Covid-19: Can’t travel ? But perfect timing!

How long will I last without being able to travel? It’s been already since early January 2020 that I came back from my wonderful 3 weeks trip in Australia.

Usually traveling every now and then, weekends or at least once a month. I am now stuck at home but not due to Covid-19, so I would rather say you are now stuck as me ;).

Positive aspects of this lockdown:

• I get to save more money (maybe then can I plan for my next bigger trip), to go somewhere like Antarctic, Groenland or Fidji and New Zealand..

• Go deeper in my financials and investments plannings.

• I get to rest and heal properly (being out of office and doing my best to disconnect from work). In order to handle this correctly I had removed all notifications (emails, work text etc). I know myself even in the hospital I was working a bit, until pain started to kick in.

• I am not in any rush (when was the last time I ever experienced that?)

• I get to cook more but I realized I bake too much and have no one to share the cakes, so I see myself eating quite a lot :/ [should do the one and only portion ;) ]

• Ranging areas in the kitchen I have barely looked into for years , finding food cans from 2015 :/ ... hopefully I didn’t get started with clothes and shoes because it would be a never ending moment leading to frustration rather than relaxing.

• Revisiting pictures and videos of old posts from where I went during this lockdown timeframe in the past years. Nice impressive memories ! Realizing I am/was doing crazy stuff abroad alone !

• I get to [try] to focus on things I had not enough time for : Meditation and mindfulness, reading, more Netflix, more NOTHING and more me.

• Doing nothing is the hardest for me. Although, guess I spent a good 20% of my time off doing nothing. It wasn't easy as I saw time passing by so quickly.. Drink tea, look up the ceiling, chill on the balcony (even installed a hammock), feel the air, relax, enjoying the sun and end the day with a home made spa : just myself by myself and for myself. Selfish ? That’s just the art of taking care of oneself.

• No need for makeup, dress up, just be you as simple as possible. [Free the boobs hahaha]. Listen to the body and mind in quiet.

• Build a puzzle, had one for 2 years never opened, it took me a full day to completed.

• Play online games like Uno, Scrabble and invite your friends to play together.

• Have virtual aperos with your friends and family

• Time to be grateful for what we have, for real. In a house, with a bed, food, tv, internet, lots books to read and a balcony I barely used in 5 years.

What next?

First, I had a foot operation on 27th February 2020, that if I haven’t done in time might actually had prevented me from being free to move anywhere anyway, affecting me daily. Also, if I had delayed it I would have been on lockdown from Covid19 and after for the operation .. let’s just say whole 2020 would have been screwed over :/

I am just starting walking again, after 6 weeks. Been on quarantine since then, anyway not able to move a toe at first so the whole situation is not a bad thing for me. I do not envy anybody else as we are all the same locked home. No feeling of missing out !

That Friday I had my first long walk, 2h30mins. The last 15mins I squeezed my teeth hard.

Preparing myself for a future trip as I would need strong legs and feet to explore the world again!

Once I get back on my feet and this Covid-19 is over, where shall I go?

I don’t want to be pessimistic but it seems it will take a while to resolve. Moreover, I wouldn't want to be the one bringing a disease to place that had no cases .. It would be unfortunate to be quarantined for 2 weeks after landing somewhere as I most probably only get 2 weeks off.

Pretty sure to still keep the distancing and hygiene on top, even if it’s over.

So it looks like this year there will be less country checks on the count, I will stay around at the most.. but let’s see how it goes! So, home sweet home... Most importantly let's be responsible.

Best for the planet, it seems to heal too, less pollution, more freedom for the wild nature. Bet, the earth needs a break of us for a moment... Share abundance of love to earth and people!

#StayHome

Skydive in paradise for the first time ...

Experience in AirlieBeach in Whitsundays - Australia

I have been thinking of doing it for a while. Now it's done and I am so proud!

15000 Feet (5 km) and ~300kmh speed !

I was so excited and still so scared all the way from the morning I woke up and realize the skydive was on my agenda. How did that even happen? At what point my common sense agreed to this? Anyway..

I kept full silence until I actually jumped out of the plane...

