Well That Escalated Quickly…

I am on a plane to St. Maarten. This particular plane ride feels …. Different. One way to St. Maarten. Going to get our new home. We have been planning for this for years. I have never even had a dream this big, this complex, with this many moving parts. Never mind achieving that dream.

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This is a scary time. I am leaving every place that I have ever known as familiar. Moving away from my friends and my family. For what? To explore? To learn? You will have to pardon me; I am feeling quite introspective. This dream has been underway for so long that it has almost felt like it would always be a dream. Even when we found Marionette and have been working with contractors and planning our journey back, they have been plans. Abstract.

When we were having a hard time selling the Chris Craft, our plan felt just out of reach. The plan was still there and still exciting, but the “plan” part became familiar. Then the right buyers came along and we had real dates on our calendar. The last 3-4 weeks have been the strangest mix between impossibly fast and agonizingly slow. And emotional, naturally. We were moving out of our home of over 4 years and our new home was almost 2000 miles away. Coordinating work and travel logistics in our 2-3 weeks of “homelessness” has proved challenging, but doable.

It would make sense to have a car in Tarpon Springs when we arrive. That gives us a little more flexibility in getting back to Atlanta to get Django and the other car. Now Coronavirus has started presenting some travel concerns. Nothing major (yet). While capable of making the drive to Tarpon Springs and return flight to Atlanta alone, that didn’t sound amazing, so I brought my cousin Maddy along. Only a teenager would be down for a 8-9 hour road trip and a flight the same day in the middle of a pandemic. She had never been on a plane before and we had a blast. I was beside myself with excitement and was looking at what would be my new city with fresh and eager eyes. Scoping out gyms and grocery stores. I introduced Maddy to Greek food and her excitement was infectious.

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Now, I am not one to panic about much. What’s the point? I am not that powerful. When the news about Coronavirus started coming out, I paid attention- it was hard not to. But over the last two weeks, this has gone from a news story to the only story. The travel restrictions have been getting tighter by the day. Last week, while in a training class, our company, like many others, restricted international travel and discouraged domestic travel. By Wednesday, I was beginning to think that I should move my flight up a couple of days, the concern being husband getting into St. Maarten and me not being able to with 4 days between flights. Jet Blue flies to St. Maarten by way of Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday. Husband was heading down Sunday on Delta. Jet Blue was offering free changes, so I changed my flight from Thursday morning to Tuesday morning and set up a Google alert for St. Maarten travel bans.