Items

• 2020-09

  Yosemite COVID Camping

  Living in San Diego at the time, once travel restrictions were lifted, I went to Yosemite National Park as I thought being in an outdoor open-air environment would mean less COVID-19 restrictions. As an avid backpacker and nature enthusiast, I could not wait for the national parks to reopen so once Yosemite opened its proverbial doors I jumped on the opportunity, as I had never been there before. My memories of the trip are very fond ones. I remember the emptiness throughout the park. One of the COVID restrictions implemented by the park was the limitation of people who could enter on a daily basis. Due to this finite number of visitors, and me being one of them, this made the park feel fairly empty, which was amazing. Not having congested trails and camps made my trip seem like I was in some remote forest, vice one of the most famous national parks. So, besides the stunning views and crisp air, one of my primary memories is the feeling of seclusion throughout my time due to COVID-19 entrance restrictions. Also, I remember a lack of masks and overall COVID-19 consciousness throughout the park. Even though the park had a mandatory mask policy, I remember not seeing many masked people. I honestly thought the mask restriction was overkill due to the already implemented restrictions and being outside, but I did notice we all would use masks if coming near other people on trails. Yosemite still had several COVID-19 restrictions implemented throughout the part. Aside from the aforementioned entrance cap and masks, all their restaurants, hotels and general facilities remained closed. Also, they spaced out the campsites, so each camp had at least one camp space between them, limiting the sharing of space. They even closed specific trails due to the lack of workers at any given time. The park employees were few and far in-between due to a COVID-19 restriction, which meant less accessible trails since they would not supervise them all with such limited manpower. Besides that, the COVID-19 restrictions were not abundant, which was likely a product of the open-air environment.
• 2020-06-18

  Florida to California

  In June 2020, I had to drive from Florida to Northern California for a new job. I didn't fly for fear of Covid and I had a car to move. The journey took me 5 days. The first day was from Tampa Florida to Mobile Alabama, the second day was from Mobile Alabama to Dallas Texas. The third day was from Dallas Texas to Albuquerque New Mexico. The forth day from Albuquerque to Cedar City Utah where my sister lives. Finally from Cedar City Utah to Truckee California. Before the trip I had isolated myself for fear of getting sick while travelling which I feared greatly. My general approach was to eat breakfast at the hotel, get lunch in a drive through, and have uber eats deliver food to my hotel for dinner. Along the journey it was interesting to see how strict the rules were depended greatly on where you were. In Texas I stopped at a donut shop for coffee and found a large group of elderly men sitting around drinking coffee and eating donuts without a single mask to be found. This group was clearly not concerned about Covid. However, when i drove through Navajo country in Arizona, the rules were very strict and only drive through food options was available and I had difficulty finding an open bathroom in the entire area as no gas station or restaurant was allowing people inside. I also remember listening to E Street Radio on satellite radio and Bruce Springsteen was reading the obituaries of people who had died. I remember that being a striking moment throughout all of this.
• 
  2021-09-16

  Hotel California & Casa Bonita

  My spouse and I love road trips and concerts. Covid definitely slowed us down! In the summer of 2021, we decided to take a road trip culminating in a concert in Denver, Colorado. Which concert? The Eagles - Hotel California! We drove and camped through Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. In Denver, we toured the famous restaurant Casa Bonita and went to the concert. For the concert, everyone needed a vaccination card and masks were required (although not widely worn). It was fun and felt a little like back-to-normal. We had a great time!
• 2023-10-11

  2023: Reflections on travel post-Covid19

  We could not travel during the pandemic, but even going to see family near us was a challenge. For the length of the pandemic, I didn't visit my grandparents who lived only an hour away. Being from the family I am, travel is not something we do often due to the expense. If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would pick Australia so I could go to its infamous coastlines. I would like to see the Great Barrier Reef and maybe go on tours about the conservation of our oceans. I would like to take a surfing class and look like a complete tourist as I do so. I'd go to Australia for the water. I used to be someone who needed to take many pictures to "remember" my exploits. However, I learned I spent more time on my phone than in the place I visited. I don't take pictures on vacation anymore; I leave that to my sister and mother. Instead, I try to remember the five senses as I experience the world around me. I have nothing against documenting your trips, but aside from keeping ticket stubs and sunburns, I don't make lasting documentation except in my memory.
• 
  2021-03-12

  Philadelphia Trip Covid Combat Corner

  The pandemic was a very depressing time of limited activity that divided many by political responses. March 2020 is when the U.S. responded with stay at home responses followed by social distancing and testing. A year later in that same month of March, I was cornering my teammate for his fight for Cage Fury Fighting Championship in Philadelphia where some COVID measures still existed such as masks that we utilized on the plane and even during the warm up of the fight. Tests were required that had a swab impaled up our noses, but in hindsight it was a great experience especially as a historian where I toured many historical sites such as Benjamin Franklin's grave.
• 2021-12-22

  Charleston, South Carolina 2021 Christmas Trip

  After COVID travel restrictions were lifted, my family and I seized the opportunity to visit Charleston, South Carolina to spend Christmas with my cousins. Despite the chill of December, we were able to explore the historic town at our leisure. While some shops remained open, their hours were adjusted due to the holiday season and COVID precautions. Similarly, many restaurants offered a limited menu, which disappointed my sister and me as we are both picky eaters. During our visit, we made sure to visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, a renowned historic house with beautiful gardens and one of the oldest plantations in the South. However, due to COVID, several attractions within the plantation were closed. It was also mandatory that we follow the necessary safety measures by wearing masks around other groups of people and inside the gift shop. Despite the limitations imposed by COVID, my time in Charleston was truly wonderful. I had the opportunity to immerse myself in the city's rich history, even if I couldn't fully explore all the places and shops as I had hoped. But most importantly, I cherished the moments spent with my family during this special holiday trip.
• 2023-10-11

  Return to the Big Island

  I was stationed in Hawaii with the Army for 3 years. Due to regulations, I was not able to participate in the many hunting and fishing opportunities that can be found there. I was discharged in 2020 just before the pandemic really started. I spent most of 2020 fighting my state for unemployment benefits and looking for a job. I did not travel during the pandemic and only afterwards for work. I want to some day get back to Hawaii and enjoy those missed opportunities. Unfortunately, I think it will be a long time before I am financially stable enough to travel.
• 
  2022-05-14

  Dealing with COVID in Israel two weeks after the lifting of the travel ban

  This story relates the issues my wife and I had in dealing with Covid restrictions on a trip to Israel, just two weeks after the travel ban had been lifted. The story has no great significance except, perhaps as an example of "life is irony." While the story itself is trivial and meant to be amusing, I do share it here with a profound sense of sadness over the recent Hamas attacks and their consequences.
• 2020-05-07

  Pandemic Creates a Crowd at the Animal Sanctuary

  The pandemic lockdown ended, and businesses were opening up. There was still a sense of caution in the air. Masks and social distancing were still enforced. Still, travel started to boom again. People were going on trips by car, train, boat, and airplane. I traveled to William, Arizona. I had driven two and a half hours from Mesa, Arizona. The travel wasn’t hectic or riddled with traffic. I had made great timing. The scenery was beautiful. Went up the mountain and saw green everywhere. It was a nice change since I live in the desert. My family and I hopped in the car and headed off on an adventure. In Williams, a small little town was an animal sanctuary that I journeyed to. There were a diverse sort of species: wolves, bears, bison, mountain goats, and deer. It seemed to be an exciting trip. Bearizona’s park had a drive-through section, where I was able to drive to each habitat in my own car. The plus side was I didn’t have to worry about exposure to other people. I felt safe in my car. It had seemed that everyone had the same idea to come to Bearizona. There were long lines inside the park and where I drove through the habitats. There were times that I was at a complete stop for several minutes. It appeared that the animals didn’t like all the chaos in their homes. There were people honking their horns, yelling, and rolling down their windows when that was not allowed. I sat still and waited until I could move on. The animals started blocking the entrances and jumping up on cars. They were revolted, this made other drivers laugh and roll down their windows and take pictures. There was even a little girl standing up out of the car's sunroof. The whole experience was awful. I was not happy with the crowds. I understand that since Bearizona was a safer experience than being in a crowd walking through the zoo. I didn’t take pictures or buy souvenirs. I simply drove off in my call and headed back down the mountain. I reflect on this experience about how people were starved to travel, and stuck at home. When the lockdown ended everyone wanted to get out of their houses and go anywhere. We are used to going where we want when we want, but at the start of the pandemic life had changed for us all.
• 
  2022-10-01

  Chan Yak Ja Pbai (I Want To Leave)

