For two years, I was not allowed to travel because of COVID-19. The first year was, of course, for the best and I wasn’t in a position to be traveling around the world. Moreover, I wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of traveling in the “new world” where simply breathing could change the trajectory of my health. The following year was no better as it was followed by so much fear, prejudice, and paranoia that it was clearly not the best idea to go anywhere. Now…this is the year I get to travel.
So, the school I work for, Limai International, has strict but fair rules about traveling. First and foremost, we weren’t allowed to travel within the school year i.e. small holidays and weekends. To put it simply, we are only allowed to travel during the Spring Festival and Summer Holidays. Furthermore, we have to be tested before leaving the city, before coming back into the city, and before the school semester starts. It was absolutely reasonable and I was determined to follow it to the letter because (a) I wanted to travel, (b) I care about my students’ health, and (c) I love my job.
With all of this in mind, I made plans to go to Deqing to visit a friend of mine before he goes back to the States. At first, we were going to go to Sanya with our group of friends to enjoy some sunny relaxation. Long story short, there was a disagreement due to the spike in cases and he didn’t like how another one of my friends was responding to it. So, I decided to split my vacation into two while following the rules of my school. Besides, visiting two cities in one holiday. Sounds like a win-win to me.
Additionally, Deqing is quite lovely. It’s quiet and my buddy and I just spent the entire time watching TV shows on his hard drive. We couldn’t go anywhere because of the Chinese New Years’ celebration, but that didn’t bother us at all. That’s the thing about nerds. We do know how to keep ourselves entertained. FYI, he got me into Letterkenny and I love him for it.
Now, please, don’t forget to follow me on my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads) which are on the right side of my web page. Also, I do love hearing suggestions of what books to read outside of my norm (Science fiction and fantasy) as I am a part of the Goodreads’ reading challenge for 2022. My goal is to read 180 books this year and I’m already at 21. I should probably start reviewing these books.
