Then corona happened.

Today I was supposed to fly to America for my cousin’s wedding. My husband and I were doing a road trip across California, Arizona and Nevada arriving in time for the wedding in Vegas.

Then corona happened.

It feels selfish to be sad about losing my holiday. People have lost their jobs, businesses and lives because of this virus. But I am, I’m sad.

Travelling means a lot to me. I like to explore new cultures, understand other peoples way of life, see a world that is not like my own. I think it makes me a better person. I understand more. I am more empathetic. More inquisitive. Travel has broadened my world view. It hasn’t, however, changed the fact that I feel sad about my first world problems, like having to cancel my holiday.

I don’t think any of us imagined that this is what 2020 would be like. I saw my business growing, not shrinking. I saw multiple overseas holidays, not being in lock-down with the borders closed. I was going to weddings, birthdays, parties, BBQs, and now I am doing puzzles at home.

Corona has changed the way we are experiencing life, and I have spent a lot of time this month (because all we have is time) thinking about what life will be like after this.

Will we be a more understanding, more caring society?

Or will we be more self-centred having spent too much time on our own, looking after our own needs.

Will we be able to travel in the same way? Or can we do it in a more sustainable way.

Shop in the same way? Or will we learn that we don’t need all of the ‘things’ that were suddenly unavailable during the lock-down.

I have spent time thinking about how the government will engage services when this is all over. Will government procurement change to make it more flexible and accessible to allow departments to be innovative and responsive?

Will the new focus on ‘shop local’, helping small business to survive, extend to services provided to government? Will the government be more open to working with the smaller players rather than just engaging big providers?

All of my thinking has really just led to more questions. I think the biggest one for me is: Will this change anything at all? Or once this is all over, do we go back to the way things were.

I think it’s ok to be sad. We have all lost something big or small. But I also think this is an opportunity for us to stop and think about what world we want to live in once all of this is over.