Caravanistan

No travel these days. So what are you doing? How are you doing?

Sitting at home in Canada and gaining weight. I'm thinking about my next trek, but also accepting that that might not be until 2021... I'm also hoping that I actually have money in 2021.

How about trekking in Canada?

The high alpine where I live has snow until early June, and is not dry enough until about mid-July. So I still have to wait for a while.

Well, you have time! Stay safe!

Sitting at home like almost everybody else, teaching English Linguistics online rather than in the lecture theatre/seminar room. Regaining the weight I lost when we moved to the new home. And watering the new lawn. How am I? I really can't complain: I won't lose my job and I don't have to worry about getting paid less than before. The situation is certainly having an impact on me and I feel I'm much less productive than before - but these are very small worries indeed when compared to what other people are struggling with!
My last trip abroad was to Georgia (this time work-related), and I again didn't manage to take a train there. So I'm continuing to dream about train travel (in Georgia and much further beyond). I had planned a train trip through Romania, Moldova, Transnistria, Ukraine and Poland in August/September, but I guess it's not going to happen. Some day...!
Oh - and I still come here to get my daily fix of Caravanistan, hoping to see something new.

Hi Steven, Saule & fellow travellers

Hope you're healthy just like I am.

What I am doing?
Besides fixing our place, trying to teach the kids their school stuff, being lazy & doing nothing.... Not much.

Unfortunately had to cancel family vacation.
Still wonder if I am going to loose my job.
Should this happen.... I have the idea of riding through Iran & Pakistan again, or the stans.

Take care, continue planning

Hey all!

Like pretty much everyone I'm stuck at home. I'm lucky that my job is pretty secure for the time being, my industry is one of the few that isn't affected by this global craziness, so I've been working from home since mid-Feb, which isn't bad considering I hate my commute (London, TfL... enough said). The Mrs isn't as happy as she's been furloughed until June with the prospective of a 30% job cut at his company when that ends.

What am I doing right now? Besides work, I'm doing the 4th draft of a travel book on..Central Asia. I had some great constructive feedback from a professional literary consultant (if you're a buddying writer like myself... do yourself a favour and pay for one. It's money well spent) and I'm doing some extensive re-work. I was ready to swear draft #3 was the one, but I'm actually happy of redoing it again.

Keep safe everyone!

So nice to read your stories! Even though I haven't met many of you yet, it feels like a warm little community.

Saule and I are healthy, sitting at home in Belgium. The lockdown came just before a plane to Almaty was supposed to leave. It's a lockdown-light, so we can still go out into nature, walking, cycling, which is what we have been doing a lot.

Besides that, mostly work, since all my other diversions are cancelled: redesigned the site, re-writing articles, ... No income of course, but keeping a website in the air is pretty cheap, and we have enough money in the bank to survive on baked beans and bread for the next 2 years, so Caravanistan will still be here for the foreseeable future.

I have always been rather shy and awkward with other people, so not having to deal with social interaction and just reading loads of books is not really a punishment for me. I'm more worried for our friends in vulnerable places, especially Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and the people we know in Belgium who are struggling for different reasons.

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