As a Spanish student living in Austria, corona did not stop me from flying. In this post, I would like to tell my experience between two countries and the many kilometers done this year so far.
What inspired me is seeing all the posts on Instagram of people missing an airplane aisle, the airport, or even the feeling of waking up early in the morning to get a plane which duration is shorter than all the airport hustle.
In my case, I found myself looking how long and comfortable would be going home by train or shared car.
Corona has worked on two extremes, isolating people or putting people together 24 h for months. In my case, corona made me spent many hours with myself between two countries. to travel to my town, from Salzburg, I had to take a train to Munich, the flight to Frankfurt, then a flight to Madrid, or to Barcelona, and then a train to valencia where finally my dad would pick me up to drive one hour to my town. Plus one time that I nearly did not even get to the plane for a misunderstanding of my COVID test. And I did so on until everything was ‘fine’ again. The airports were completely empty, and it was me and the workers there. What felt really strange was that the planes were full. Yes, I did ask myself where all these people came from, and that I would be the virus itself when I arrived home. After arriving home, it felt that I was traveling from Australia, feeling a constant dry-humid climate jet lag. It felt very far away, crossing borders, and having to carry so many papers to show on every border. In the end, it became more normal, now it feels weird to be this free in the Schengen area again.
Homesickness became a real thing, I am a person who has been living in a different country since I was 18 years old, but corona awaken in me the feeling of homesickness, at the beginning I felt detached from myself because I did not felt identified with my ‘personality at all. Also, I have been always so independent that people do not perceive it and do not make it better. The lack of interactions and events reset my brain in a very plane routine that now feels weird to get out of. Back into my traveling back and force, feeling how Europe was becoming extremely big with the lockdown, was a completely new experience.
not thank you Corona.
