Four things I never thought I’d miss

Coronavirus has turned life as we know it upside down. Although it’s incredibly unsettling – and also frustrating – there have been many benefits too. For example, it’s made me more mindful of things that I just took for granted. I’ve also slowed down and am enjoying more time to read, bake and catch up with friends (over video calls, of course).

But here are a few things I genuinely never thought I’d miss!

Deciding what to eat on a whim

I live less than a five minute walk away from a big Sainsbury’s and an M&S so I usually decide what’s for dinner on the day. It’s always been so convenient to just pop in on the way home from work. But Coronavirus has put a stop to deciding what to eat on a whim… now meals need to be planned in advance so I can buy everything we need for at least three or four days.

The worst is, no matter how much you plan, you can’t anticipate the things you suddenly just fancy. One example for me was cucumber. I just had a craving for it but there was no way I was going to stand in a queue for 10 to 15 minutes just to buy a cucumber! I genuinely can’t wait until we don’t have to stand in supermarket queues and only shop when necessary…

Commuting on public transport

I can’t believe I’m saying this because I HATE the tube in rush hour and the ‘busyness’ of London life but boy, I miss getting the tube! Or the Overground…. or a train.

We are so lucky in London to have such a fantastic public transport system and I am very much missing it right now. I don’t think I’ll ever miss people getting on before they let you out, being squashed like sardines or the smell of body odour in summer… but I do miss being able to hop on a tube and be somewhere else in a matter of minutes. I’m getting a bit tired of walking around my neighbourhood and am itching to see a different area!

Although my neighbourhood is very pretty.

Going to the gym

I never thought I’d miss going to the gym, but I do. Thankfully we live in an internet era where there are about a gazillion free workouts on YouTube so I’ve been able to keep fit. I’ve also been running outside every second or third day but the thing I really miss about gym? The swimming pool! What I wouldn’t give to go for a swim right now… I find swimming so relaxing, plus it’s time well spent off my phone or a screen!

Posting a parcel

Six weeks in lock down and of course there are birthdays that need presents posting. The week we went into lock down, I was meant to have treated my best friend to lunch and a floatation session at Floatworks in Angel. Knowing it would be ages until I could see her, I wanted to post her birthday present.

My nearest post office had a queue about 60 people long (I am not even exaggerating) but thankfully there’s another one about a 15 minute walk away. That one only had a queue of about 5 people and took about 10 to 15 minutes.

Now I know there are normally queues at post offices anyway, but there are also the self service machines which don’t often have a queue. Also, post offices have reduced their opening hours so when I recently went to post a parcel, I couldn’t believe there was no queue! That’s because it was already closed… I never thought I’d miss being able to post a parcel easily.

What things do you miss that you didn’t think you would? I’d love to know!