and Malta, where Paul was shipwrecked.   The extra work necessary to go to these places is not worth the 24 to 48 hours planned to spend in them.   
• And I'll just regularly need to worry about taking care, everywhere, always.  Not just for my own sake, but also for the sake of others around us. 
• Not to mention, the necessity of quarantining upon coming home. 

Lots of changes, but still an experience that I look forward to!    Next blog post:  gear updates!