Prolonged lockdown sucks and you feel something isn’t working right. It keeps affecting the overall general health. The D’Souza family has started to feel sick staying indoors. They did not venture out, lest the Corona virus takes over.
The racing spell of doom :
News of infection and death is pouring in. The digital Covid-19 monitoring app is sending scary feedback on rising cases as days passed by. They have cancelled an Italian vacation this summer and that was the worst thing to do, but then inviting Covid-19 was a stubborn suicidal choice. Sanitization and six-feet social distancing sound okay but the sense of safety does little to outweigh the foregone bliss from the touch of green outdoors.
Nature has had enough of it, silently bearing with the assault, time to exact a counter-blow has come.But science is not sitting quiet either and battle lines are drawn, this virus shouldn’t be allowed any elbow space. The concept of lockdown is a convincing war strategy bringing life to a halt and putting as much space as feasible between men. But there is a limit beyond which you cannot accept a growing void, complete isolation from the natural habitat is unpleasant. The home is not your natural habitat it offers you immediate shelter at the best. It makes for a cozy living, its feel is absorbed in your bones. But you need something more to function and respond . Your true connection lies in the free elements of air, earth, rain and sun, the cosmic matter that make you whole.
On a lookout for a break within the realms of safe travel :
Peter, the younger son of the D’ Souza’s has been hitting the console that set him on an instant cruise on the chalky waters of river Apurimac, falling into the mighty Amazon. The tide was licking the forested banks , a part of the forest fed to a recent man made bush fire though. Civilization never stops , it’s appetite for expansion is hardwired to a future. A future that holds prospects hiding commercial exploits that goes with it. Concrete and steel based progress is conventionally an indicator of power and wealth. Here minor difficulties of the plant and animal kingdom could be written off as a negligible collateral damage. Losses necessary to fuel a swift modernization.
Existence of primitive cultures within geographical boundaries is still a cause of embarrassment to be expunged. The forest goes and together with it goes all stone age stuff.
Peter has adjusted the virtual reality headset for a better response to a simulated world of jaguars,caimans and boas . They ruled the land and water. Paths sometimes crossed and in whose favor the end of food chain points is an open game.
A mist hung blurring visibility. It was vaporized by the sun that was getting stronger by the hours . Stubs of vegetation bobbed in water and decaying leaves spun in eddies and got washed away to the muddy banks. Stubs sometimes cheated, it confused you between a dead wood and a caiman head. But the mistake can be expensive when panic and pain strike together and it is too late. It is a mysterious world of towering palms and hardwoods, of ferns and creepers, of curare and poisonous tree frogs.
Amazon had been famous for these and Peter had always been fascinated by the rainforest inspired movies. Navigation along unexplored waters has kept his nerves taut to a vicious world of survival of the fittest. Here loss of touch with reality could mean death. The best part of it is : Peter is surfing through his world of fantasy from within the safe confines of a staycation hardly a few hours drive from his neighborhood. The boy is glued to the screen , elated and going on a high drive that showered him with an adrenaline wash. The virtual world in front of him was dynamic and thrilling. It was beautiful and dangerous and looked barely different from the real forest. The computer created virtual cruise was every inch an exact replica of his coveted world .
Online travel and rising popularity of staycations :
Globetrotters are now going online, booking a trip and doing all of it without risking human contact. Staycations aren’t really a new version of travel option but incidentally they provide Covid-19 free vacations. Virtual travel fitments inside a staycation is a bonus that you need to see with your own eyes. Flight of fancy takes you places from your backyard to the Eiffel Tower. From Madagascar to Moscow and from Brazil to Bulawayo, the thrill of travel is as good as real without having to do the physical act of traveling ! The entire exercise is digitized for which you need not be a tech savvy. Weird it may sound this is the most trendy travel option and particularly suits a travel buff in these trying times !
The need to unwind and recharge your batteries :
Leisure and well-being have a linear relationship. You need to take breaks between intervals of work and life. A fortnight off doesn’t make good working half the year non stop . You do not make an inventory of composure by doing that. Rather, hard work alternated by restorative chilling out keeps you fit and fighting.
Are virtual tours the probable solution?
Virtually guided tours are available on the net with wonderful experiences of domestic and international travel. They are the spoilers and pretty much entertaining, you literally get addicted . The span of the trips lasts for an hour and beyond. They are fairly pocket friendly costing around few dollars per guest per hour with the obvious logic of rental being a function of pleasure time spent. On the domestic travel plans you get to visit iconic monuments and architectural masterpieces. The choices are wide and you can even go surfing unique landscapes and ocean front beaches. International travel choices are pricier. Then again, what more to expect, shouldn’t guaranteed safety come at a price? Time spent and grey cells engaged designing a real life travel model on a virtual mode are deserving endeavors . They are the new route to globetrotting keeping a safe distance from human contact.
The D’ Souza family has opted for a brief staycation experience. The lost Italian vacation was an upset that should be restored and staycation was a possible substitute.
