This time of year the U.K. hedgerows should be classed as a national treasure, they are something to behold, they are verdant, lush, and brimming with the expectation of summer. I like so many others have used the network of footpaths, bridleways, and access new routes to rediscover long-forgotten corners of my home landscape, taking the time to rediscover nature on my doorstep. The dawn chorus this year has been nothing short of spectacular, it may be the reduction of traffic noise, or reduce pollution, or perhaps we are merely taking the time to listen. This time has left me with a feeling of calmness reminiscent of endless childhood summers and a reconnection with nature, providing an enhanced mental map of my home environment.

Experiencing the seasons and more acutely the week by week changes in our surroundings is for many people the reason they run, walk, cycle or do any other outdoor activity but what about foreign travel. As planes lay grounded at airports around the world, how does this reconnection to nature and our new experience of having more time affect our desire to pack that bag and head into the skies to discover new destinations? In today’s society, we have stopped relying on measuring our day by the rising and setting of the sun; instead, we compartmentalise time, using the idea that time is duration. We allocated time slots to each given task, and this is no different with travel with the amount of time to arrive in a place being a critical factor in destination choice. When the planes take to the skies again and holidays are sold as a means of escaping our beloved home trails, we will rush to jet off to new or favourite destinations, in doing isolate ourselves from the landscapes over which we travel? Will we return to our lives being a race against time? Despite what happens to the price of air travel it is for many essential for work, and perhaps the only practical way to travel long haul,  but it does reduce the possibility of the experience of travel. Through air travel, we lose the connection to the landscape we journey over and choose predictability over the opportunity to learn,thereby lessening the chance for adventure.

 This period has been a return to measuring days by the rising of the sun, forgetting if it is a weekday or the weekend, and taking the time to discover and rediscover; this feels like a gift of time which is a rare treat in the modern world.

As the urgency of modern life returns and overseas travel resumes and we go back to managing our lives through the arbitrary division of time, I am hoping that instead of jumping on the first plane to foreign climes we can enjoy seeking out the unknown on our doorsteps and when possible across the U.K. We should dig out our maps and set forth to journey across our countryside, to rediscover the joys of our varied and beautiful island and take time to experience and learn about the to the new landscapes over which we travel and the country we call home.