Impossible Islands

by syaffolee

The reason why I call this post “Impossible Islands” is that, well, it’s impossible to get to an island right now with all the travel restrictions due to the pandemic. Which is really too bad. I love traveling, when it’s for fun and not work. And when I’m thinking about what place to go next, I almost immediately think about islands or some other remote area. It’s probably due to my sense of adventure (since real life isn’t too terribly exciting) and my introvert’s tendency to love isolation.

But that said, I’m not going to rush off for an island vacation once travel restrictions have eased. I suspect everyone will be rushing off to vacation once restrictions have eased and anywhere that had any tourist activity before the pandemic will have many times more once it’s over. And if I want to find a place that is an island of tranquility, I’m going to have to think outside the box in terms of vacation locations.

The most obvious unconventional island is to just stay at home and not interact with anyone. But that’s pretty much been the norm for the past couple of months so I don’t think this would count. I don’t particularly want to immediately travel to obscure places either. Because other  people will be traveling at the same time and since there are only a finite number of thoroughfares, there is bound to be a hoard of people on that same road even if they’re not exactly going to my destination.

No, my thought is to harness the wonders of technology and the Internet to figure out where  all the traffic is going and what places people are visiting–which can easily be seen by Google Maps. That would give more real time information on where the crowds are gathering.

As to what locations that could be predicted to be “islands”: perhaps places where people aren’t restricted to any more. Like grocery stores. Maybe when people aren’t so worried about toilet paper and bread flour and are spending more time in restaurants, the dairy aisles will be empty and the fruit stands lonely.  If there are enough people feeling too starved for human interaction, they will flock to crowded attractions to see and be seen.  And maybe it will be easier to go to those places where you can hike alone and hidden without stumbling upon another human being crazed with cabin fever.