  Unfortunately, I have not been able to travel since the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. The last two years of my undergraduate were affected by the pandemic, and initially, I was planning to study abroad during my senior year. Unfortunately, that was not possible and I was barely able to complete my student teaching placement for my Secondary Education Minor as the program was constantly under revision to ensure student safety. Now, as a graduate student, if I could go anywhere it would easily be Thailand as that is where my personal historical focus is. While my Thai is far from fluent, I have been steadily learning the language for about a year now as I hope to have an opportunity to complete an extended stay for scholarly or leisurely purposes. In terms of specifics, I would first like to travel to Chiang Rai, Sukhothai, or across Isan as Northern and Eastern Thailand have some of the richest historical and cultural sites, combined with the fact that individuals who I am very close to are from these areas as well. I have worked part-time at a Thai restaurant in Houston for a significant amount of time which helps considerably with practicing the language. As I am one of the only foreigners that works for the restaurant, the owners, my co-workers, and the individuals I have been introduced to through them have become like a second family to me, and I am very grateful for their generosity, inclusivity, and willingness to teach me as an outsider to the culture. Thus, I would love to be able to visit the areas that have meaning to them as well as fulfill my own historical ambitions. Two of my closest co-workers and I discussed traveling to Thailand and Laos together, and we agreed it would be interesting if we started a vlog to document the process. Not every temple or historical landmark allows photography or video to be taken, but I do think a vlog would be a great way to capture the moment as I am not the best at actively documenting things through social media. Video documentation also has the advantage of directly capturing the emotions and excitement of traveling as opposed to journaling or even photography. The photo I chose is of my co-worker and me at an event for the restaurant promoting Northern Thai cuisine in the traditional "Mo Hom", or the shirts worn by rice farmers.
• 
  2013-03-14

  Pandemic Dream Vacation

  This is a photograph i took on my last major vacation to South Carolina in 2013. If I could travel anywhere I would go back there and I would go back to Disney World and my dream vacation that I have never been on would be Hawaii. Due to circumstances that happened in 2013 I have been unable to return to South Carolina since. I would go back because I have some positive memories there and it was the last trip before my mom got paralyzed two months later and it is one of her favorite spots too. I have also enjoyed trips to Disney World and have always wanted to visit Hawaii. I did have a trip planned to South Carolina and Florida in February 2020 but had to cancel because of Covid and I have not had a chance to go back since.
• 2020-04-20

  Trapped in paradise

  I was stationed in Oahu when Covid restrictions went into place. The entire island shut down and, at first, it was fantastic not having to go to work and just hanging out on a tropical island. As time went on, people started to go stir crazy, when the local government closed the beaches and other activities that made island life bearable. When Covid reached its worst point, the Army stopped allowing people to move, so even plans that were months out were canceled. Having joined those who went stir crazy, the prospect of being stuck in Hawaii any longer than necessary held little appeal to my family and I. When restrictions eased a little, military moves were only possible if the place you were coming from and going to were having drops in cases. We didn’t know for sure that we could move until a few days before it happened. We were so excited to be getting out of Hawaii, we forgot about how disappointed we were that my next duty assignment would be taking us to Denver. I’ve been to Denver before and didn’t like it, but when we got off that plane, after being trapped on an island for the last year, it was exciting. Most of my children weren’t old enough to remember snow, so they were immediately excited about the change. I was happy to see real mountains again, but forgot about changing seasons. It took me a while to realize that I can’t wear shorts in December any more. Colorado, for being so liberal didn’t have much in the way of covid restrictions. It was refreshing, considering that in Hawaii everyone was still wearing masks for everything.
• 
  2021-04-18

  Edinburgh and Northumberland, "Post Pandemic" Historical Tourism

  I had been dreaming of this trip since 1996 when I went to England on a high school theatre and literature trip and fell in love with the UK. Specifically, I fell in love with Scotland and its history, becoming a British History enthusiast. In August, 2021, I completed my BA in History at ASU, then changed careers from Film/tv costuming to a special education teaching position. During the peak age of Covid-19, I worked full time, completed full time undergraduate studies, interned in politics and not-for-profit law, and started over in a new career and life in a new state. All of 2020-2021 was a non-stop adrenaline rush of constantly moving, getting Covid, and burning out mentally along the way. In 2021, I was halfway through a teaching contract and gravely unhappy, longing to just... escape. I kept dreaming of one photo of Edinburgh that was on my vision board. The picture, from Pinterest, was of a narrow Close in Old Town, Edinburgh, the historic "original" city that squeezed so much history and magic in about a mile. Old Edinburgh held tens of thousands of people in one square mile with their Closes serving as narrow alleyways between buildings of both stone and wood, both affluent and poor societal classes. After creating this vision board, I started working a ridiculous amount of overtime in the school's residences for special needs students and saving money. I was used to already working over 60 hours a week, so I didn't see the problem yet. The short staffing crisis of special education staff provided the opportunity to earn $40/ hour plus $1000 monthly bonus for anyone willing to work and be okay with less support for challenging behavior or emergency resources. I was willing to work hard to be free for just a short time over the Easter/Passover School break. Flight and accommodation prices were incredibly low at the start of 2021, encouraging tourists to travel. British Airways and other airlines offered incredible fares! These discounts still enabled me to book more affordable fare into 2023. My flight from Boston to Edinburgh was just over $400, with 7 nights stay in two 4 and 5 star hotels plus one castle for a total of less than $1000. My dream trip was planned to every detail and paid in advance or booked for free with historical memberships. The pandemic and rising popularity of Airbnb and Verbo created the perfect discounts for hotels and upgrades to better suites. Pre-pandemic, I got bed bugs from an Airbnb and had a nightmare of an experience, so it was out of the question for accomodation moving forward. While in planning stages, I booked historical tours and entry into sites like Edinburgh Castle, Mary Kings Close, Ghost Tours of the Vaults, Sterling Castle, then in England, Alnwick Castle and Chillingham Castle's paranormal investigation. I already had memberships to multiple British historical and public sites like the Alnwick Gardens (site of the famous Poison Garden) and Historical Scotland. From Edinburgh Castle to Chillingham Castle, I finally got to see the gallows, dungeons, and artifacts that were in my undergraduate classes. Finances and waiting for a travel companion to finally find "the time" to go held me back from going previously, but I was there, alone, at this particular time for a reason. I got to hold Witches Collars and touch an Iron Maiden that tortured so many innocent "witches". I sat in castle common areas alone with a glass of Whisky and venison sausage while hunting ghosts. Museum staff showed me witches charms and introduced me to folklore that secretly told tales of history in starkly lit archival research rooms. It was this trip that solidified by decision to continue onto graduate studies in history at ASU. It was this trip that made me question, "Why are we so fascinated by death and folklore?" It would be remiss to mention that during my historical tourism of Edinburgh and the Scottish-English Borderlands, the stories of historically significant pandemics and major moments of medical and scientific struggle or discovery were always present- It was..."everything, everywhere, all at once", if you will. The comparisons between Black Death to Cholera to Spanish Flu were ever-present while exploring Mary Kings Close, places of Surgical and Medical History interest, The Vaults, the Grass Market Gallows. I stepped into a cramped spaces that were once the homes of a families who all died of The Plague. White rags hung out the windows of these tourist destinations to remind visitors that it was the way leather beak masked Plague Doctors identified the infected and quarantined. "Haunted" Vaults served as reminders to modern tourists that the poor and disenfranchised once stayed here. If you want to go anywhere in the world to see a pandemic being held with an engrained fear and solemn respect for medical research, it's Scotland. In England, Chillingham Castle and Alnwick Castle allow visitors close proximity to places where prisoners carved each imprisoned day before their deaths into the walls. In Edinbugh, if it isn't a Harry Potter tour, it is a ghost tour. These ghosts are explored with light-hearted entertainment or found during paranormal investigations with high-tech gizmos and Ouiji Boards in this new age when we don't want to talk about how many people died of Covid-19 or a lack of health resources, but pre-modern history when people don't currently hold memory of the dead... One late morning, I went to a pub on the Royal Mile for a proper Scottish breakfast of sausages, haggis, bacon, eggs, tomato, and toast... and a pint. Bagpipes echoed in the air, passers-by spoke different languages and carried their cameras and I (Heart) Scotland t shirts and Whisky. As I sat outside, just taking everything in, a group of domestic tourists sat at my table. We laughed because we were all uncertain of "Mask? no Mask? What does 'optional Mask mean?' Were we bad people for NOT wearing a mask inside the pub to get another beer?" "Is it appropriate to sit so 'close'?" That particular day was the lifting of the Scottish masks in public places mandate. My mates-for-the-day spoke of their quarantines and experiences with Covid-19 and quarantine with both humor and sombre memories. The photo attached to this story was from this day where masks were no longer a must. It is also the same scene from my vision board. On my camera and iPhone camera reels, before this moment and after are dozens of photos of castle chambers, countryside fog, tourist photo ops of High Tea or plain ol Costa Coffee at [Insert Tourist Destination]. My photos are visited with gratitude and inspiration. Not only do I have a renewed desire to travel, but I have a spark of motivation to keep learning. I would never have been able to afford this trip at the level of luxury and privilege I experienced it without the Covid-19 pandemic's aftermath of needed promotional discounts. Misery was everywhere, yes, but joy and purpose were found for me. I hope there were others that experienced incredible change and revelation during this time.
• 2020-06-22

  Milestone Year

  To get to this story, I have to go back a few years first. I'm an immigrant from El Salvador. I came to the U.S. as a teenager in 1994, and never went back. I was in my 30s when I decided it was finally time to visit the grandmother I'd been missing for so long. I started to save and plan. Then she died. It took several years before I finally took my first trip back in November of 2019. I spent the time vacationing on the coast. I avoided my grandmother's house, my friends, and my family. I wasn't ready. But I decided that for my 40th birthday, in 2020, I'd return for a longer stay and visit my childhood home and all the friends and family left behind. Then there was a pandemic. The trip was cancelled, but it was the least of that year's problems. I lost my job and went back to school to start a new career. Our dog got cancer and died. My partner had a friend in El Salvador who died of COVID. I can never reschedule that same trip. Too much has changed. I'm planning to return this summer. This time with a firmer grasp on life's impermanence. I want to visit the white sand beaches at Playa Mango before it gets turned into a "surf city" tourist trap. I want to visit all the important cultural landmarks, especially those from which I can learn about my ancestors. More importantly, I will not avoid friends and family. On the contrary, I want to cherish the time I will have with them as if the next day isn't guaranteed. I plan to take dozens of photographs, portraits of everyone I see, I want to write down their stories in my journal, I want to record every visit, every meal, every experience possible in my journal. I plan to say "see you later," but not leave anything unsaid. Just in case.
• 2020-04-08

  A Celebratory Trip Canceled by the COVID-19 Pandemic

  I graduated from college in April 2020, one of my sisters also graduated from college that same semester, and my other sister graduated the year before. As a family we had planned a big trip to Florida and a cruise to the Bahamas as a celebration of our graduations. Unfortunately, because of locks downs and restrictions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 that trip was canceled. We weren’t able to reschedule that trip and I haven’t been on any trips since but if I could travel anywhere it would be on that trip with my family. I missed out on a fun travel experience to celebrate our graduations as a family because of the pandemic so being able to actually experience that trip now that restrictions are lifted would be a full circle experience. There are a few sites on Nassau that I would like to see like For Charlotte as well as the Pirate Museum. I would document my trip mostly through photography, especially since I would have limited access to the internet while on the cruise ship. This trip would mostly be about spending time with my family as we haven’t all been in the same place at once since Christmas of 2019. Traveling to me is mostly about creating memories with loved ones. The location and things we do are less important than the memories we create together.
• 
  2021-08-11

  Venturing to California Once LIve Concerts Resumed

  As pandemic restrictions began to ease up, we decided to travel with our family from Arizona (where things had been less strict) to California (where things had been more strict) to see a concert. Many of the music artists we enjoy had only been performing via live stream for the prior year and a half, but now a band we enjoyed was having an outdoor concert at a large venue. After buying tickets though, we worried because we began to see information on the venue's website that indicated only California residents would be permitted. We tried calling, but there were no responses. We went on the trip, not knowing if we would be turned away. Luckily, the website for the event updates the day off and we were able to enter. It was an awkward feeling as masks were still required for an outdoor event, but the vast majority of participants didn't have them on. The picture is my son in outdoor seating wearing his mask despite everyone around us not. This was much less an act of social defiance or morally based compliance, and more of confusion about what was really expected and fear of stepping across unclear lines in a neighboring state.
• 
  2021-04-27

  The Masked Magic Kingdom

  This is a story about a family trying to experience the World of Disney in a post pandemic world. It shows that even at the end of a pandemic, a family can still make the most and be together and make memories to last a life time!
• 2022-06-15

  Preventing the Inevitable

  When travel restrictions were lifted, my family and I did not travel right away. We waited about a year until we felt it was safer to travel. When that year arrived, we decided to take a pre-pandemic planned trip that was canceled due to Covid. We traveled to Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Chi Chen Itza, and Xcaret in Mexico. As you can see, we were anxious to travel the world. The main reason we decided to go to Mexico as our first trip during Covid was that it was economical for a family of ten. Additionally, Mexico was very lenient with Covid restrictions which made it easier for us to travel One of the most memorable memories was to have watched my kids have so much fun while learning and visiting a country they had never been. As for myself as a History teacher, one of the experiences I will never forget was visiting Chi Chen Itza as I was able to see History with my own eyes and learn more about the locals, community, and culture. With all these great memories that I had as much as we protected ourselves by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, using hand sanitizer at all times, and all of us fully vaccinated. Half of the family ended up testing positive for Covid while in Mexico. The one thing we were avoiding the most ended up happening during our first trip since Covid began. While Mexico did not have restrictions to enter their country for tourism, the United States at that moment had a policy that all returning travelers must have a negative Covid test prior to boarding the plane. two days prior to our departure the restriction was lifted, and my family was able to return back to the US without having to wait out in Mexico and extend the trip. Since the family was so conscious of Covid we made sure we had KN95 masks at all times, did not share items, and reduced the amount of contact in order to not spread the virus which is what helped half of the family not get it. Overall, this was a trip that we will never forget. We had a blast and would love to visit the country another time. We would continue to be safe while traveling even if there are no restrictions. Covid has really changed how I live my life, especially during travel. What I have submitted is important to me because it will become a record in history in sharing my personal experience during the pandemic. It is also important to me to demonstrate that this area in Mexico is heavily dependent on tourism. While I was there, I met people from countries that had a lot of travel restrictions, and due to Mexico having almost none, it was a very popular traveling destination.
• 
  2020-02-18

  Patients and Patience

  I spent the majority of 2019 in Afghanistan. As far as deployments go, it was as busy as it was rewarding. I spent my days providing medical care to the local Afghans which included the handling of war wounds, managing chronic diseases, or treating any number of the infectious diseases that are endemic to the Middle East. My day-to-day activities had me in regular contact with sick people, and it was my responsibility to help them. Later in the year, a sickness began to go around. Across the country service members and civilians alike were coming down with what was presumed to be the flu. With consistently negative tests, however, medical professionals began looking to other causes for the wide range of symptoms people were suffering from. When I got sick, I lost my voice for a month and could barely walk out of my room without losing my breath and so I resolved to spending my time lying in bed and watching movies. When I returned home from Afghanistan in early 2020, I still wasn’t quite recovered. Unfortunately, my homecoming was not an elaborate affair as my wife and children were waiting for me in Texas where they had spent my deployment near family. The plan was for me to visit until it was time for me to move down there as well. I still suffered from shortness of breath and one day, shortly after returning, I nearly passed out on a light jog, and I knew something was wrong. I was scheduled to visit my wife and kids in the coming weeks, excited to see them after my deployment, but my unknown sickness had other plans in mind. At this point in the year, COVID was in its infancy, there hadn’t been any lockdowns or travel restrictions, only the lingering concern that this new disease could become a problem. So, naturally, when I went in to see the doctors for my persistent symptoms, it was an easy assumption that I had caught COVID early while in Afghanistan in the months prior. While investigating the cause of my ongoing issues, they found a nodule in my lungs. Apparently, my weakened immune system and constant contact with severely sick patients had resulted in me contracting tuberculosis. I was now a high-risk patient. The ironic thing is that my newly diagnosed condition was contagious, and not being near my family prevented me from spreading it to my wife or kids. So much for visiting family after my deployment. Over the next few months, I was treated with heavy duty antibiotics that left me puking in the mornings and unable to leave my house, which became easier and easier as COVID gripped the world. Flights were canceled and lockdowns were enforced while I facetimed my family 1,500 miles away. After my treatment was complete, I eagerly drove home on empty roads to see my family for the first time since I had left the year prior. I would intermittently make the drive a few more times before I made the official move down later that year. Three years later, I still remember, as I’m sure we all do, the frustrations that were ever-present at the height of the pandemic. I remember my own frustrations at the difficulty of traveling down to see my kids, something that hadn’t been part of our well laid plans before my deployment. I remember having to explain to three young children why I couldn’t come home and helping my wife explain why they could no longer go to the park, to school, or hang out with their friends. In the end, however, I am grateful. I am grateful because I am able to teach them, through their own personal experiences, that we are all in this together. When they express annoyance at ongoing COVID policies, which cost them personal convenience, I can recount to them the sacrifices they made in order to keep us all safe from my sickness as well as COVID. They have learned that being patient and considerate is as much for everyone’s else’s sake as much as their own and it’s a lesson that has translated across their lives today.
• 
  2021-06-18

  Tourism Story: Florida After Travel Restrictions

  I graduated from my Bachelor's program in May 2021, after vaccine rollout and as travel restrictions were being lifted. To celebrate, my family organized a short trip to Florida in June, where we would visit the Universal Studios theme park for a couple days, which had always been a dream destination for my parents. This was a huge deal for us, because my family has never been able to afford a vacation like that, and we saved during the pandemic to be able to afford it once travel restrictions were lifted and we were all vaccinated. By the time we went, almost all travel restrictions had been lifted, and I remember the strange mix of relief and uneasiness I got from how "normal" everything seemed in Florida. I hardly saw anyone even wearing masks, and I was honestly glad for that not being a requirement in the theme park - I'm from Kentucky, and I hadn't been prepared for the intense Florida heat and humidity! I'll always treasure the memory of seeing the ocean for the first time and getting to spend time with my family, and even though I was still worried about the pandemic, it felt like such a relief to have a normal vacation after such a stressful and scary year.
• 
  2021-07

