By and large I’m mostly enjoying the isolation of the COVID-19 lock down. I love the family time and have plenty of work to keep me busy. But now and then something triggers me and I feel a sense of frustrated wanderlust.
The television shows a rural scene and I miss the wind and the scent of the land, a place devoid of others for many kilometres around.
A photo of a tram or a rattling train and I am back in rural Japan, seeking an onsen to sooth my cracked skin and tired bones.
Towering clouds in blue skies, empty of the aircraft I can dream I am on.
We pass the airport and I am sad that I cannot go in and lose myself in the activity, catch a meal while watching the aircraft and passengers come and go. I imagine staying in a transit hotel, relaxing to ambient music as I rest before my next flight. Wanting an activity pack like those handed out for children, only aimed at adults.
I see the Osmos game, so long on my phone, and recall playing it on my first Scoot flight to Singapore, devoid of any entertainment bar the window and that which I’d brought with me.
A grey Jetstar blanket keeping me warm on the couch brings tears to my eyes as think of adventures on the orange and silver aircraft, rising up from the sunny Gold Coast, its skyline like a dream city on the edge of the sea.
Slow music and I am cruising over the Western Pacific watching movies on the seat back screen while cloudscapes drift past outside.
Still isolated, if only in my head, but with a sense of vastness that goes beyond the confines of the house.