Turning Lemons into Lemonade (with a Splash of Orange)

If you spend too much time reading the news lately you may get the impression that the world is coming to and end. The COVID-19 virus has effected billions of people around this world. Schools have stopped, many people have been laid off from work or are working from home, the healthcare industry is being crushed, and the supply chain is needed now more than ever to ensure folks have the needed supplies to get through the next few months.

However, if you asked if we were stressed, we would reply “Not really! Things right now are about as good as they can be considering the current situation.”

Of course we would love to be traveling and seeing the wonderful sites of Spain and Portugal but that simply cannot be done under the current pandemic. We were only two weeks into our full-time motorcycle travel when it all of a sudden came to a complete stop. As of last Monday morning, Spain has instituted a complete travel ban. No leaving your house unless it’s for essential work, going to the supermarket or pharmacy, or for an emergency.

We are fortunate. He found a lovely AirBnB with a wonderful hostess who is looking out for us during our extended stay in the countryside near Cartagena, Spain.

We have all the essentials of life:

• Hot water
• Nearby markets that are still stocked with essentials (even toilet paper)
• A small kitchen to cook meals
• A comfy bed to sleep in
• Laundry
• Fresh oranges and lemons from the trees in the outdoor courtyard
• Internet for updating news and to work on videos and blogs
• We even downloaded the latest Animal Crossing Game for our Nintendo Switch!

As you can see, we’re doing about as well as a couple travelers, who’ve recently had their wings clipped, can be doing.

We also had a productive week:

• We made a short video about turning lemons into lemonade (see YouTube video above)
• Wrote two blog posts covering the first two weeks of our travels
• Posted all the photos we took over the first two weeks to our Flickr account
• Completed two travel videos for our YouTube channel – Episode 1 and 2
• Chantil read a book
• Chantil also helped our hostess family build a patio table out of wooden pallets and do some gardening

In general it was a great week full of productivity, but extremely lacking on travel.

Speaking of travel, does anyone have any ideas of when they think the travel ban will be lifted in Europe? We are optimistic for a May or June timeframe.

Until next week…

Thank you for your continued support,
Travis and Chantil Gill

🗓: 22 Mar 2020 | ✏️: Travis Gill