The definition of Trapped.
 

Ignoring if you should or if you could.

Now that it is pretty much illegal to leave the U.K. Or even travel or move to other countries with my British passport, does that now mean by definition, I am trapped ?

I certainly feel it. It's certainly a new experience for me. With my usual sense of freedom and privilege with travel.



Oxford Definition:

trap verb

Verb Forms
in dangerous/bad situation
​ [usually passive] to put somebody in a dangerous place that they cannot get out of
be trapped Help! I'm trapped!
be trapped by something We became trapped by the rising floodwater.
be trapped + adv./prep. They were trapped in the burning building.
​ [usually passive] to keep somebody in a bad situation that they want to get out of but cannot
be trapped + adv./prep. He was trapped in an unhappy marriage.
I feel trapped in my job.

You are definitely trapped--no doubt about it. Fortunately, "trapped" is a continuum, not a specific point, and you're nowhere near the worst of it.

Neither am I, of course. My American passport, formerly quite useful, hardly allows me to go anywhere these days--even across the border 20 miles north of my home. But when I fret and whine about this, I do so from a comfortable chair in a modest (but paid for) home, with a variety of social supports and the distinct privilege of having been born white, middle class, and Western.

And when the current mess is resolved--maybe a couple of months, maybe a few years--I expect to resume expressing my privilege by going more or less wherever I want. Maybe we'll meet up some day, since you'll probably be doing the same...which is another way of saying we're not so trapped after all.

Mark

I do enjoy my central heated cage. But it's all very fragile. And not at all under my control.

I find that all very unsettling. I literally can not just get up and go somewhere else. I am beginning to fear we will never re-gain the freedoms we all once enjoyed.

Life is short. Years are a long time to waste.

Yes ........... very strange times for all of us.......... i really miss not being able to just get on my bike and go off for a couple of days. and plan another trip to morocco.
But i fear this covid will be with us all for along time, so what is the answer ?

Illegal movement ?

Start a revolution ?

Or do what everyone else is doing. Watch a lot of Netflix, drink a lot of alcohol and shrink into social hibernation.

It's so sad what is happening. Maybe all this will massively change perspective or what travel is now. A big step backwards perhaps.

We have had those restrictions on us all last year & still current today, its how we managed to keep the covid numbers relatively low here in straya, i don`t feel trapped at all but that`s only because its a massive country & border restrictions permitting we can go where we like.

However if i was still living in the UK i try to imagine how i would feel right now? probably i would feel claustrophobic, my social life in the UK was the pub. bier

Mezo.

It's interesting how the mental health charities are talking about the stress and trauma of lockdown, yet have never made this point about prisons.

I vaguely remember a terrorism hostage (?) talking about his extended incarceration and commenting that he wasn't too affected as he had been a border at an English public school in his youth so was used to not having liberty.

We have a motorhome stored in Germany and another stored in New Mexico so we sometimes tend to be more than a little annoyed that our very wise government won't allow us to risk our life by going and using them.

But then, sitting comfortably in our other motorhome on the banks of a river in nice cool Tasmania (having first run the gauntlet of state border closures by crossing from NSW to SA, to Victoria) , I do have to admit that there are worse places to be trapped.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8uX6vhGKkCZ621Zg8

Tony, there is a slight possibility that I could think of a productive use for your New Mexico motorhome. I mean, in hopes of lowering your obviously high levels of stress while you're trapped in Australia. As a special favor, me to you.

You're welcome. Don't even mention it.

Mark

Isn't the whole idea of incarceration. That it is a punishment. It's meant to be horrible. That's the deterrent right ?

You are correct though. The mental health toll is going to be unsurmountable.


I won't deny that I'm really struggling with a winter lockdown in the U.K. Summer was bad enough but at least I could enjoy the outdoors and I was kept busy fixing bikes.

I don't have any work in the winter so that is my only time to travel and escape the British winter which I utterly detest. I can only bare the U.K in general because I immerse myself in work throughout the summer.

I feel utterly trapped. Poor. Useless and BORED UTTERLY SHIRTLESS. I don't even know what day it is anymore.

And I do believe most of my anxiety is the trauma of it all. It's new to me. I've had a life of freedom and privilege which has been ripped away from me so suddenly. And I've done nothing to deserve it.

But most of all I feel TRAPPED. That helpless feeling that it's all totally out of my hands. There is nothing I can do to escape it.

It's 9am. Too early to start drinking ? :innocent:

Hi Ted ! at 9 in the morning you are allowed to drink ............... tea + coffee............. but no booze till 9.30 !

Were all in the same boat ............ some sort of ark !
:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

A friend of myne went for a motorbike ride last week with another person and at a petrol station was a police car............ nothing happend !

