Road Trip - Part One - COVID

I recently moved from Florida [back] to Los Angeles after 3 years in the sunshine state. Since I didn’t want to ship my car I decided to take a week long road trip across the country. 3 years ago, on my road trip out to Florida from Los Angeles, I decided to stop in all the major cities that I could. These included Las Vegas, Denver, Nashville, Atlanta, and others.

On the way back, I decided to stop in some of the smaller, off the beaten path kind of cities. These included Asheville (NC), Memphis (TN), Granbury (TX), Santa Fe (NM), and Flagstaff (AZ). The difference with this trip compared to the last trip was COVID-19… obviously. If things were already closed in the larger cities, the smaller cities were more or less deserted. No museums, no indoor restaurants, no rooftop bars, and definitely no walking in crowded areas.

It meant that yes, the things that were open never had lines; however, the typical rooftop bar hangouts or local cultural museums wasn’t an option. It also meant that a lot of time was spent wandering the less populated parts of the city, discovering the architecture, parks, and local spots that would have otherwise remained hidden. Obviously, traveling during this time is not recommended but if you have to move across the country in the middle of a pandemic, take a picnic blanket and sit out in a park. Take in the fresh air and slow your pace a little. Even after COVID is not at the top of all of our minds, whenever that may be, I hope we still hold on to some of the habits of slowing our pace. I know I won’t forget what it feels like to slow down.