I was seated at a bar in JFK airport drinking a 13 dollar Modello. Incredibly nervous about things I’d been hearing about the virus and how bad it actually could get. There wasn’t too much information at the time, but you just knew it was something that would become quite serious.
I’m not an easy flyer by any means, but this really had me thinking of a million different scenarios. So, needless to say, I had my share of beers before boarding the flight.
The trip was: JFK > Dublin > Glasgow > Dublin > JFK.
I’d never been over to Scotland/Glasgow before and was anxious to get over there and meet some people that would go on to become great friends.
It was an incredible week in Glasgow. Gall and Clare were incredibly generous with their time and it was filled with great conversation, people, food and plenty of drinks. Getting to see Loch Lomond was a highlight, as well. Not pictured, but also going to see Celtic for the first time was something that I’ll not soon forget. Can’t wait until its safe to get back there….
After departing Glasgow, I was headed to Dublin to meet up with a couple of friends to drive across to Dingle and stay for a couple of days.
Arriving in Dingle was really a wild sight. Seemed incredibly empty and you could feel the collective nervousness, in a way. We were keeping up with the news and it was ramping up, but still didn’t see much change to every day life over there. Masks in public weren’t a thing yet. Social distancing wasn’t as big a thing yet. It was just everyone trying to get a grip on what was happening and get more information. There really wasn’t any type of guidance as to what to do and how to act.
The third day or so in Dingle I remember waking up around 3 AM to a bunch of text messages saying “Good luck getting home…” This was when the “travel ban” was set in place. Not knowing it didn’t include the UK/Ireland at the time, I woke everyone else up and we talked about what to do.
We ended up cutting the trip short in Dingle and we were going to drive to Dublin to see if we could get an early flight home. No luck. Everything was booked and flights home were 1000s of dollars more on top of what we had already paid..
In the end, we stayed the rest of our trip. Took the rest of that day and went to Howth. Eventually got to a fairly deserted Dublin and all cultural sites were closed down. Only thing open were the pubs. Not the worst thing in the world, but it was really hard to feel like we should be enjoying ourselves.
Getting home, I just felt exhausted, depressed and a sense of guilt. I think the first two months after returning I didn’t leave my apartment.
It’s hard to comprehend this was only a year ago. And how much pain and suffering has taken place throughout world since then. Seeing these photos is like mourning a past life…
On a personal level, the year has been a mixture of highs and mostly lows. Found it hard to celebrate any type of personal highs because of what the rest of the world was going through. Everything felt like it didn’t matter. But, I consider myself lucky to have such great friends and family to be there for me when things seem too much.
I am looking forward to the day when it’s safe to head back and see the friends and the places I love very much.