  My Grandpa and I’s Camping COVID Trip

  After 2020, I was looking to travel and try to get back to normal. However, in 2021 I was supposed to go to Europe to see my sister but COVID canceled that trip so I was perplexed at what I could do for travel. Then it came to me, my grandpa is someone who has traveled almost everywhere in the US. With that, he loves to camp and one of his favorite spots that he always mentions is Mackinac Island. I thought this would be a great bonding trip. So for Christmas I told my grandpa that I would love to go on a camping trip with him up to Mackinac Island in Michigan. This would be the first time me and my grandpa would be going on a week-long vacation with just ourselves. What was funny is that everyone in the family warned me because my grandpa never stops talking and the music would be in his hands. The good thing about that is that I had lived with my grandparents the summer after I finished college so I was used to being around the constant conversations. Secondly, I am an old soul so I love 50s and 60s music. Therefore, I knew that this could be one of the best trips I might ever get to take with my grandfather. The trip began in July of 2021 as we left my hometown of Manteno, IL and traveled up to Michigan. We had a small popup camper that we were going to be sleeping in for this week's trip. There were so many favorite memories it is kind of hard to trim down. First off, traveling was so much fun, having deep conversations about my grandpa’s life and the different times that he had gone to Mackinac were so fascinating. My grandpa can talk to anyone so he is a very good storyteller. Another memory was setting up the camper because the second time we did set it up we forgot to stabilize the back so when I went to lay in bed the whole thing tipped over. The good part is that no one got hurt. On the second day when we arrived in Mackinac it was down pouring on us, thankfully my grandpa had ponchos ready to go. That night we started the tradition that would carry on for the night which was our card games. Every night we played either crazy eights or dirty spades. Those were some of the best times when we were just hanging out together. I cannot tell you how amazing those memories still are today. When we traveled to Mackinac Island on the third day it was amazing. Me and my grandpa walked all around the island taking in the nature, the history, and the culture on this small island. It lived up to the hype my grandpa had told me. After that day we traveled up to the Upper Peninsula with the UP-ers which was cool to see. That night we slept on the border of Canada, which we could see across the river in Sault Ste. Marie. We went on a couple water boat tours in the Great Lakes which were amazing. One of the last funny memories we had was that my grandpa finally let me drive on the second to last day. I am not kidding you when I say thirty minutes into driving one of the camper’s tires was gone. The best part was that neither of us noticed until a car passed us and pointed it out. This was such a funny memory because then we had to replace the tire and that is a story that me and my grandpa still joke about. Maybe my driving is bad but I don’t know, it could just be bad luck. The good thing about this entire trip was that the COVID restrictions were minimal. Since we were outside for the most part that was almost never an issue. A couple times when we went into restaurants we had to put our masks on, but it was nice because we were getting fresh air. Overall, the trip was a resounding success and one that I know holds a special place in my heart and my grandpa’s. I feel so fortunate to have had this experience with my grandpa and cannot wait for the next roadtrip we have together.
• 
  2021-03-06

  Aruba 2021

  This is a story that reflects positively on the implications of covid and how it effected the tourist experience. It is an honest, first hand account of travel to the island of Aruba without the mass tourism they have become so familiar with. It speaks to the erosion of personal nature and connection that coexists so easily with the superficiality of mass tourism.
• 
  2022-07-01

  Delay to The Bay

  My plans to visit San Francisco in 2020 came to a halt with the outbreak of the Coronavirus. As a high school teacher, I was looking forward to my long awaited-spring break. It had been quite some years since my last visit to the San Francisco, and I knew a trip to ‘The Bay’ was long overdue. I booked a flight, hotel, and waited patiently as the weeks went by. Spring was coming up and there were heavy concerns about COVID 19 spreading into North America. I was slightly concerned but figured I would be safe to make this trip. As news broke out about cases emerging in San Francisco, the nation went into hysteria. I was not skeptic about the hazard of Coronavirus, but selfishly planned to proceed with the trip. Then my father called me. My parents, both in their seventies were definitely at risk, especially my mother who struggled with health since my childhood. My father asked me kindly not to go to San Francisco. Without hesitation, I canceled my flight and hotel. I had booked everything online through a third party and was unable to receive any refund. Bummed out, I knew it was the right thing to do. Coronavirus spread, schools shut down and my spring break prolonged. At first I was spending time kayaking, but the weather in Phoenix got so hot I had to stay inside. The Phoenix summer of 2020 had record breaking heat with 55 consecutive days of 115 degrees plus Fahrenheit temperatures. I was miserable. With concerns of my mom’s health, social distancing, living alone and bored, I was very unhappy. The unjustifiable killing of George Floyd caused anger, and rightfully so, across the nation which contributed to more hysteria. The only positive that came from that hot summer were my experiments in the kitchen. I would then deliver tasty meals for my parents. This was the one thing that made me happy. Unfortunately, my mother did not survive past the summer of 2020. She passed away in her sleep peacefully due to an unrelated COVID cause. I was on an all time low. Sad, empty, missing my students, and missing normal daily life. We had no idea how many people would die and when things would normalize. It was truly scary. Fast forward to 2022 and things were much better. I figured surviving 2020 made me stronger and much happier. Vaccinated and boosted, I decided to pursue my trip to San Francisco. I made the best of this short trip. I went to a party outside the Chase Center for the NBA Finals, in which the Golden State Warriors played against the Boston Celtics. For the first time, I took a ferry to Alcatraz. In China Town, I saw locals dance with dragons, in which one bopped me in the face while I was taking photos! Caught by surprise, I did not take offense to this. Observing how the dragons behaved with mischief, I knew it was all for fun. This made me laugh. This was a much-needed trip indeed. 2020 affected everyone around the world. With global hysteria, people getting sick, people dying, racial injustice, everyone except pandemic deniers and those oblivious to political issues resonated with fear. Passing through time, my 2022 trip to San Francisco was a rebirth. A rebirth to normalization. A rebirth to my passion of exploring culture. A rebirth of sanity, and a rebirth of controlling fear. A rebirth to laughter. With dragons, noodles, basketball, and Ghirardelli, the delay to ‘The Bay’ will forever be a golden memory.
• 
  2022-06-01

  Old Faithful Yellowstone National Park

  The first trip my family and I took once COVID restrictions were lifted was to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. My family enjoys being outdoors and in nature and had been discussing a trip to Yellowstone for years. We rented a cabin a half hour north of the park and drove in everyday for four days. Each day, we took a different road so we could see as much of the park as possible. The most memorable part is that on the northern road, up in the mountains, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. About a week after we left, all that snow melted, flooded the Yellowstone River, and destroyed the road that we went in on everyday. I also enjoyed seeing the wildlife in a natural habitat, even if there were buffalo in the road a few times a day. The busiest day was the day we went to Old Faithful. Old Faithful is probably the most popular tourist attraction in the park aside from the wildlife. Everything in the area was busy; the gift shop, hotel, restaurants, boardwalks, parking lot, everything. This was the most people I saw in one place the entire trip. When we took this trip (June 2022), as far as I remember, there were no COVID restrictions in place. I would not have minded, and maybe even preferred, if there were as some places were quite compact. They did encourage social distancing in the indoor areas but nothing was enforced. It was, however, nice to experience the park in what could be perceived as normal.
• 
  2022-09-09

  Back in Boston

  The story is of me and my father going to see the Red Sox play at Fenway. The hat in the picture is the one I got at ballpark. It is important to me because it was the resumption of a tradition that me and my father have done for years.
• 
  2021-04-12

  21st Birthday Trip, Post-Pandemic

  My twin sister and I turned 20 right after the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020. That birthday was a gigantic bummer, because all my friends had left my college campus and I was still there but couldn't visit home either due to Covid concerns (my parents are in their 60's and my sister has asthma). So, after a year of not traveling or doing very much else, my first post-covid trip was for my 21st birthday. Not yet ready to get back on airplanes but wanting to do something exciting, my mom, dad, sister, and I packed into the van for an 8-hour drive across Colorado to an Airbnb in Durango, near the southwest corner of the state. Durango is a cute little tourist town that's still sleepy from winter in April, and definitely non-traditional for a 21st birthday bash. We had two objectives for the trip: Mom and Dad were going to buy us our first (legal) alcoholic beverages, and we were going to take a ride on the narrow-gauge railroad that ran from Durango to the nearby tourist/old mining town of Silverton. The first goal was accomplished quickly upon our arrival; we located the old Strater hotel, built in 1887, complete with a bar where we immediately situated ourselves. The servers were dressed like flappers, all wearing masks, many matching the colorful fringes of their dresses. I ordered an old fashioned, was tipsy after half, and handed it off to my mom to finish. My dad had a great time shepherding us back to the van. The train ride the next day was the highlight of the trip. We bought tickets in advance, since only a limited number of seats could be filled in each car due to lingering covid precautions. Masks were also still required, except when eating and drinking (a full bar was available, as well as coffee and pastries). The train crept up into the mountains alongside a river, sometimes crossing over very tall trestle bridges, prompting my mom, who's afraid of heights, to pull her mask up over her eyes. Lunch, which was previously served on the train, was instead provided to us in pre-packaged boxes, to be eaten outside at picnic tables along the river where we were free to spread out and remove our masks. On the ride back to Durango, the full bar on the train was open, and most masks came off. My parents bought my sister and I our second drinks of being 21 (mimosas at 3:30pm, woo!) and we headed back to the Airbnb, stopping to pick up some Serious Texas Barbecue. While Covid ruined my plans for the 21st birthday party I thought I would have, it gave me a few years to slow down and to appreciate my family and small, meaningful, gatherings together, which I wouldn't trade for the wildest party in the world.
• 2020-08-04

