Tag: road trip

“Travel” Blog: Beach Day in MA

Leave a comment

Good morning and happy Monday!

I’m excited for this week’s post, as I’ve actually been able to travel a bit in the past week! While still social distancing in Massachusetts, I finally took advantage of the hot weather and spent last Wednesday at the beach. My friend and I drove down to Marshfield for the day, and I’m definitely going to start making this a weekly thing throughout the summer.

In past summers, I’ve regularly taken day trips to the beach, but it’s always been more difficult since I also would have been working regularly, and friends work regularly, so keeping that and the weather in mind, it wasn’t too often we could just pick up and head to the beach when it was warm out. Now that most of us have fairly open schedules, it’s much easier, and also much more enjoyable since we’ve been spending so much time at home.

The day that we went was almost 90ºF, so the ocean was much needed to cool down. While the beach was more crowded than usual, I do have to say people were doing a good job of social distancing and keeping within their respective groups, away from others. We were on a more private part of Rexhame Beach, so I’m sure the public areas were more crowded, but I was expecting the conditions to be much worse, so I was pleasantly surprised to see people being so careful. This makes me more comfortable going back in upcoming weeks!

I also realized how calming and good for the mind it can be to just step outside your usual environment, since that’s so rare nowadays. I’ve always loved the beach, but this trip was definitely special since I can now appreciate the notion of going to the beach so much more. Not only does it separate me from the place I’ve been spending the entire past three months, but it makes me realize how lucky I am to live so close to so much nature, and I’m aware of how much happier I am by getting out there and just enjoying time in a different place.

Of course not everyone is a beach person, but wherever you are and whatever interests you in nature, I strongly encourage you to start taking advantage of that (while staying safe!). If you’ve already been active and out in nature, try something new. Changing up our routines is incredible for our mental health and mood, and we often don’t realize that until we actually make those changes. I’ve been walking a lot while at home, and while this has become one of my new favorite exercises and ways to get outside, I didn’t realize how used to it I’d become until I actually got out of my home town and relaxed in a new place.

This beach day was the furthest I’ve traveled in the last three months, and while I would normally consider this a routine drive, this time really felt like a travel experience. Although it will probably be a while before I can post true travel content again, this is the closest I could get for now, and I’m okay with that. I’m hopeful that I can continue taking small trips here and there around New England in the coming months, and I think this will be good for me to realize that traveling doesn’t have to mean getting on a plane and leaving the country.

I know this week’s post was shorter, but I just wanted to share the highlight of my last week, which also happened to be a makeshift travel day. I hope this inspires you all to get out someday in the next week and find somewhere new to explore, or even somewhere you used to go all the time and haven’t been able to recently. I still encourage everyone to be safe and take the necessary health precautions, but I think fresh air and a change of scenery is also important for our health.

I hope to see you all next week, enjoy the nicer weather, and stay safe!

xx,

Megan

Subscribe below for more content!

Making the Most of “Travel” During Quarantine

2 Comments

Good morning friends!

I was stuck with finding a topic to write about this week that seemed somewhat relevant at the time, so I went back to the start to what made me start this blog in the first place: travel. Obviously we are unable to travel in the ways most of us would like right now, but this doesn’t mean we can’t still take advantage of our own neighborhoods and our own backyards. Especially during these past few months, I’ve learned there is a lot more around me than I previously thought, and as long as we’re still keeping social distancing practices, I highly recommend you explore somewhere new by you as the days get sunnier.

Last weekend we finally had a break from the rain in Massachusetts, so a friend of mine and I drove down to Marshfield, got some donuts and coffee, and just parked on the side of the road along the water and sat up on the sidewalk of the beach. Of course public beaches and parking lots are closed, but just being able to park next to the ocean and enjoy our breakfast with some fresh air on the water was a major turning point for my mood throughout this whole situation.

[I want to reiterate that in doing all of this it is still important to maintain social distancing – we did not go near any other family on the beach (a decent amount of people were parked/walking along this road), we stayed safe while going in to buy our breakfast, and we made sure to stay by my car so we weren’t traveling too far toward where others had been walking or sitting.]

Even though there’s not much actual activity one can do right now, just getting out of my own town and being by the ocean made such a difference, and I was able to appreciate a beach I’ve been to countless times so much more. I realized how peaceful it can be to just sit in the sun, with the sound of the waves, and not feel like the entire day has to be planned with activities. As the weather continues to warm up – and I’m finally done with school next week – I definitely want to start taking more drives down to the water, and to other areas of nature I’ve been missing.

I’m telling this whole story to emphasize that traveling (especially now!) does not have to mean getting on a plane and flying to some nice hotel in another part of the world. Now more than ever, traveling should simply mean getting out of the house and exploring somewhere new – this can be just as good for the mind. As I said in a previous blog post, nature is the only part of our earth right now that is consistent, that does not know we’re undergoing a pandemic. This will not change, so we should really appreciate and take care of it more.

I’ve found that just being outside for even a few minutes every day improves my mood, makes me feel more active, and gives me a new burst of motivation for the day. So, since that’s really the only thing we can do right now while in quarantine, I’m trying to spend as much time as I possibly can exploring the nature around me, and “traveling” to some new, and some favorite, places. I recommend you all do the same, even just for an hour or two each week.

I know this week’s post was a bit shorter, but I think this is an important message to keep in mind. We are not stuck at home, we are safe at home, so as long as we continue to do our part to keep ourselves and others healthy, I see nothing wrong with finding a new path in the woods to walk along, or driving a few towns over to find some water (even to just sit and look at!). There are so many ways to get creative right now, we just have to work around some safety logistics. Mental health is something we should all be thinking about right now, even if you’ve never had any concerns in the past, and this is a simple and enjoyable way to strengthen that each day 🙂

With all of that being said, I want everyone to set a travel goal for the next week – no matter how small – to get some fresh air, a new perspective, and maybe even discover a new favorite spot. I hope you’re all continuing to stay safe, and hopefully the worst of it will shortly be coming to an end. I have some exciting plans for future content in the next few weeks to mix things up a bit, so definitely stay posted and subscribe below to get updates directly from me! Best wishes, and I’ll see you all next week.

xx,

Megan

Subscribe here for new content!