The Isolate Itinerant's Guide

Unfortunately, I do work in an office.

Although quarantine let me hit record lengths in my beard growth I knew it would be just a matter of time before I would need to clean it up to fit the mold of traditional professionalism.

So, I said goodbye to my closest friend. It was hard not to get so attached but every day it just grew more and more on me…..

The beard is gone, but never forgotten.

CANCUN

A week before Valentine’s day the CDC announced that trips to Cancun would require a Covid Testing at no more than 3 days prior to returning to the states.

But in the name of Love, the Isolate Itinerant took his inamorata and flew to Mexico to celebrate the wedding of some close friends.

International, emotional and inseparable we were on the coastline of Riviera De Maya.

Although we were relaxing in 80 degree weather, we soon realized that traveling was going to be harder getting home.

Covid Tests-Negative

Bad Times?-Negative

Successful departure home- 3 out of 4 bookings were negative.

DFW during that time was experiencing Sno-vid-19. It made national news as pipes were shattering, temps in the negatives and weather restrictions cancelled every flight trying to make it home.

Fortunately, overall all the additional obstacles weren’t collectively enough stress to ruin such an amazing trip.

Boss: “Isolate Itinerant, you are needed back in Portland,Or. Are you comfortable to venture?

This was october, 2020. The client needed me, nothing allowed me to isolate better than complete isolation. Plus with this being a location I have visited many times before. I didn’t feel obligated as much to venture around to see the sights.

But this was definitely interesting time to reside in the heart of Downtown Oregon. The lines of normality were curving more than the crease in my beard. (Photo above.)

Portland was undergoing riots in the streets with Liberal and conservative protestors battling one another, wildfires kept the skies a mix of orange and grey as acres after acre of scenic views burned to the ground. It rained ash for days, dusting me with a remnants of the nature walks I did just the day before.

Portland was expressing an emotion I have never seen before and everyday it became progressively worse. That was until my sunshine came from Texas and made the events just a little bit more manageable, her name is (Isolate Itinerant’s inamorata).

-I contemplated if I could drive alone instead of fly

-I packed hand sanitizer

-I wore a mask...........and the excuses I heard living in Texas for why people couldn’t wear a mask.....Hilarity.

I wore one so I guess the 5G now has picked up on an even stronger sense of facial identification because I mindlessly was tricked into restricting the breath of GOD by the Government while they enhanced their technology.

Yes, march of 2020, after my adventures in Houston came to an end, the isolate Itinerant made it home and remained within those quadrants until he forgot what the sun felt like.

I was alone, (which I am use too) but this time it was different because I wasn’t a normal nomad..I was home...I didn’t know how to act, but I quickly figured it out and it led me to do these steps;

-I set up my home office.(Ordered a fancy microphone, got a new office chair, got a plant to talk to. Googled tips and tricks for how to use zoom, chime, teams, zencastr, facetime, Skype and it felt like every other tele-communicative streaming devices.

-Found every flaw with my house. (Youtubed how to fix it.)

-Remodeled my laundry room......Nailed it!

-Found the most comfortable spot in my home to crawl into the fetal position and avoid going stir-crazy.

-Practiced a maniacal laugh for about a week. I think I landed on a good one.

-Let my hair grow.

-Learned more on personal hygiene. (Not that I was bad...but I realized I could be better)

-Developed a strange relaxation to watching people argue on Youtube.

-I gained 15lbs.

The people of the world were shutdown and shutoff from traveling in 2020.

Staycations became the number one tourist destination and for many even traveling the oh so familiar route to the office seized to exist as well.

Travel became the dirtiest word of 2020 and the pandemic unmasked that humans are capable of doing much more than just sleep and sex from the comforts of their beds. Work, School, eating, shopping, binging shows, doctor visits, counselor sessions, job hunting and etc were done in sheets that were experiencing more traffic than the under-construction sections of I-35 at rush hour.

I applaud those who did what it took to stay safe and those who sacrificed adventure for the life of their neighbors.

2020 was a year where I didn’t want to promote traveling.

Another staple near the Houston area was Kemah Boardwalk. A small amusement park on the Gulf with plenty of history behind it. 

Boss: “Isolate Itinerant, you are needed in Houston Tx. Go ahead and book your travels now.

First work assignment of 2020, I’ve only ever driven through Houston so I was excited to see what the southern half of my home state had in store.

First weekend I went to and enjoyed the biggest staples of Houston Tx. “Houston I did not have a problem.”

I don’t fear the height of my goals. I fear standing on glass 103 floors above Chicago.

Views, food, excitement is where I go. A short plane ride from Texas and I was in Chicago.

Boss: “Isolate Itinerant, you have more vacation time, use it!”

Every one thought I was crazy for wanting to take a vacation to Chicago in December. I thought to myself, being crazy is not a strong enough deterrent for me not to explore, so I packed my bags with warmth in mind and headed to Illinois for the week and I was so glad I did. With a hotel in downtown Chicago, I was within walking distance of mostly everything I wanted to do.

Step one -see the city identifier, Cloud Gate, aka the “Bean”.

While in Colorado I tripped down to Estes Park to stay at the hotel called the Stanley. The reason this hotel has been made popular is because it was used to film the interior for the hotel in the Shining. I had visited the Timberline Lodge in Oregon which was the exterior for the movie so I felt it only be right if I stayed a night in this one.