While 2020 and 2021 were certainly the years of shutdowns, virtual gatherings, and hunkering down, 2022 seemed to be the year when we were all eager to shed those constraints and become social beings once more. Thanks to covid vaccines and boosters, we felt more protected and embraced the chance to gather, travel, and to explore.
I was one of those people. Some weekends spent away helped us to ease back into the traveling frame-of-mind. Then we planned some bigger trips. A week in the spring in Washington DC, where we booked tickets to a performance at the Kennedy Center, along with a schedule packed with museums and monuments. I traveled for a week-long Summer Teacher Institute. And we booked a fall trip back home to New England to visit family and see the autumn foliage.
Like most people who traveled in 2022, not much went as planned. Delayed and cancelled flights were the norm. Crowds, lines, and under staffed venues were typical and expected. Short tempers, bad moods, and disappointments impacted fellow travelers’ interactions with each other. All things considered, we began to rethink our urge to travel. I even began to yearn for those days of avoiding crowds. After the trips of last year, I am finding much more comfort in staying home.
Not isolation. Not lock downs. But focusing on my home and the people in my life. Having friends over for an impromptu Happy Hour. Spending time gardening and cooking. Taking a long walk and chatting with the neighbors. Hosting dinner parties, Sunday morning brunches, and family BBQs.
If, as the saying goes, Traveling is an investment in yourself, so is staying at home. Investing time in passions and pursuits, as well as time to relax and reflect. With the costs of traveling climbing so much, staying home more can certainly help to relieve some economic stresses. Financial resources could be used for home projects that bring daily joy. Supporting that “nesting instinct”.
While I am certainly not going to ban traveling from my life, I am currently in a place where I am not going to be seeking it out. For me, 2023 may be the Year of Staying Home More.
