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What do you miss most about our new life in lockdown? For me it’s NEWNESS. I miss going somewhere new, somewhere I’ve never been before, eating foods I’ve never tried, and meeting and discovering things about new people.
As a strategy to get me through the tedium of lockdown life, I’ve actually been giving a lot of thought to the specific things I want to do once life is back to normal. It helps me to stay positive and it gives me something to look forward to.
Here are a few of the things I want to do once the dreaded virus is under control:
Go to Istanbul
I actually had a trip to Istanbul planned for May last year, a solo trip to celebrate my birthday. As much as I love family holidays, I really enjoy the challenge of travelling alone and especially to somewhere busy and vibrant like Istanbul. I was going to do a walking food tour with a local guide, and would have been able to say I’d travelled alone to Europe AND Asia!
Eat in new restaurants
Eating out is one of my very favourite things, and although I made the most of the whole ‘eat out to help out‘ thing back in the summer, that was all places in my local area that I’d been to before. I am SO looking forward to discovering new restaurants with my family and, most importantly, eating food that I’ve not had to cook myself and don’t have to wash up! Click here to discover new places to eat with Square Meal.
Bump into people
And by that I mean actually, physically bump into people. I want to be in a crowded room with friends and have to squeeze past someone to get to the buffet table. I want to be standing in a queue and for a stranger to put his hand in the small of my back as he brushes past me. It’s amazing what things can feel exciting when you haven’t done them for a long time.
Go to the theatre
I want to take my daughter Belle to London for a whole weekend and watch back to back musicals. I want the foyer to be so crowded that I bring my own wine in a mini bottle in my handbag. I want live music and singing and dancing and to have to listen to people say ‘excuse me I think that’s my seat’, and then you have to stand up and let them past. I want noise and hustle and bustle and drama.
Fall in love
Okay, so this one might be ambitious, but I can say from experience that dating during lockdown is RUBBISH. I actually had a relationship break up in the middle of last year, and I’m not entirely sure we would have broken up in a normal year. I’ve dabbled in online dating since then, but options are limited. I’ve had three dates in total and every single one of them has been a walk in the park in the rain. Not sexy times.
So those are just a few of the things I’m looking forward to doing after lockdown. How about you?