With just 4 weeks til I leave, I’m slowly putting plans in place. Well, actually mostly planning and figuring where and when I will be anywhere!

First week is completely sorted! Quarantine at Betsy and Barry’s! My vaccine shot and from there, probably south to San Diego for a few days to see Georgia before heading north - in increments. I’ll probably spend considerable time in Washington before going east to Montana.

I’ve been reading how prices have increased in the US recently, which could make a big difference to how long I can afford to stay. But as I don’t have a return ticket, I’m not stressing about that.

It’s hard to describe how much better I am feeling - just in general. It feels like there is hope ahead and I look back to just a month or so ago, when life was looking so bleak and gray. Everything seemed lacklustre and boring even though there were days I went out exploring. The overall feeling was just plain miserable.

My timing to begin a new chapter of my life, back when I arrived in October 2019, seemed just right. Meeting up with old friends, finding a place to live and little adventures each week. Then we all know the disastrous year that followed. Life completely retracted into a tiny existence.

It generally (They say) takes a couple of years to become comfortable in a new place; getting familiar with the location; making friends; discovering what’s available in the new location. I felt, before the lockdown, that I was well on my way to getting settled. (I figured it wouldn’t take that long, as this is “home” so am familiar with location, have some old friends etc.) But the extended isolation and almost total lack of any social interaction have had profound impacts on my well-being, as it has on others. Even knowing that others were, and still are, experiencing the doldrums, depression and lack of motivation and creativity I felt, didn’t help.

I knew, going through it, how damaging to our mental health it can be. But coming out the other side, for me the knowledge that my life can get back on track soon, and that I will be vaccinated soon, is creating a whole new world and outlook for me. My enthusiasm is returning and I’m feeling excited about the future.

Whether anyone here will have been vaccinated by the time I get back, remains to be seen. Supposedly, the rollout is to start two days before I leave, but I don’t think anyone is holding their breath!

My preparation here is pretty simple. Sorting through and packing away my stuff won’t take long. I’ve hardly gathered anything extra! Thoko, my helper who comes in once a week to clean, will water my plants and open up and air the place out once a week. And that’s all that has to be done. Lock and Leave!

At times, in the last couple of weeks, it’s felt like life can get back to “normal” at some stage. I’ve been out to lunch, tea and cocktails all in one day! Met a friend for coffee the next day, went to the Ushaka Aquarium and out lunch, and then yesterday, had breakfast with my goddaughter, Catherine. Whether life in general is actually coming right or whether it’s just my improved attitude and outlook - I don’t know and who cares! Just so long as it continues.