  Lonely at the Lake

  My family has owned a small cabin by a lake in Northern Minnesota for over 60 years. This is my favorite place in the world and was our family vacation destination every year. As years went on my dad and I are one of the few who continue this tradition. After quarantining in April and May and businesses slowly reopening in June we decided in August 2020 that it would be safe enough to go up there. However, this trip ended up being much different than usual. While Minnesota was under a mask mandate the area we were in was much different than the suburbs of Chicago. At home more often than not people did adhere to the mask mandate and there was a mandate to self-quarantine when returning to the state after traveling. The area where are cabin is located is very densely wooded and not exactly populated. The small town has about four hundred people and the nearest large grocery store is a forty-five-minute drive away. While grocery shopping in town it was clear the mask mandate was not as strictly followed up here. Only about half of the customers in the store were wearing masks. The likelihood of adhering to the mandate dropped even further once we reached our township. Even though there were signs posted to “wear your mask” my dad and I were considered the odd ones out at the bait shop or lumber store, as I did not see a single person with a mask on in the ten days we were up there. All of our neighbors who live on the road that hugs the bay are all older. I have known most of them my entire life and some have even watched my parents grow up. Many of them live downstate near the Twin Cities, and some even live out of state, but very few of them live up there full time due to the harsh weather and isolation. It wasn’t until the last few years that the country started to plow our road in the winter. This ten-day vacation is normally packed with multiple dinners at neighbors' houses, tubing and fishing, parties and yard games, and finally ending the night around a fire with our neighbors, their kids, and often their grandkids. This trip, there was none of that. Windows and doors were boarded up because out-of-state neighbors never made the trip up to open their cabins. Jetskis and other water toys were locked up because most older neighbors did not risk leaving quarantine. As far as we could tell it was just my dad and myself. Fishing was just the two of us, the only people we had to argue with over card games were each other, and we both fell asleep more than once on the boat or dock while reading books because it was so quiet. It might have been much more lonely and quiet than normal, but it was still relaxing to be surrounded by nature and absorb its sounds uninterrupted. COVID-19 changed my vacation, but not necessarily in a bad way. I am lucky to have a lake house that was isolated enough that COVID did not seem to touch it. Although we missed our neighbors and have since seen everyone the loneliness allowed for a sense of stillness, the ability to fully emerse myself in nature and relax.
• 2021-05-03

  Business As Usual

  I am a software engineer at a small, fairly conservative, company in PA. Because of its small company status it was never required for our employees to work from home, at least that was what they told us, and throughout the pandemic it was in fact a requirement that we work from the office. I wasn’t surprised when I was told I would be traveling to Washington state but I was apprehensive. A few of our employees were getting stick but I had so far been safe. On May 3rd 2021 I drove to the airport with a mask on my face and hand sanitizer in my hand. The airport was fairly empty as it was early but the few people that wandered the terminals were wearing masks. My flight was long but I got some sleep with the help of some Dramamine. That night my coworkers went out to eat but I decided to order in. The next morning I headed downstairs to head out for my first appointment. At the registration counter there were brown paper lunch bags sitting out in a neat row, the woman behind the desk asked me if I would like a breakfast bag to-go. As I walked over to pick up one of the bags she explained to me how due to Covid-19 they are not longer serving a hot buffet breakfast but are instead were providing this to-go bag options, I smiled from underneath my mask and thanked her. The bag had a banana, a granola bar, a yogurt and a bottle of water. I drove to the meeting site and headed inside, there were few people around but I noticed no one was wearing a mask, I felt like my light blue mask was a huge neon sign directing everyone’s attention to me. When I arrived at the designated meeting room I set up my computer and prepared the demo while I waited for others to arrive. One by one they walked in, greeted me, shook my hand and took a seat. Still no one was wearing a mask or if they were it was not secured properly, I felt embarrassed being the only one with a mask on. Once everyone arrived I stood up and looked at the room, everyone was looking right back at me, waiting. I took off my mask and began the meeting. The rest of the week was more of the same and the trip home was uneventful. A few days after getting home I tested positive for Covid-19 and was finally allowed to work from home, at least until I got better.
• 2020-10-05

  Water Slides in the Days of Covid

  My family resided in Columbus, Georgia during the Covid-19 pandemic. In October 2020 my sister-in-law’s family came to visit us from Arizona. We decided to take our families to Great Wolf Lodge in LaGrange, Georgia, just 45 minutes from my home, for a two-day vacation. This was my first experience traveling after travel restrictions were lifted. Great Wolf Lodge houses an indoor water park, restaurants, and family entertainment attractions, as well as hotel accommodations all in one building. My family had visited before the pandemic, so we were familiar with the resort and procedures. This made changes in policies and behavior more evident than they may have been otherwise. Safety protocol set in place at Great Wolf Lodge included mandatory mask wearing in the hallways and open areas of the resort. Masks were not required in the waterpark; however, signs were posted throughout detailing mandatory social distancing protocol. Individuals were to remain at least six feet apart from each other in all areas, especially when waiting in lines. The guidelines were a nice idea, but large swarms of children eager to get onto a waterslide cared little for waiting in lines any distance apart. The adults seemed to feel the same way too. There was no personal space while waiting in lines, much less six feet social distance. In normal times, Great Wolf hosts bedtime dance parties and stories in their main lobby for the kids. Due to Covid restrictions, however, these dance parties were canceled and instead were broadcast on a set TV channel that could be viewed from guests' rooms. Our families arrived around 1:00 in the afternoon on day one. One person went in to do the checking in and then we headed to our rooms to change and head to the park. Everyone played for at least three hours. A few of the older kids tired out earlier and headed back to the rooms. The rest of us headed back to the rooms for dinner with the plan to meet up again afterward and play until the park shut down. Over the next hour, almost all of my kids started coughing. We started to wonder if they were having a reaction to the chlorine. Then the runny noses started and even the most excited kids said they were too tired to go back that night. After talking to my sister-in-law, the same thing was happening in her family. We decided to call it a night and check back in the morning. By morning, we had to call it. Even mild cold symptoms were enough in those days to get you thrown out of public places and we had to be cautious with even the smallest symptom that might indicate Covid-19. We knew the only responsible thing was to pack it up and head home. We had a great three hour vacation the day before, but the rest of it just wasn’t going to happen. It was the most expensive three hour vacation I think I’ll ever have. We felt like criminals smuggling our tightly masked children through the halls that morning and begging them to hold in their sneezes or coughs until we got outside. We were so glad we had chosen to vacation only 45 minutes from home that time. The colds passed, and eventually we returned to Great Wolf Lodge to enjoy a full vacation. We still laugh, though, about our attempt at a “normal” vacation in the midst of Covid-19.
• 2020-12

  Hawaii - December 2020

  In March of 2020 my family and I were supposed to go to Hawaii for our spring break. When I was at work around St. Patrick's day, the school administration announced that all sports were postponed because of covid-19. A couple of days later I found out that we would be moving to virtual learning until spring break. During this time I remained hopeful that we would be back in the classroom after the break and that I would still be able to visit Hawaii. As the weeks went on it became clear that this was not the case. Eventually we moved to permanent virtual learning and the airlines canceled and refunded my ticket for Hawaii. As 2020 continued on I became more and more frustrated over the impact of covid, especially as what seemed like 3 weeks at home, turned in to several months without travel and in person interaction. In December of 2020, after completing a semester of half virtual, half in person learning I was in need of a break and a change of scenery. On Christmas my family and I found really cheap flights to Hawaii, however these flights were leaving the next day. Since I was a teacher on Christmas Break I had the time off, the only issue was that we needed to get a negative covid test before landing in Maui. We quickly booked the flights and scrambled to find a place we could get a covid test. In order to get off of the plane in Hawaii we needed to take a covid test 12 hours before arrival and our results needed to be negative. We did not have enough time before our flight to have a test shipped to our house nor did we have enough time to wait 2-3 days for results. Luckily we found a place 45 minutes from where we lived that had an opening for four rapid tests. After acquiring our test, 18 hours before our flight we eagerly awaited the results. All four of us had a negative test and we were able to board our flight to Hawaii. When we landed in Hawaii, in order to get off of the plane we had to show our negative test results. If someone did not have test results they had to remain on the plane and wait for it to return to the mainland. After showing our tests, we had our temperatures taken again and and our visit, including our accommodations, had to registered. The remainder of our trip to Hawaii was relaxing. Although it was weird to walk on the beach with a mask and sit far away from other guests, it was nice to get away. While we were in Hawaii I remember talking to a waitress we had that explained that from March to July residents were not allowed to enjoy the beaches. She described how lonely and isolated she felt stuck in her small apartment by herself. Even though it was difficult to get to Hawaii during covid, we needed a getaway and the hospitality workers in Hawaii were glad to see things slowly picking up again.
• 
  2023-01-29

