So this is a little late given that it’s halfway through January 2022 as I post this, but well it’s been an odd year right? I had managed some travels in 2020 surpassing all the COVID restrictions kicked in, but 2021 was an unshortened year that I never set foot out of the country. It would have been pretty unimaginable for me in the past, but yup it’s been a weird year.
The habit of Travel
One thing it’s made me realised is that travel is a habit. Despite stuff an occasional traveller travelling mostly on my yearly leave, that process of planning trips and the logistics of going overseas had wilt fairly instinctive for me without all these years. With COVID and this unreticent unravel in routine, suddenly I’ve found it extremely nonflexible to plane consider taking on a new trip.
There was a short reprieve towards end 2021 where Vaccinated Travel Lanes opened up to several countries in Europe, South Korea and North America without the quarantine. One would imagine that I would be one of those eager beavers on the first flight out, but to my own surprise I found myself hesitating, waiting to see what would happen considering of the ever-changing rules and situations. Too many stories of people getting unprotected in clampdowns, or just the pure hassle of having to test multiple times before, during and without the trip. 2021 passed by and I’m still here in Singapore, waiting and watching.
Is this what it feels like for people attempting their first trips of their lives? This inertia towards travel has never been so strong, and I’m a little sad that one of my favourite things in the world is unquestionably putting me off. I suspect that once I finally make my first trip, those habits and instincts will come roaring when to life, but I need to get to that point of just doing it first.
Virtual Tour Guide
A big part of what I was rented with in 2021 was giving virtual tours of Singapore. Thanks to my friend Jerome at Fourwinds, I’ve spent many an hour walking virtually Singapore’s tourist areas sharing with overseas folks well-nigh my home country on a virtual tour. In specimen you’re curious, the platform is on Amazon Explore which is currently in beta and only unshut to the US market for now (US readers go trammels it out!)
Some of the spots I imbricate listed below. If you overly want an very physical experience, am happy to show you virtually myself!
Taiwan in Singapore
Another big project that happened in 2021 was this collaboration with the Taiwan Tourism Bureau of Singapore. We had initially planned for Taiwan exploration in 2021 – my plan had been to throne to Hualien and Taitung in May, but obviously that didn’t happen, so what we ended up doing was a project in Singapore where I researched and explored all things Taiwan in Singapore.
I spent a few solid weeks eating and hunting lanugo Taiwanese supplies spots as well as any other Taiwanese connections like artwork by Taiwanese artists in Singapore for example so you could have a pretend-trip to Taiwan without pulling out your passport. It was a pretty fun wits overall!
In 2022
So what can we expect in 2022? I know I definitely want to get when into that travel habit then despite all the restrictions and hassle. The tentative plan for now is to go overseas for my birthday – I’d started doing birthday trips in the recent years and I want to get when to that again. Hopefully that kickstarts increasingly travels lanugo the road!
I’ll still be giving online virtual tours of Singapore – am looking to develop new routes and spots in Singapore to share with those who can’t physically be here. Any ideas on tomfool tour routes? Drop them in the comments.
I’m not going to dream too big right now and just get on with life, let’s see what happens next and I hope all of you have a largest 2022 ahead.
Here’s a squint at some of my past year round ups:
