Time warp

photo credit: Mobin Moein via Unsplash

time warp n.

A hypothetical discontinuity or distortion occurring in the flow of time that would move events from one time period to another or suspend the passage of time.

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In many ways, time seemed to stay still these last two years (or at least move more slowly) and then again, we arrived in 2022 with lightning speed. It all feels a bit like a time warp, don’t you agree?

You know, Jon and I had been operating on auto-pilot for so long (said ‘no’ to almost everything) that it was almost hard to say ‘yes’ to this trip home that happened in April. Not because I didn’t want to go, but because I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. Up until the day before my departure, I could not believe that I was actually going to get on that plane. 

In the days leading up to my travel, Jon kept asking me, if I wasn’t excited at all. Apparently, I wasn’t acting very excited, but you know what? I somehow didn’t allow myself anticipatory joy until I knew it was really going to happen. It was the first time in 15+ years that I had booked a fully refundable flight, not knowing if that precaution was needed.

Adding fuel to the emotional fire, three days before my departure, I received a message from United Airlines informing me that my flight from SFO was going to be delayed. 24 hours later, the flight had disappeared from my booking completely. I was on the phone with United for 2+ hours less than 48 hours before my departure, not knowing if I still had a reservation. They eventually rebooked me onto a different flight and it looked like I was going after all.

A trip back home is a highlight for anyone most people who live far away from family and friends. A trip back home after 2+ years into a global pandemic, when home is not in another city, another state, but on a whole other continent, is a different story.

I mean, we all know, distance sucks in general (still waiting for that teleportation device, just saying!), but is a real b*tch if all of a sudden you’re not allowed to travel internationally. I honestly didn’t see that one coming after 15+ years abroad. I mean, it’s not like I could get into a car and just drive.

As you can imagine, I could belabor this predicament in a million different ways, but let’s just say I am thankful for the Internet and FaceTime more than ever. It wasn’t too long ago, when video calls were a thing of the future, let alone having the capability to see and hear loved ones at any given time via a (very) smart (indeed!) phone that you can hold in the palm of your hand. Technology is freakin’ amazing. 

But don’t get me wrong. It had been entirely too long since I was home. Strangely though, when I finally arrived in Germany, it didn’t really feel like it had been that long since I was last there. Then again, it also felt at least twice as long. Time perception is a weird thing, guys.

Anyway, I am not sure what the point of this post is. I guess, going back to Germany always feels a little bit like time traveling to me, and I think that feeling of time warp is exacerbated by that vacuum that you’re in when you travel long distances by plane.

It’s not like a road trip, where you can see the changing landscape and adapt slowly from one place to the next. No, it’s like one minute you get on the plane and – poof! just like that – you exit the plane and you’re in Germany. And just a couple of weeks later, you experience the same in reverse and when you’re propelled forward again at lightning speed back to the time and place where you live now.

What I am here to tell you though is: I had the best time back home with my family and if you want to hear more, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.