Alison Curtis: I'm so excited I can travel more than 5km

Alison Curtis: "I was giddy with anticipation of getting my poor old Skoda up to fifth gear for the first time in months and for my eyes to devour new scenery."
THIS week, after 100 days of staying within our 5km radius, we are finally allowed to stretch our legs a bit further and it is glorious.
No matter where you were in the country, no matter how stunning the scenery or locality, we had all grown weary of our 5km limit.
For anyone I spoke to, it was certainly starting to have a negative impact on their mental wellbeing.
So, on Monday morning, I woke up like it was Christmas. I was giddy with anticipation of getting my poor old Skoda up to fifth gear for the first time in months and for my eyes to devour new scenery.
I even let my daughter bunk off school for the day. (I know every other parent was dancing in the kitchen, as the final child finally went back to school.)
I was in such a rush to get out the door that my heart was pounding. I packed a breakfast, water, snacks — anything I could grab in anticipation of not returning to my 5km for quite some time.
In the excited rush to go anywhere but where I had been for months, I burned myself with coffee and dropped my daughter’s toast on the floor. Despite those mishaps, the spirits remained high.
As Joan and I got into the car, we had no idea where we were going to go. I actually had the bananas idea to circumnavigate the county, but quickly decided that might not be an awesome plan.
When we got to the beach, it had started to rain, but we didn’t care. We grabbed an umbrella and raced to the sandy shores, taking in the scenery we had been so badly craving and frantically talking about anything and everything.
As we were halfway down the beach, the sun appeared. It was bliss, so we took our time walking around, sat on some stones, and ate some more, even though we had just eaten.
What was also lovely were our conversations with people — strangers — who seemed to be equally elated to be outside of their 5km limit. Everyone was in a good mood and it was wonderful to see.
When Joan and I got back to the car, we were still hungry, and since the world was now our entire county, we decided to go to Howth for fish and chips.
The day had turned so bright and after we got our food, we went to the grounds of Howth Castle, another place that provided so many escapes last summer.
To be surrounded by greenery and to hear nature really is a cure for me. It calms me and I really savour those moments.
Joan and I took our time eating (once again!), looking out on the beautiful grounds.
It was amazing to just be able to travel a bit further and to return to places we had always loved.
What the day really reinforced for me — something I have thought about a lot over these past 14 months — is that I will never, ever take anything for granted again.
What were once the simplest of pleasures — fish and chips in Howth, a sandy beach — no longer seem so trivial when they are taken away for months at a time.