The period most of us are in some form of lockdown has just started - two / three weeks ago - but most of us are already longing for the moment when all the major measurements to combat Corona are part of history.

My situation didn't change too much (worked from home regularly for a long time already; don't have children to take care of), but also I'm looking forward to a few things I took for granted...

Hug all my Friends

The moment the whole Corona thingy is behind us, I'll for sure visit all my friends and give them a long warm hug, one by one.

Though the usual way to greet each other in my culture / country is a hand shake (official) in combination with 3 kisses on the cheek (right - left - right) for those closer to us (friends, family); I developed the habit of giving a hug instead. Most of my friends are huggers, but I still seem to surprise people with this way of saying hello and goodby.

But you know what? Giving a handshake or giving a hug feels quite different! The hug gives me a much more connected feeling with the person I'm greeting. So much more personal! Though I'm in regularly contact with all the people close to my heart, I can't hug them. Something I start to miss.

The first thing I'll do is to visit all of them, and start hugging.

Wondering if I need to prepare myself for this. Maybe need to do some hugging exercises since I'm pretty sure after the Corona thingy is under absolute control and we are allowed to go places and meet others again, I'll be hugging a lot. Mentally I'm ready; But am I physically ready? Time will tell: Hopefully sooner than later :)

Party Hard

I love to go to festivals and some of the underground clubs we have in Amsterdam and Berlin (and other cities and countries for that matter). I really really really want to get to some of these places and party like crazy!

Though I can listen to music at home, to listen to the same music on big sound systems is so much better.

But foremost, I do miss the "All-is-One" connections we build altogether with friends and strangers for the day/evening/night for the duration of the event (and sometimes extended with some after party). It's really special to be able to feel a true friendship with somebody you just met, sharing your most inner thoughts and feelings, and then say goodby as if we will meet again sometimes soon; Such an AMAZING feeling. Sometimes contact details are shared. Sometimes long term friendships are developed (in my case most of my closest friendships are the result of being part of this music scene). But mostly, the people are in reality strangers, but they feel like friends. I call them party friends. Many of them I meet regularly throughout the years at the many club evenings and festivals I attended and still attend. Sometimes I meet people I didn't see for a decade or more and mostly it feels like we connected yesterday.

Owwwww, hugging is something I'll likely do while partying hard; Hugging my friends, but also hugging my party friends, the ones I know and the new ones :)

Note: My friends and I may build our own party when the outdoor events will not startup immediately after the social distancing rules are thrown in the bin.

Visit my Family

My father, mother, and brother and their respective families live all in different places. Father and brother in other countries, and mother in my own country but not a few blocks down the road; more like a few larger cities away. The distances are between 100 and 900 kilometers, so in theory I can do this all by car. Am already thinking ahead a little. The moment our governments allowing us to travel again, cross country borders, I may not like to take the plane (when I get ill, that's usually when I took a plane), therefore I'll prepare driving to Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and the southern part of the Netherlands, to meet and spend time with my closest family members.

Also in these activities, hugging will happen for sure!

Need to figure out how I can combine "Party Hard" with "Spending Time with my Family" though. I think I can get my brother to join the "Party Hard". Guess I can't get my mother and father to join as well... Need to make sure I have some extra vacation days, so I can meet them during the week, while the weekends are for the parties :)

This post I wrote for the When Corona Ends initiative by TheyCallMeDan; Why don't you share your top three things you want to do as soon as the lockdown and social distancing rules are lifted? click me to browse to the original initiative post

Not sure what will happen with all the time I spend in our community here. The immediate after period of Corona may reduce my time spend with you, but I'll try to minimise the impact though :) Maybe I shall reduce my time spend on Twitter; A social media I got to learn just a few weeks ago, but I seem to spend a lot of time over there as well. Partially with HIVE members though, so it stays in the 'family' :)