That's right, we are back in the US
after spending several months in Spain, most of them in lockdown
in today's video, I wanted to share our experience traveling during this pandemic
and our plans for the rest of this very strange year
Officially, we live here, so we had to come back at some point
and even though the situation is still complicated out there
it was at this time, when Spain is not in a state of emergency anymore
that there were flights that we were able to book, we could travel a little bit more freely than before
we didn't know how long this window for traveling was going to be open
we didn't know, if we waited one more month, or two more months, if we'd be able to come here
so we decided to go for it
The trip here felt very weird
We had to take 3 different flights
The first one was a domestic flight in Spain, it was packed, actually it was an overbooked flight
and there was, of course, no safety distance between passengers
but everyone was wearing masks, at least
masks are required in public transportation in Spain, so that's a good thing
Once in Madrid, we took another flight to London, that flight was pretty much full as well
once again, everyone was wearing masks
it was there, at Heathrow, were things started to get weird
we were at the international terminal, I believe
and it was empty
there was absolutely no one, all the businesses were closed
It felt very, very weird
There were only 3-4 departures that day, the screens were empty and black, they didn't have any flights info
when it was time to board our plane, I thought we were at the wrong gate because there was no one there
But nope, it was the right gate, so we boarded the plane, a big Boeing 787
from London to Chicago
and there was a total of, at most, 20-25 passengers on that plane
there were more crew members than actual passengers
I was wondering how the airline was going to make any profit with that flight, but as I found out later
they loaded the plane with 25 tons of freight, that's how they are making money nowadays, I guess
I was a little bit disappointed, and upset, because they didn't let us sit in first class
it was a waste, all the seats were empty there
but, anyway
Finally, after an 8-hour-long flight and a very long day, we arrived in Chicago
and that was the first place where we had to go through any kind of control related to Covid-19
after going through passport control, we got our temperature taken with one of those devices pointing at your forehead
I almost didn't make it
I guess it was very hot at the airport, I was also wearing a jacket so I didn't have to carry it
anyway, I was pretty hot but I thought it wouldn't affect the result
I got 99.5F and the limit was 100F
it was very, very close, but they let me through
I checked my temperature half an hour later at the hotel, and it was down to 96F
so I don't know if it was the device that is not very accurate, or that it was very hot at the airport and I was wearing my jacket
I don't know what it was, but yeah
I've been checking my temperature daily, that's one of the things the CDC asks you to do after traveling internationally
another one is to stay home for 14 days, we haven't left the house in many days
One thing we did do, though, is we watched the fireworks on July 4th
but it was from the boat, I can't think of a better way to social distancing than being on a boat far from everyone else
It was a beautiful show, it's the 5th time I see them here on the lake, I think
and I recorded a few videos but also took a few photos, I might have 1-2 images that I like
Long story short, we are here, we made it, we are safe and we are healthy
that's what matters
I'm thinking about what I want to do for the rest of the year
This has been a very strange and weird year for everyone
It's been challenging for my photography, for someone who relies on being outdoors to take photos
when they don't let you go outdoors, that makes things a little bit harder
but in many ways, that challenge has been good for my photography, I've made images that I would've never made otherwise
so I'm not going to complain too much about this
In the next few months, though, I'd really like to travel and to go places
We are going to stick to the US, just in case another lockdown happens, at least we are here in a country that we know
it's somethings we weren't expecting, we were not ready, we don't have much stuff here
the first thing is we are looking for a used car that we can take on a few road trips and to move around here
once we have that car, I'm hoping to start moving a little bit more, besides a few local trips here
around the Midwest, to the Great Lakes, or even the Smoky Mountains, or places like that
I'd like to spend 2-3 months, by late summer / early fall, in the Pacific Northwest
in Oregon and Washington, I really want to do a lot of hiking, I really miss hiking in the mountains
it's been a long time
Hopefully, after that time in the NW, I'll be able to go to Southern California and Arizona
spend some more time there, it's another area that I really like in the West
and then, later in the fall, just come back here to the Midwest and wait for the snow and frozen lakes
I really look forward to photographing winter here, it can be very harsh, but it can be very rewarding when it comes to image making
I think this video is getting too long already, I just wanted to give you a quick update
I hope that you all are staying safe and healthy, wherever you are
please feel free to share your plans for the rest of the year if you have any
and how you are dealing with this situation when you travel if you are going to do any
or how you are dealing with your photography during this pandemic
Thank you so much again for being there
and see you in the next one!