Hey all. We’ve made it through March, and it kind of feels like “just barely”.
Obviously, COVID-19 has been affecting us all, worldwide, in more ways than we can count. I have friends and family working in hospitals on COVID-19 units and at pharmacies, helping the unhealthiest of us try to heal. Several of us Suitcase Six girls were in school, so programs were paused and then resumed online.
My job has been thrown into flux too since our undergraduate mentors are prohibited from doing visitations in the prisons, and our hearts are hurting for our incarcerated teens who abruptly lost contact with the outside world and the friends/family/mentors who are so critical to their rehabilitation. And in many of the same ways, our elderly family members are often cut off from their loved ones at nursing homes or even in their own homes, as cruelly, the youngest of us pose the most risk to the oldest.
I’m entering the last month of my job, this date having been planned since last fall. And now, with our final events cancelled and most of our work on pause, I’m feeling both a loss of closure over this chapter of my life and an anxiety about entering the job market in today’s environment.
For transparency and updates, since that’s what this post is for, I found out I wasn’t accepted to the graduate programs I applied to. So. March has not been the month for me!
BUT that’s okay. I’m home safe and sound right now, and I’m certainly not alone in having a rough month. We’re all in this together.
What’s the Suitcase Six plan now?
For obvious reasons, nobody will be doing a lot of travel anytime soon. I’m still writing posts from past trips because my backlog of ideas is always a mile long.
Instead of new travels at home, though, I’ll be writing more about lifestyle sustainability than sustainability on the road.
If you’re going to be home-based for a few more weeks to come like me – try not to despair. It’s a great time to get a handle on some of the things we’ve been too busy to do around the house – spring cleaning, spending time with loved ones (virtually), self-care, or self-improvement.
Read this: Spring Cleaning for Frequent Travelers
I think this is actually a perfect time to do a sustainability assessment on your home and see where you could be a little more green!
If you’re among the many people whose travel plans have been thrown into disarray, cancelled, or postponed indefinitely, I feel you. But again, try not to despair. This is a great chance for us to look at our trips and see if it’s as eco-friendly as it can be or if we can make some tweaks with our extra time to research. In fact, I’m working on a post about how to find more eco-friendly accommodations.
Read this: 20 Tips for Sustainable Travel
April also boasts Earth Day and Fashion Revolution Week – both focus on the health of our planet (the latter of how the fashion industry negatively contributes to the environment and community). Though we can’t travel the world, we’re seeing how interconnected we are and even seeing how some of our planet is recovering with this break from human activity.
I’ll be sharing some info on sustainability, brands that are leading the fashion revolution, and ways that we can be more sustainable fashion consumers and residents of planet earth.
And how are you doing?
I hope you’re all hanging in there but I know it’s a really difficult time for us all. If you’re struggling in any way – please reach out. My inbox is open if you need some advice, encouragement, or just some social contact. (Suitcasesix@gmail.com).
Stay safe and be gentle with yourself! We can only go day by day.
XX,
Sarah