  Travelling Post-Pandemic: Reflections

  Deciding whether or not to travel post-pandemic has been weighing on me emotionally. Here, I identify reasons I should vs should not travel, as well as where I would go and why.
• 
  2021-03-30

  Mojo Leaves

  I took this photo of Watson Lake near the Dells five days after restrictions were lifted. From what I remember, there were no travel restrictions at the time. I was one of the few that lived on a large property, and I could stay busy feeding my animals, chopping firewood, and working on homework. However, concerning the photo, I was coming home from getting guitar strings in Prescott. It was the first time I had thought about playing music since my good friend Joseph Morganfield passed away in December 2020. He's the son of Muddy Waters and was one of my biggest supporters as an artist and musician. I always tell folks if I could have chosen a dad, it would have been Joseph. This day was important because I realized life would go on, after Covid, like it or not.
• 2021-06-06

  My Reverse Homecoming

  The first trip my wife and I took after the COVID travel restrictions were lifted was a doozy. Our first flight in over a year was a three-hop journey from our small Montana town to Alaska for an old friend’s wedding. With a six-month-old. On our laps. The whole time. My wife and I had our first round of vaccines but worried about our daughter, who was still far too young to have a dose. After much risk assessment and consultation with our pediatrician, we decided to go for it. Mask wear was strictly enforced on the airplane and in most of the public places we found ourselves, and there was a profound and somewhat discomforting sense that we and our fellow travelers were searching for a way to exist comfortably in this new not-yet-maybe-never-post-COVID world. The thing I remember most, though, was how incredibly freeing it felt to be somewhere new again. So much time spent at home, however necessary, had inflicted an unhealthy solitude on much of society, and my first time solidly stepping away from that felt energizing. I’ve always loved to travel and doing so after the darkest days of the pandemic felt like a happy return to form. A reverse homecoming, if you will.
• 
  2020-03-26

  The Sound of Sewing

  I moved back in with my parents right before lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic never imagining how long it would go on for. Since my mother is a teacher she was at home with my younger sister and me during the entire lockdown. My father still went to work because he works for a city and was part of the emergency response to the pandemic. I remember going to the grocery store with my sister and seeing the empty shelves unsure of when they would be restocked. I remember the panic of needing face masks and not being able to find any. That is when my mother decided she would make face masks for us, our extended family and to donate. She pulled out the sewing machine, which originally was for when my grandmother would come visit, and set it on the dining table. My grandmother used to sew all the time when she would visit us and make my sister and I dresses and even matching dresses for our dolls. It was always a sound I had associated with her. I helped my mother in ordering and looking up information on which materials were recommended by health officials, then she set to work, making hundreds of face masks. Every morning I would wake up to the sound of the sewing machine and my first thought would be of my grandmother. As time went on I associated the sound with the pandemic, more specifically lockdown. My mother enjoys doing different craft projects and she really enjoyed making the face masks. It was a fun activity that I also enjoyed helping her with. She made face masks for my dad’s work which were donated to the fire and police departments. We also mailed masks to our extended family in New Mexico, California, and Mexico. We wore the masks ourselves if we had to go anywhere during lockdown. The sound of the sewing machine became a regular occurrence during those early weeks of quarantine. The sewing machine, especially the sound, used to only represent my grandmother making gifts for us. In Mexico, where my grandmother still lives, she used to have a small business making and selling clothing as a way to earn extra much needed money. It wasn’t just a hobby at that time, but a necessity for her and her family. The sound of the sewing machine, became something I not only associated of my grandmother but of the beginning of quarantine and the importance of knowing certain basic skills. Knowing how to sew, and even being able to use a sewing machine, may seem like an unimportant skill nowadays, which was something I used to think. However, that skill helped my grandmother and decades later is still helping the rest of our family.
• 
  2020-07-21

  I think I want to start a garden with you

  I decided to start a garden during the pandemic with my girlfriend at the time (now wife). It was my senior year of college and life changed drastically in the spring when the pandemic hit. My wife and I had somewhat recently started dating at this point and suddenly we had to go on lockdown together to avoid any potential spread to her family since we both were required to go in person for our jobs. We went from dating to living together in an instant and it made us grow even closer. Together we tried to find quarantine hobbies to bide our time originally thinking that quarantine would only last a few months. I remember one day suggesting we start a garden in the backyard. My yard in Lubbock got so much sun it was just perfect for a garden. We slowly built a garden adding various plants from cactus and aloe vera to hot peppers, bean sprouts, and sunflowers. I loved going out there and caring for all the plants with my wife it was a real bonding experience. It was beautiful watching the whole process of our plants transform from little seeds to baby sprouts. I remember the way the new sprouts smelled crisp as they became verdant green and leafy. When we would water them on a particularly hot day it had a scent that reminded me of rainy summer days in Dallas when it got humid. I enjoyed getting to start this hobby that I most likely wouldn't have picked up at the time if I kept to my usual college routine. It was also a good distraction for both of us from the worries and anxieties of the pandemic.
• 
  2020-05-01

  The Hustle and Bustle That Went Naught

  This story is nothing that many of you may not be familiar with, notably of those in metropolitan-like areas. Plus, I can not say that this story is anything deeply descriptive and the likes thereof, but it certainly had an impact on someone like me (along with others) that live in a city, notably if you are especially in or around New York City, the city that never sleeps. What brings me back to this? Well, not exactly the link that I provided that actually shows (at the time of course) a live-time recording of midtown Manhattan and its eerie sound, which is paradoxically a "sound" of a hovering-like quiescent stillness of keen silence (but a silent ambiance that was somewhat peculiarly enchanting) . Or rather, as the title alludes to, a sound that was "naught". At the time, it became so normal if you will (especially around 40 days since the lockdown went into effect), that it became a coincidentia oppositorum of sorts. One might ask, where is such a "unity of opposites" in effect whereby this was simply a "change" in the dynamics of your "said" environment? To start, the Newark (NJ) area is nothing BUT a concoction of familiar and somewhat pleasing noise as I sit in my half-airconditioned room, from the constant sound of public transportation busses passing by and their intrinsic slight familiar screeching stop, the talk of those a few floors down walking the streets, the constant sound(s) of cars flowing by, the sound of the famous pathway train into NYC in the faint distance (though it stops at Jersey City first), those at the corners (as inappropriate as it may sound) calling out that they got "x, y, and z" near Broad and Market Street, so forth and so on, to "almost" nothing! It was like something straight out of the novel Brave New World and other such pally stories of the sort. To me and many others around our surrounding areas, this was a moment in history that stood out, one that I can not recall in similarity since Tuesday, September 11th. 2001. Because the unity of these non-coherent opposites is in the simple fact that the innate aspect of a pandemic lockdown of a such magnitude as we had is quite obviously "silence" if you will, which is the opposite of what is immersed in a city of almost 300,000 (and that is of course not including the amount of citizens in neighboring metro-areas both east, north, and south of my location), nevertheless, they formed one coherent form of a dialectical force. Because it soon became a "norm" and it happened at quite an expedient rate in the larger scheme of things. Nothing was more "quiet" and "surreal" then the tragic events of 9/11, as it did not take some time for a similar situation to occur, as the event was so dynamic that everything I am speaking of happened at once, but and more importantly, day by day the city quickly gained back its ingrained normative environment. But the reason I arbitrarily picked the date of 5/1/2020, rather then use the date of the article, is because it was in early May where this began to slowly engulf me and took me back to one quite sunny day around noon (maybe a tad later), where all of this, "all of this" being that of what I speak of, struck me finally as something transformative (but far less than cathartic to say the least). I hope you enjoyed my little tidbit of what kind of impact COVID had on me (be it a self-like precept, photograph, video, etc...), particular using my experience in a sensory course of description. Sure, there was obviously other aspects that came into play with COVID-19 that eventually impacted us, but most of them were later on as the days moved by, while rather this experience was the first and the one that will stick with me anytime I think back to the pandemic. And the beauty of it, or rather lack thereof, all happened while simply sitting near my bed (hence against the window) while putting on my prosthetic legs. Cheers to you all!
• 2020-03-14

  A Theme Park on Day 1 of the Pandemic

  Disneyland popcorn comes in a variety of colors and flavors- and with the opening of Galaxy’s Edge in 2019, my new favorite popcorn stand was ushered into being. This stand carried popcorn that had fruity pebble flavoring on its salty kernels, a little sticky, but delicious nonetheless. It was spring break at ASU, and currently, I was enjoying this sweet-salty concoction with not a care in the world, in Disneyland with my family. I was standing under the sad shade of a newly planted tree when my father turned to me, mouth agape, and proceeded to hand me his phone despite the sticky residue I was attempting to warn him about. His cell phone screen, with its glaring blue light and notifications rapidly appearing across the top, shouted a message at me I would much rather ignore: “The CDC has declared COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic.” Given that my father works in medical software, he quickly snatched the vibrating, ringing phone back and began an onslaught of calls that sounded identical, almost always culminating in “I don’t know what this means.” All around us, the previously carefree park patrons were beginning to reach into their pockets to investigate the commotion, and finding the same or similar results. Gasps and shouts were heard all around us, and the sound of feet moving quickly increased. Coughs were now akin to fire alarms and sent crowds scattering on the wind. Large throngs of people began to move towards the park exit, but I was keen on finishing my treat. After all, why rush out with hundreds of people when you can stroll out with dozens? We only remained in the park for about an hour after that, my parents endlessly debating the pros and cons of driving to Arizona right that minute. Would they close the borders between states? Would they get a refund for the cost of the hotel? What would we do with my little sisters’ birthday cake, sitting in a mini fridge and awaiting a dull butter knife later that evening? Families all around us were having the same sorts of conversations, a concert of panic arising in the Happiest Place on Earth. As my parents squabbled and people scattered, I was struck by the monumental meaning of this moment. Disneyland was going to close- and it previously closed for events like 9/11 and the assassination of President Kennedy. Something was very, very wrong...and I figured I should stop eating my popcorn that had seen unknown hands and unknown places.
• 2021-06-12

  Graduation: A celebration or just another day?

