Do you miss travel?

Perhaps one day soon, we will look back in wonder at a time that we could not travel. It is not impossible but it is difficult, especially here in NZ, where when in NZ life is pretty normal, no lockdowns, few people in masks, but travel outside of the country is very problematic.

It has made me miss Thailand even more, knowing even if I wanted to I could not travel there. I miss street food, the vibrancy and colour, the sounds and smells, sometimes even the Bangkok traffic. The traffic very briefly. Trying to get home in the evening was not pleasant, I lived in Ramkhamhaeng, and it was always busy. But now they have the Pink Line so maybe it would be easier ( Pink Line is an underground train route, all the undergrounds are colour denominated, orange, red etc)

But most of all I miss friends, friends from all ages, who were so welcoming and kind. It is hard knowing that right now they are in lockdown, that the Delta variant is causing sickness and deaths, that the health system is overloaded. Friends who are waiting for a vaccine but still have to travel to work each day in trains full of people. Friends who have family members sick or in hospital. Friends who have lost jobs or businesses over the last 12 months.

Thailand is not the only place this has happened, others have had it worse. But knowing people going through it is difficult, especially as there is nothing I can do to help them. Saying keep safe is about all I can do, That and continuing to buy products from them, so that at least they have some income. 

I have always enjoyed the sense of being able to help people I knew with what I was doing. Right now, that seems to be even more the case.