6.324: Where to Next?

In the age of corona, we often find ourselves pondering the next steps. (Well, those of us that are being responsible human beings and not risking the lives of others simply because we want a haircut or we want to eat at some second-rate dining establishment.) What happens once this is over? Will it ever be over? Where am I going to go once this is over? Well, today, I'm going to examine the latter by exploring a topic that I will admit I have little experience in: travel. During my nearly 37 years on this planet, I have only been beyond the borders of the United States once, when I was a infant or toddler, and I do not recall any thing from the alleged excursion; so it does not count. Also, it was to Toronto so not even that far from the U.S. border. So, let's actually examine trips that I have some sort of recollection of:

1. I have traveled beyond the Southeastern United States, three times and only one of those trips was longer than a day trip. I went to Ocean City, MD twice and Kansas City, KS/MO once.
2. I have only been on a plane three times: going to and returning from Washington D.C. and once when my mother went to retrieve me from Arkansas.
3. The city I have "visited" the most is Smyrna, GA for Anime Weekend Atlanta.
4. The place beyond the state line I have been to most is Manassas, VA because that was where the majority of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and various other relatives resided.
5. I have only gone on overnight trips to six states (not counting GA) and the District of Columbia.

So, let's just say that I have lived a very bound-to-home life. It is not that I have never wanted to travel, I once considered teaching English in Japan and I have dreamed of going to San Diego Comic Con, Anime Expo, and New York Comic Con for years but I have never had the means of doing so until this year and well, then COVID-19 struck and I got stuck (at home). Prior to the onset of the current pandemic, I had seriously considered making arrangements to travel for away matches for Atlanta United but now, we don't even know when the Major League Soccer season will resume and whether or not matches will be played in front of crowds. Now, I don't know what happens next or whether or not I would even be in a position to be able to travel if I wanted.

6.322: Life in the Age of Corona

Huh? It seems as though Blogger has a new design--it's interesting. I suppose I'd need to write more in order to figure out whether I like it or not. Well, I can already tell you one thing that I do not like about the new Blogger interface is the inability to align text the way you want without having to break out the ole HTML coding knowledge. Anyways, I'm not here to discuss the new Blogger design and layout; I'm here to discuss how things have been since COVID-19 arrived in America and made its presence felt to the masses.

In private, I have been keeping a "pandemic journal". I started late but I've been keeping it current (unlike this site). It's been an interesting few months to say the least and in a way, I feel comfortable in saying that the world will never be the same despite all of idiots protesting scientific research and researchers. We live in a time where greed is as prevalent as ever. We live in a country where news of nearly 2,000 deaths daily does not even faze people anymore. We live in a period where inconveniences are deemed as a threat to Constitutionally-granted rights.

And to be frank, it wears me down. I had wanted to write more at this time but I am exhausted so I'll go ahead and end it here.