A planned trip this week with generous friends has already been postponed a year. With air cancellations, need for testing at every turn, the chance for a short break could end up a month in paradise – or a third world hospital, so another year of a no-go. Cruises cancelled, friendly Canada now high risk and Caribbean islands off limits. What’s a wanderlust body to do? Check out webcams! My newest fascination is to “revisit” places like Alaska, snowy Jackson Hole and the park ice rink, or watch my fave: Old Faithful in Yellowstone with several eruptions a day. You can be more creative like Positano on Amalfi Coast, or enjoy viewing penguins and sea turtles at Sea World or Panda cubs at the zoo. All live.

What are these suggestions doing in a cancer blog? So many are really stuck and not just from virus- but now tethered to treatment, so distraction is great when you can’t just get up and go. Jackie tells how when her son in Colorado is near a webcam he calls her. She jumps online to see him “in person” as he waves. “Doc its like he is on reality TV”. Cute.

Find ways to lighten your heart each day. Life is tough enough and there isn’t enough Botox to fix that frown for long. Zoom for work and appointments is no longer a novelty, so replace with something that captures your imagination. As Yvonne said this week, “Doc my angst runs wild with cancer treatment and if you list the side effects I am sure to have them all. Now I watch ski slopes and imagine myself there by next year.

Try the idea others have shared here. I know that this week I will ask my friend to wave from the pool-side webcam in St. Maarten, sorry to have missed our reunion, but able to enjoy my own magical moment “with” her.

Happy travels.