March 24th, 2020
It’s probably time for life update number two. In some ways, nothing has changed since I wrote about our runs in the redwoods. We’re still here among the world’s tallest trees – running locally and loving it! But, the world has changed around us.
I resisted writing a CoViD-19 article, because I’d rather make you smile with nice pictures and help you dream about cool places to play in. The news and social media are saturated: it’s all we talk about right now. But the virus is real, ongoing and it affects us too.
It’s funny in one of those not-really-funny kind of ways that we dodged the virus in China, only to have it catch up to us in California. A cancelled return flight meant that we avoided restrictions then – only face them now. And while the situation is reportedly improving there, it’s continuing to worsen here.
Also crazy to think that our trip started with the Hong Kong 100. Late last year, our biggest concern was that this race would be cancelled due to local protests. Now, most events worldwide – including some of ours – have been cancelled due to the public health risk posed by the virus.
What we’ve done
When we returned to California in early February, it felt like we’d won the lottery. There was oodles to explore, and we had the time and freedom to do so. We started this extended vacation with a road trip that had us falling in love with the US all over again. With adventures in national parks like Crater Lake and Redwood, how could we not?
Like kids in candy shop, the more we realized what was available, the more more we wanted! All of these years abroad I only really paid lip service to the idea of exploring our home countries more thoroughly. It wasn’t until this trip when the scale and scope of what we could do in North America fully dawned on me.
So even after we got back to (virtual) work, we kept exploring this vast wonderland. In early March, we went on a road trip to run an incredible race and peek at some more magnificent national parks (peek over here and here!). Juggling driving time with full-time work made it hectic, the unique landscape made it wonderful, and it was an unforgettable adventure!
What we’re doing
It was a good thing that we had that all-time great journey, because it was possibly the last of its kind (for a while)! We returned to state on high alert. Our county issued a shelter-in-place order on March 20th. And so we’ve been doing so, venturing outside just a little, and just the two of us. We’re still running, but now we’re running locally.
Initially, I had a strong sense of personal preparedness for the pandemic. I’ve been practicing for social distancing my whole life long. As cases of the virus began to mount nationally, Kent and I didn’t have to make many adjustments to our plans. We kept going out to the places we go and doing what we do – because our places are outside and our activities largely antisocial.
Aside from running locally, we have a pretty busy work schedule right now. Factor in cooking, eating, resting, and spending time with the family – and you can see that we didn’t have time for much social stuff. So that’s been easy.
It’s also as though the rest of society has suddenly learned what it’s like to be obsessive about cleanliness. I already had a thing about hand-washing and germs. So it’s actually great news for me that other members of society are getting on board with more rigorous hygiene practices!
In the past week, we’ve really reduced our exploration radius in response to both the escalating risk and the preventative measures now in place. But even that wasn’t too difficult, because we are lucky to live in a beautiful place with easy access to nature. Also, we got to do some truly epic adventures far and wide before the crisis really took hold here, so I certainly can’t complain.
In fact, I’ve been revisiting a lot of our awesome adventures from previous years this month! I decided to do a blogging version of March madness and endeavored to post more days than not. Maybe you’ve recently read about other national parks, like Yosemite, Death Valley and Sequoia – or state parks like Mount Diablo. I’ve written about regional parks too – and waxed poetic about why I love the California coast. You can see all the latest on the USA page. Digging into my photo archives has been a particularly fun stay home activity – I highly recommend it!
What is difficult? Missing my side of the family (a lot!) and some special far-away friends. Luckily, they’re just a phone call or message away. Since everybody else is sheltering in place too, it’s easy to connect.
What we will do
I guess I picked kind of a strange time to fall in love with America again. But then again, sometimes the sequence of events that led us being here – kinda indefinitely – feels like a sign. Could we go back to China? Yes. Would we, though?
We love to travel, and we love Asia. Our lovely life took shape over the past decade of living abroad – and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I can’t feel anything but grateful for the work that funds big adventures. We love to play local, but we still have big, global dreams.
Even when the pandemic subsides (and it will!), we face big decisions and bigger choices. Staying here has reminded us both about some of the essential ingredients for a great life. Freedom, access to information, a variety of trails, great food, family. Running locally? More fun than I thought it would be.
Maybe this is a good time to reevaluate our priorities and live by our values. Maybe it’s about time we start treating this land like the playground it is, and making plans to explore it. This could be a time to shape new dreams and seek out adventure on new horizons.
What can you do?
Keep running locally. Help maintain your health and the health of us all. Health is wealth – everything else can wait a few weeks.
Keep dreaming big dreams. Remember that this too shall pass. Like other folks in travel, I’ve seen a drop in visits to my website. Luckily, Peaks and Penguins is free – I don’t make an income here. But more importantly, I don’t think the current situation should mean that we can’t look to the future or imagine distant horizons. Definitely, this is a time to appreciate what we already have. But there’s no reason not to set goals and imagine adventures. So please keep coming back to dream with me!
Practically speaking, I’m no expert, and besides, you’re likely bombarded with information with what you should be doing right now. It may or may not be helpful or interesting to you to know what I’m doing. Still, so that it’s not all about me, but rather also about you, I offer the following:
I would urge you to be cautious during this time: are there any non-essential public activities you could cut down on? Order it online or have it delivered rather than going to the store. I would encourage you to be active, for your own mental and physical wellbeing. Is now not the perfect time for a virtual yoga class, to use your home gym or to go for a run/walk in your favorite park? Finally, I suggest connection. To your body and the hard work it does of keeping you well, to the food nourishing you, to the nature that surrounds you, to the hobbies getting you through a stressful time, and most importantly, to the people you love.