  A long and hot three hour and forty five minute drive to San Luis Obispo was halted short of the two hour mark for a very important celebration. Was it really a time of celebration though? Some could argue that the mood and the hot weather of a summer June 12 afternoon in 2021 was just another day. After the strike of the pandemic, online instruction skyrocketed around the state of California. Other California State schools, resorted to their spring commencement to be online, our school was no different. We stopped our car at a local 76 gas station just off the side of the freeway to celebrate my virtual graduation from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. My mom pulled up in the parking lot where next to the 76 gas station was a McDonald's with free Wifi which allowed for us to connect to the Zoom meeting. We waited as name after name from the History Department was called, in which you could hear the only the applause and cheers of close family for fellow graduates called before me. The quiet tension in the car while waiting for my name to be called was very obvious in the car. There was no excitement at all. Just another normal day in the hot June sun. Finally, my name was called upon. A description of my goals and my final senior project were mentioned in the ceremony in my honor. All while the bustling of cars, the smell of fast food and the barking and crying of young kids and dogs lingered in the background of the car. My family applauded clapping and crying out my name. Seconds later, the next name was read and I logged off zoom, placed my cap to the side and we continued our drive to San Luis Obispo. Apart of me wondered that day we drove away from the gas station what a true graduation may have felt like, may have sounded like without these troubling times.
• 
  2020-03-21

  Education changed

  It was my first year teaching middle school history. I was bright-eyed, excited, and felt like I had finally found my calling in life. I went into spring break with such an excited feeling about my new career path. Coming from retail, I could finally have time to spend with my family and not have to worry about making a quota. Then the email came. We would be moving to distance learning and I would not get the chance to finish my first year as an educator with my first group of kids. The sound I most remember was the Google Meets login when someone joined. That sound will forever be associated with the pandemic. The sound I had never heard before became the sound that brought me joy as I was finally able to make sure my students were okay. I remember that sound and immediately checking to see who was logging in. It brought mixed feelings of compassion, empathy, and sadness. Even as we started to get back into the classroom, nothing would ever be the same as it once was. But that sound, that one quick sound, brought on the emotions of this educator. And I hope I will never have to hear that sound again.
• 2020-03-05

  The Sounds of a Casino

  Living in Las Vegas and working in a hotel and casino, I got used to a few things; the sounds of the slot machines and the (albeit unpleasant) aroma of cigarettes and cigars. After being brought back to work after the shutdown, what I immediately noticed was how much quieter the casino floor was with all of the restrictions in place. There was a limit to how many guests we could have in, and social distancing meant only every other machine could be used. While wearing a mask and having plexiglass in front of my station, I had to get used to projecting my voice so that guests could hear me while I was trying to help them. Even now, I still wear a mask and have to actively make an effort to be heard.
• 
  2022-08-22

  Sensory Roadblock: Unexpected Detriments and Benefits of Mask-wearing in Gathering Food and Information

  During the pandemic, I opted to order all of my groceries online to be delivered. I have never been much of a take-out person and mostly cook at home, so I really love to pick my ingredients when grocery shopping. Missing the in-store grocery shopping experience over the past few years, I sometimes go out to gather my fresh foods, especially after the normalizing of social distancing and mask regulations. Though I still prefer to wear a mask, even when regulations are occasionally loosened, a sensory occurrence that I did not expect to miss or lack as a consequence of mask-wearing is the importance of smell in my food-gathering habits. Being able to check the ingredients for both flavor and freshness qualities by smelling them is such a natural instinct that most lifeforms use to find their food. I never considered myself someone who actively smells things very often, so this sensory roadblock surprised me, as I initially chose to go to the store to get better foods than those that had been delivered to me. I have often come home and found that the asparagus or meat that I had just bought had that unpleasant odor of food past its prime, even though its appearance and texture seemed just perfect. I also miss being able to smell the full intensity of the fresh-cut flower bouquets that proclaim the seasons when going out grocery shopping. This temporary lessening of sense-of-smell from wearing a mask has been a bit of a hinderance in such ways, but it has been beneficial in many others. For example, I have dust allergies and used to become very stuffy after visiting my library due to the book dust—especially since, as a history and art history graduate student, all the books that I want or need to check out are usually the oldest or dustiest ones! Not being able to smell or breathe-in these things has helped me dramatically in my experience of information gathering. I can now spend hours looking over books that I wouldn’t have thought of opening before and have found some wonderful sources for my research. Though of course many historical texts are fully available in online formats and an invaluable resource, I often feel the same way about visiting my library as I do visiting my grocery store—I hope to find something myself that might work even better for my own project, either culinarily or academically.
• 
  2021-02

  Hoping for Good Days

  It was several months since my last day in a classroom. March 13, 2020 to be exact. Friday the 13th. The previous school year we were told it was to be a possible 2 week break that ended up going until the end of the year. What was to become of the next school year of 2020-21? I tried to stay optimistic over the summer and enjoy the time spent with family. We were lucky to have each other and have a yard and house where we felt safe to be quarantined. I knew a lot of my students were not so lucky in that they lived in apartments with several family members. Still I wanted to be optimistic about the upcoming year. As the start of school year date got closer, it was apparent we were to continue online teaching via zoom. I felt I was pretty tech savvy and could integrate technology enough to keep my students engaged, but it was still challenging. I taught incoming freshman 9th grade students. They did not get the “new students” experience of coming to my school and meeting and greeting all the faculty and each other. Initially the expectation was to have all students have cameras on, and for the most part in that Fall semester, my students did. But then towards the break students started getting sick, parents were losing their jobs, some even lost family members. People were sad. We barely made it into the winter break with students attending “online”. I was fortunate to have most of my students log in but in other classes students stopped showing up. And if they did log in, cameras were off and it felt like talking to a void. Were they still paying attention? Were some of them just logging in and doing other things like playing video games or sleeping? I was frustrated, but also empathetic knowing for a lot of these students survival, not academics, was their priority during the time. After the winter break and a return to zoom teaching, it was a palpable sadness. There were people who had lost loved ones, and my students were depressed. I could feel the grief and sorrow through the screen and sometimes I would weep after my classes ended for the day. I had to maintain a persona of optimism for my students online and also keep encouraging their academic pursuits. I have never had such a challenging teaching year like the 2020-21 year. The sensory experience I am recalling is sometime in February of 2021. It was the second semester of school, back from the break and many people had a rough time of the holiday season with loneliness, fear, and loss. I don't know how I came up with the idea but I thought about students sharing playlists with the class. I would review them, and if we had a test together on zoom I would play songs on the background. One particular song I found was “Good Days” by SZA. It was not my style of music, but I knew it was what my students listened to. The day I played that song I started to get a lot of feedback from the zoom chat from all my classes about that song. By this time a majority of students had stopped showing themselves on camera and/or stopped talking, however Good Days sparked something in my students. The intro of the song is very melodic and serene. It is one of those songs that sounds very sweet, but is very sad at the same time. I could tell by the response of my students that it hit a nerve. A few of them began to speak up again in class, a few would turn their camera on again. And of course, I had several sending messages after class thanking me for the song. This happy/sad song connected me again to my students that I thought I had lost over winter break. It gave me a little hope again, and I think it gave some of them hope too. Now, whenever I hear Good Days by Sza it reminds me of those lonely online zoom classes in February and how we were all feeling a bit sad, but a simple song gave us all a bit of hope that the future was to have some Good Days ahead. Lyrics to Good Days All the while, I'll await my armored fate with a smile Still wanna try, still believe in (good days) Good days, always (good days) Always inside (always in my mind, always in my mind, mind) Good day living in my mind
• 
  2020-03

  Bells Continued to Ring

  When the pandemic began, I was finishing up my last few months of student teaching. My mornings included talking to students about their day and weekend plans they had; however, once the pandemic started that changed drastically. The students were gone and the silence began. Highschools are customarily, a loud and busy environment; yet, overnight the students were gone and there was nothing at school but silence. The halls were empty, my classroom was empty, the whole school was empty apart from a small group of staff. For the rest of the year, I would go to school and sit in my classroom alone in almost complete silence. No face to face interaction with students or even other staff. As a teacher, this was taxing on my mental health. From one day to the next my entire occupation had been flipped upside down. I never saw my students again. I still wonder what became of them. The one thing that sticks in my mind from that period is the sound of dismissal bells at school. For some reason the bells continued to ring even though there were no students. Everyday when that first hour bell would ring I would remember that no students were coming. This was a reminder everyday that the world had changed. I recorded the sound of dismissal bells at my highschool. Two years after the pandemic started, this sound still reminds me of teaching during the pandemic.
• 2021-01-15