With pandemic let loose , popularity of staycations and virtual travel have peaked. Internet based players have jumped in bringing safe travel to your doorstep. Online travel portals have introduced exciting photos and video uploads and you have a ball on the web. Together with interactive sessions , virtual tours are a replacement for real ones eliminating infection risk. Many staycations have made changes in room distribution, the concept of sharing common space is becoming obsolete. Furniture are sanitized and lounge and restaurants never left crowded. Sincere effort is visible to contain transmission and keep guests secured by social isolation. You are physically marooned but your preferences are heard and answered.
Stacaytions finding an edge over vacations :
While we talk about picking up our backpacks under current circumstances, vacations seem too expensive. Deciding between staycation and vacations, the weight would shift towards the former. Vacations are normally faraway places and no one is ready to take a chance. They are lavish indulgences in the face of pandemic induced financial landslides. Staycations are way cheaper, you find them close to your neighborhood saving you car and aviation fuel. The exciting features of a trip abroad are replicated here and staycations are well researched. Handpicked talents from the landscaping and wellness industry make staycations a dream holiday. The journey is more on an inner plane, recharging your system that has turned logy from lockdown fatigue.
Airbnb all set to expand service :
Currently a good news from Airbnb India is doing the rounds. Pandemic has automatically forced a break from existing tourist arrangements to offset the feel of social quarantine. Guests share moments with celebrities online. They include movie stars and public figures. You get an opportunity to interact with them, learn about their personal experiences, participate in workout sessions and get a tutorial on creative spaces they have a say in. Airbnb bookings have seen over 50 % rise in May compared to what it had been in February this year. The badly damaged tourism industry is holding on to this silver lining to bounce back with some hope.
Can you compare virtual travel with real joys of actual travel ? The entire concept may look like a trickery. Laboratory meat trying to outsmart taste of lambs fattened on pastures ! On the first go this is the impression no doubt.
Mental and physical wellness is born inside your core. Meditation is a case in point, you can achieve it right at your terrace taking sometime to explore inside. You need not travel to the Himalayas . Your garden can be that place, especially in times when venturing out together with a team is fatal. The concept of staycation is modeled on this, your inner sojourn along a known platform with some great space .
Staycation ideas had been in vogue for quite sometime . It saves travel expenses without compromising with the benefits . Spike in infection has pushed its appeal further to a point where people reach a dead heat. Travel desire is not discounted as is the dread of the virus. But long distance travel is still a far cry. Setting up a camp in your garden and spending quality time in the lap of nature can even be the holy grail. A change of scene from custody of your residence.
Traveling back in memory can be therapeutic . Revisiting beautiful places that you have already been brings in a rush of ‘ feel good ‘ hormone. The concept of virtual travel is founded on this premise. It has also gone lengths helping people learn skills and turn productive. Culinary art is brought online and you are coached in mastering tricks of gourmet delicacies. Virtual reading clubs , art and craft projects, bonsai gardening and a host of tutorials are available . They pump your creative juice.
Staycation destinations are normally close by. A search on the internet can help you locate one. The pandemic cycle has brought in a new breed of travelers who look for going short distances to safe destinations. Here they have a significant hold on the reins of environment. Places with small crowds and accessible by cars are ideal tour sites. This should revive the local economy which has taken a hit by Covid19 caused unemployment.
You can have a campfire or a backyard barbecue . You spend a part of the day setting up your tent in the most fanciful way you can think of. Staycation tips include touring with responsibility and causing minimal environmental impact. Pictures of a dream vacation may find a different canvas each time but certain mandates remain stable. Staycation tips emphasize on the topmost priorities of health and sanitation: that you wear a mask, observe man to man distancing and embalm yourself with a thorough wash of sanitizer. There is no compromise here !
You need a break from the daily grind , from regular work pressure and commitments. Here lies the access to mental wellness and exactly where this stress buster shows its face is not known. The mechanism works within your system .
Location of your physical presence is not important. Being in Timbouctou or at your balcony hardly make a difference. It is all in that little space inside your head serving as a highway along which the feel-good juices work . To make a long story short, pandemic is never an issue in case you are genuinely driven by a quest . A desire to explore the rim of your fancy that is tailored to offering an escape. A virtual flight from long confinement to realms of mental happiness that is very real and rewarding.
The virtual trips are real enough to play with emotions :
Meanwhile Peter’s virtual steamer navigated a narrow channel. They sailed past a village. Folks were busy in manioc fields, both men and women were working hard and some of the females carried babies on their back. The emerald forest loomed in the background and all on a sudden the peaceful atmosphere had an intruder. A logging harvester had pulled up, the crew jumped out of the equipment. They came up to the village chief and shouted orders to vacate. The machine was set rolling,feed rollers held the trunks in grip and long blades scythed through . Trees fell like fallen soldiers. A tree crashed right on a pig pen, there was wail and death. The chief watched helplessly. Tears rolled and tears dried . Kids ran in fright and adults had already resigned to fate. Timbers will be stockpiled, sold and stumps set on fire. The last traces of their civilization would soon be in ash . Concrete and steel would be the possible replacements, the new normal for the survivors of the inferno.
A drop of tear fell on the console button, the monitor screen went hazy and there was a call for dinner. Peter rubbed his eyes and unwillingly answered. He was no longer feeling hungry.
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