What do you miss most from your pre-Covid life?

[MagicSummer]

I miss:-

• Being in a crowd of people without worrying if they are infected
• Shopping for fun and trying on clothes and using make-up testers
• Just browsing in shops without feeling uncomfortable
• Planning and looking forward to a holiday
• Just feeling normal!

My Grandma

My innocence/ignorance about others’ behaviour

The ease of pre-covid holiday travel

Being able to go to the pub without a postgraduate degree in the epidemiology of France and a working knowledge of the Greek alphabet

Lack of anxiety about other people’s distance-keeping

Lack of sodding masks

The gym and my pre COVID fitness levels. I've got into a rut where I can't even be bothered running outside more than once a fortnight now. I will go tomorrow without fail (maybe - unless it's too hot, I'm too tired, my leg is sore, etc etc). I know I could go back to the gym but our COVID rates are still quite high where I live.

Money. I work in the wedding industry and I have had to watch every penny for 16 months.

I miss being able to easily leave the country, spontaneity and the certainty that things will go ahead as planned.

My mum (she lives abroad and haven’t been able to see her since Feb 2020. She’s 78)

Travelling to Paris for a night just for fun

Museums

My office and my ex-colleagues. (Business went down, I lost my job)

My income and all the little luxuries I used to treat myself with. Nice makeup!

Wearing heels! We hardly go anywhere these days

An unplanned impromptu night out with friends

Shopping in a mall where shops are stocked up, changing rooms are open

@OverByYer - my dcs are the same age. I don’t care about me, but my dcs have had no sixth form, no graduation, no 18ths, graduate training scheme cancelled and so on and so on.

When I see posters saying that it doesn’t matter, online is just as good, I am more than . Yep, sitting in your bedroom with a screen is just as good as real life….

@DottyHarmer to be honest I have concluded there are some very mean people out there.

Because they are mean, they never got to enjoy friendships and social lives. And so they are delighted others don’t either.

Being able to plan anything and be pretty sure it will go ahead.

Being able to choke in public in peace. Without being looked at like I am murdering everyone. Same goes for my hayfever symptoms.

I miss doing things on the spur of the moment.
And not worrying about elderly rellies - I know they have to go sometime but the Covid visiting restrictions cause distress to everyone.

My dad- travel to/ from Australia is likely to be off limits for a long time yet.

Being able to sit with the children I teach and support more closely (correcting pencil grip, correcting mistakes quietly and modelling in books etc).

My holiday caravan- last used in August 2019. Travel to France hasn’t been possible for us.

@Imnothereforthedrama

I had to check this wasn’t a zombie thread as apart from foreign travel which I miss you can do most things that have been mentioned . So it’s not what you can’t do is what you choose not to do for some .

Yes, it's true that you CAN do most of the things mentioned, but a lot of people don't feel happy doing those things without being far more careful and very anxious doing so. It's not the same at all.

Popping in every other day to see my mum in her care home…get a one hour visit every other week now and didn’t see her for months…

Having the house to myself.

Live music - I was thinking of going this summer to the Proms, but there's still too much chance of contact/infection and maybe messing up daugter's summer camp/our summer break on coast even though I'm double vaxed. I have been to some smaller local events.

@endofjune - isn’t that just the case .

So many posters seem, frankly, to be relishing others’ curtailed lives. Also on my local neighbours page there are some real b**ds always saying they’re calling the police because they’ve spotted the lesser-spotted teenager meeting friends in the park, and one particularly joyous soul made an appeal for no celebrations if England won the football as they like to go to bed early…..

Everything that used to be normal but now isn't.

@JaneJeffer

Having the house to myself.

Oh gosh yes - this more than anything.

@JaneJeffer

Having the house to myself.

God yes. Spent my entire maternity leave with DP wfh.

Spontaneity and skiing

Everything. ☹️

Spontaneity
Holidays
Independence- rely on public transport due to disability and haven’t felt safe enough to live independently- lockdown alone would have been dreadful but I need to get away.

The peace of mind to know that in an emergency I could get on a place and be with family or friends on other side of the world within a few days.

Now with needing to book managed isolation slots which are few & far between and up to 3 months in advance, then find flights that fit in, plus the massively increased cost of it all, I'd probably arrive far too late for anything serious. And ditto for anyone to come to me.

I miss going to gigs. I miss boozy evenings with friends where we’d drift from bar to restaurant to bar. I miss seeing my kids in school events and assemblies. I miss being able to book check ups and routine appointments at my dentist (they are only doing emergency treatment atm). I miss not being able to hand my one year old over to friends for hugs and most of all I miss tactile conversations with people (like touching them on the arm to stress a point or patting them on the shoulder to express solidarity).

Being able to travel home or my family being able to travel to me.
I'm currently trapped in my state with borders locked around me.