  The Smell of Venetian Canals

  In January of 2021 my husband and I traveled to Venice Italy for a quick weekend getaway to meet up with my brother & his family. My husband and I had visited Venice before, but not since COVID, let alone during a time when regulations in Italy were quite strict; vaccine documentation had to be shown everywhere we went, masks needed to be worn at all times, etc. Upon arrival to the city, there were several things that instantly struck both my husband and I in regard to the changes we were now witnessing. A far different Venice than the one we experienced a few years before. Not only FAR less crowds, all the masked faces, empty plazas once the sun set, the clear waters of the canals, but the SMELL of Venice was different. Even though I love Venice as a city, I vividly remember the unpleasant smell of the canals when we visited a few years prior, in the height of the summer. Remebering that as we took a gondola ride through the canals, I couldn't help but notice the unpleasant aroma coming from the canal waters. But now that we have found ourselves in a COVID world Venice, the smell was noticably gone, and you could actually see the bottom of the shallow canals as you walked over the bridges throughout the city. I was previously unable to notice how truly shallow the canals were until this COVID world allowed for less polluted waters of Venice, and therefore a better smelling Venice as well.
• 
  2020-04-07

  Adventures in Baking during the COVID pandemic

  I was a line cook and baker for many years professionally, but ended up with severe carpal tunnel syndrome and had to find a new profession. For a while I just stopped cooking all together because it was hard for me to give up something I loved so much. But during the COVID-19 pandemic I had a lot of time on my hands, so I started baking and cooking again. I was determined to find the best sugar cookie recipe I could find. This was one of the recipes I tried out during the long lockdowns. They ended up turning out really well.
• 2021-06-15

  COVID-19, Masks, and Bleach at a Preschool

  During the COVID-19 pandemic I worked at a preschool where I taught primarily 12-to-18-month-old children until they were ready to move onto the next class. The use of a face mask and rigorous cleaning methods were a constant part of my day for the entire time I worked there. Now, the memory of that time stands out to me the most through the feel of the mask on my face and the smell of the bleach that seemed to stay with me for days. The kids I taught were too young to wear masks (that was reserved for the two-year-old and up classes), but they did not seem bothered that the adults surrounding them wore pieces of fabric over their mouths and noses. For eight hours a day I felt the pull on my ears, the scratchy material against my nose, and the frustration of the mask muffling my voice when trying to get the attention of ten children in the classroom. Pointing out facial features like a nose or certain facial expressions like being happy or sad with a mask on became normal. More often than not, I would feel a small hand reach up and attempt (or succeed) at pulling my mask down which I proceeded to pull back on as quickly as possible while ignoring how good the fresh air on my face felt. Aside from the masks, the administration required routinely cleaning all toys used everyday with a high concentration of bleach. During nap time, the smell of the bleach filled the room as we cleaned all toys used that day, regardless of the duration of the activity. Even with a mask on, the smell lingered in my nose, on my clothes, and in the classroom to the point that I always felt that I smelled of bleach. When COVID-19 infection numbers were up in the local area or we had case in our school, the bleach concentration, as expected, went up and so did the smell. While I supported all efforts made at the preschool to reduce possible COVID-19 infections, these sensory descriptions illustrate the mental and emotional draining portion of the pandemic history.
• 2020-08-11

  Long-Distance Learning

  The American response to the global COVID-19 Pandemic was multi-faceted. However, of specific importance to the nation were the changes made to public education. As the Pandemic resulted in the closure of businesses, teachers and students were required to continue their educational programs online from the privacy of their homes. Although the effects of distance learning will continue to be seen, virtual learning severely limited the ability of students and teachers to use sensory perception as a tool for learning and instruction. First, distance learning no longer enabled American teachers to utilize the sensory perception of “proximity.” Throughout public education “proximity” is used to encourage student engagement with both instruction and content. Many teachers will walk their classrooms during student activities and use sensory perception to sensorially inform students that they are near to them and are assessing their engagement. Teachers use this strategy as a reinforcement tool to develop students’ ability to stay on task. Yet, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, social distancing policies made “proximity” not only impossible, but also illegal, limiting to what extent teachers could use sensory perception to foster engagement and learning. Second, not only were educators no longer allowed to use the sensory perception tool of physical proximity, but also many educators were forced to rely solely on the sensory perception of sound. School districts throughout the state of California, for example, did not permit educators to require their students to verify their attendance in live video format. The result was educators and students were engaging predominantly through speaking and listening. Furthermore, being denied the sensory perception of sight, educators could not assess to what extent students were engaging with instruction and activities. In conclusion, the COVID-19 Pandemic enacted emergency response strategies which directly affected the education of Generation Z. For both students and educators, sensory perception became more limited for every student. Yet, the sciences, including social science, are built upon the empirical information a human being receives through them. Perhaps this video will serve as evidence to answer the question, “Is the right to sensory perception and scientific information included within the natural rights of life, liberty, and property?”
• 2020-06-06

  The Town Without a Sound.

  It had been a few months after that start of the pandemic. I left my home early in the morning and noticed something odd when I got outside there was no sound. At this time of the year, I would expect to hear kids outside playing in the Cul-de-sac. It was the weekend and early in the morning I expected to hear someone working on their yard, yet no one was around I heard nothing. I also lived close to the highway and if it was any other day I would hear a cars and trucks going by but, today there was nothing. It gave me an eerie feeling like time had stood still or that I was the last person on earth. Lucky a few seconds later I herd a car that pulled me out of this moment of dread. My wife had just returned from working the night shift as a nurse at the hospital. I will never forget the day it was so quiet that I felt the earth stand still.
• 2020-03-16

  Rubber Gloves, Isopropyl Alcohol and the Arizona Heat

  Arizona State University employees, myself included, were sent home mid-March of 2020 due to the rising concerns of Covid-19. I recall driving home that initial day thinking that a sea change was upon us and that uncertainty lay ahead. How would I balance my concerns about this unknown virus yet help keep the peace in my house with my wife and our young boys as the country learned how to live with our new, unwelcome guest? Little did I know the biggest changes in our lives would be the small changes in our daily routines. In looking back at those first days, one scene that was routinely repeated in particular plays out in my memory. We quickly shifted our grocery shopping from in-person purchases to ordering on-line and picking up food curbside outside of the store. Before bringing the food inside our house, my wife and I had agreed that we would wipe down our new food packages with paper towels soaked in isopropyl alcohol. At the time it was unclear if the virus survived on packaging for long periods so we thought it best to disinfect the food. Looking back on it now, it seems silly but the scene still plays out in my memory: I can still smell the latex of the rubber gloves I would put on so as not to completely dry out or burn my hands. When pouring the alcohol onto the paper towels, the smell would sting my nose and a tingling sensation would pervade my nasal passages. When wiping the plastic packaging of say, frozen vegetables, I would hear the crinkling sound of the bag and it would resonate through my ears. To compound the smells and sounds of this process, I would be remiss to not include the fact that this was all taking place in our garage during one of the hottest Arizona springs and summers on record. The heat was oppressive that season, enough to identify with that 'oven blast' description we use in this region and I would be dripping with sweat by the time the task was complete. To say the least, it was a surreal experience; one where if you had told me two weeks earlier, I would be wiping down groceries in a stifling garage to prevent a possible infection of an unknown virus, I would have laughed at you but, alas, I was there and the senses surrounding the scenario were real.
• 
  2020-03-21

  The Day the Call to Prayer Changed in Cairo

  If there's one thing you can count on in the Muslim world, it's the call to prayer (adhan) audibly marking the sun's path through the sky, and everyone's route to a mosque, five times a day. It might sound a little different in various regions, a little more musical in Egypt, a little less practiced sometimes in Kyrgyzstan, but it's always the call to prayer, and has been for over 1000 years. But across the Muslim world in March 2020, as mosques closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the call to prayer was adapted. Instead of saying, "Come to prayer, come to salvation" it said in Egypt, "Pray in your homes, pray on your travels." The wording had been changed like this a few times in the past when mosques were closed because of war or plague or weather, but I honestly never thought I'd hear it myself. The call to prayer seems constant and unchanging, part of the highly sensory experience of Muslim prayer, so this adaptation made the pandemic more present for everyone in Egypt. I'm not Muslim myself, but I talked with Muslim friends all over the world about the change in the adhan. One woman in Kuwait said, "It just sounds so... ominous.. especially at maghrib prayer, it's sunset and getting dark, and the voice over the loudspeakers is saying to stay home... also because I have never, ever heard them change it like this before. Ever. It's like I'm waiting for an eclipse, and the flocks of birds flying away, animals fleeing, etc." I took this video during the last prayer of the day on 21 March 2020 at a mosque near our apartment in Cairo, Egypt. If you're not familiar with the adhan, you obviously won't notice anything different, but this rendition is beautiful even if you don't understand it. If you do, the new wording begins at 1:13. The beginning of the video is a little bumpy while we were getting to the right spot, but then it settles down a bit.