I mean you could talk to me I wasn't really paying attention or caring much, I was in my mind, in my state, in my "mood" , couldn’t show much of any expression. I guess I was terrified ...

Me being silence equals to : overthinking, maybe stress and excitement and obviously asking myself why the heck did I enroll in this ! I am not a « quitter » neither a loser, I said I will do it and I am here .. there is no way back. What else could happen up there in the sky? at some point I will get down right? If I have to cry or be scared it won’t last more than 10mins, so what’s 10min in a life time ?? Hmmm... sshhhhhh just shusshhhh.. breathe. Period.

My skydive being in the morning the appointment was at 10am ish to the center. We were asked to drop all our things (phone, bags etc ) all in the locker ...

Oh No so I can't snap a little in the plane :( , yeah can't do ! All recordings are handled by the team.

Team of 7 people were brought by bus to the plane meeting point. There was a room were we had to watch safety and security training videos. I can tell you I watched it 6 times. They are some requirements like, buckle up in the plane, the ideal positions you have to be when jumping out of the plane, arms close to your upper body and when jumping how your body should be in “banana” mode. Trust me the panic wouldn’t let me remember it all therefore I was scared of messing it up. Brain again ! What if I panic so much I grab the instructor hands and arms and we loose balance ! 😱🥺

Ten thousands questions in my head...

What if parachute does not open? What if I am cold up there ? What if I can't breathe ?? What if I pass out ? What if it hurts all the way like in the plane when it goes suddenly down.. What if ... Shuuuushhh !

Instead of appreciating the view and having time to contemplate.

So much useless stress for nothing ! By the time we reached the door 1, 2, we jumped. No time to think and process. Maybe even better so people don’t freak out and attempt to hold on the doors. I don’t even remember screaming...

Facing the sky above the clouds, feeling the air and hearing this huge noise, while the instructor is on your back you are the first to see it all. Its crazy. I just somehow relaxed, and after jumping realized it was not hurting me as I expected ! No pain in the stomach omg ok I can actually love this moment. My mind switched and was just loving the present moment then forcing myself to close my mouth firmly and breath with the nose normally (I didn’t want to appear on videos with a big open mouth full of air looking like nonsense).

An incredible feeling and satisfaction while being in the air and free falling. I loved it and would do it again! So much speed so much WooooW!

When the parachute opens you suddenly go up but it doesn’t hurt it’s not unpleasant. After a while he asked me to control it, so I was moving it to the left and the right following the wind and that was so cool!

I am more scared of amusement parks with their up & down rides than this, now I know. It’s nothing like it. Nothing compare to this experience!

Whatever the price, get. This is a memory you need to keep on record, worth every penny.

Watching the videos brings up my heart beat over and over again ! It's insane!

Yoga Retreat : 6 days to restore !

Taking care of myself...

I decided to go on a yoga & meditation retreat in Mallorca. I had never been there before, I was not planning to spend time on sightseeing. Moreover, I have never booked such trips before.

Sometimes you just have to listen to your body (or to your close friend ;) )!

So, my main objective was to do nothing: no emails, no phone, no work, no social media, meet nobody... total disconnect. Just eat, walk, Yoga & Meditation, watch and listen around. No further plans...

Turned out to be quite an amazing retreat!

That view from my balcony room ...

The weather was fabulous, chilly mornings before 9am and between 24-28 degrees in the afternoon and heating quite fast. First, my accommodation was fantastic I could not have expected more!

A beautiful beach view, and listening to the waves before I sleep and in the morning. Time for reading, chilling and contemplate. Having a rest of mind I did not have for a while.

A clear program :

Enjoying yoga on the beaches (that was quite hard because the sand kind of hurts my hands a little), guided meditation with the coach, some chakra reading, shamanic cleansing ritual, paddle boarding, biking along the coast and swimming in the sea..

I came back fully energized, happy, much relaxed ... A new Me or could it be just the best of myself ?

Anyway... I should do that more often.

It's important to give ourselves time to feel refreshed, renewed, re-inspired and deeply rested in a peace and serene location. Mallorca and the setup did it well for me.