Ted it's not good . But I agree with the other posters , being a retired middle class guy with no mortgage on furlough , there are alot of people worse off then me / us .They include those that have died , have or are about to lose there jobs.....the list goes on . When I was a policeman I was very blase about death , not immune to it but unfortunately used to it . Things are different now , doesnt mater what your status in life is , you could catch this and be deep in the shxt .
So while you are feeling trapped and low.....remember that life does move on and generally there is light at the end of the tunnel........chin up and no booze till after 1200

They shut our town centre police station down a couple of years ago and moved them to a small office on the industrial estate. Can't remember the last time I saw either a cop car or a cop in person in the town. Whatever they're doing they're most certainly not walking the beat and checking your mask.

The old police station was redeveloped into a retirement housing 'tower block' - guess where all the covid cases are.

I do have a lot of sympathy for Ted's state of mind. Getting out of the British winter every year has been right up there on my list of lifetime ambitions and, like the other top ranking items, something I've failed miserably at. But it's one thing being stuck here through the ties that bind or lack of money or some other self inflicted reason but quite another finding yourself having to live in a dark and dismal plague pit because the government has locked the exits. Having said that it doesn't look like the usual bolt holes are any better - and in some cases considerably worse. 6pm curfew in France anyone? Plus there is a bit of media induced guilt factor about social responsibility etc. We're all supposed to lash ourselves to the masts and wait the storm out while the 'key workers' scuttle around trying to stop the ship hitting the rocks. No wonder everyone is turning to drink

What's even worse is that as the restrictions have continued and tightened I've noticed my desire to go anywhere has lessened. Even if Boris said tomorrow it's all back to normal I'd have to work up to travel again. It's a bit like when animal activists break into a zoo and open all the cages, a lot of the animals stay put as the bars are all they know.

I predict scammers will be moving into online 'counselling services' next to cash in on the upsurge in post covid PTSD. So, if you'd like to discuss your 'feelings' Ted all I need is your bank details to kick things off. A few sessions and we'll soon have you back on an even keel. Don't worry, I am a well qualified professional; you'll be in good hands. :rofl:

We're always trapped. On the smallest level, we're trapped inside our bodies. We don't get to have any experiences outside them, and they restrict our freedom. On the highest level, we're trapped on this planet. Very few of us get to have any experiences that do not take place on or very close to the surface of it.

Between those extremes, all of us experience temporary as well as lasting restrictions that limit our freedom. These can be very invasive, such as incarceration, or less so. They can be (at least in the outset) voluntary, such as a marriage or employment contract. They can be temporary, such as financial problems. They can be moral, legal, physical, and restrict your behaviour, speech, movement and choice.

The feeling of being trapped happens when you focus on not being able to go beyond these restrictions. Accepting restrictions as part of the world you live in is the key to not feel trapped. For most people, even if you were to be paraplegic and in isolation in prison, there are freedoms to be enjoyed. Being able to live out those freedoms can be as satisfying as having the greatest adventure, as long as your freedom measuring stick is adapted to the situation.

Life has value because it is limited. Rather than dreaming of immortality, we should focus on each moment, treasuring it as the most valuable thing in the world. Having our movement restricted, should make us treasure the world close to us more. Your local creek may not be the Nile, but there are things there to experience.

The only thing that is really hard to replace is meeting new people, getting a glimpse into the unknown universes that their minds hide.

So, feeling trapped is mostly a choice of perspective. It is a natural response, but can be overcome by accepting the world as it is. Or you can choose to fight the restrictions, which while it may be correct in some cases (probably not this) is unlikely to give you happiness.

Agree
 

Agree, substitute American for UK and Irish passport and I am the same. Deferred or delayed gratification, I did it to pay of the mortgage and now...just keep your powder dry...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVw7fzIP6cQ
Kind regards, be safe and kind

And me Tony :thumbup1:

When they opened the NSW/QLD border last July i packed my motorhome & headed north, and here i still am (Yeppoon).

https://i.postimg.cc/sxM0NPpZ/IMG-20200802-093737.jpg

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My Chinese Vespa.

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Having a cold one. bier

https://i.postimg.cc/Px3RyV8j/1.jpg

God i`m missing those English winters. :palm:

Mezo.

Excellent thought out and intelligent replies guys. Thanks

I read them all. Properly.

Perspective is very important I agree. But I refuse to accept a new normal, I don't think I'm physically or mentally capable of doing that. As to me that would be giving up.

I'm fed up with being treated like cattle by those in charge. Even pre-covid.

I'd probably be a lot happier if all of my bike projects weren't waiting for parts. :innocent:

Well lets hope there`s no bovine afterlife for you then Ted, well unless you're reborn in India then you will be worshipped & can wander around without 'the man' telling you what to do.

Accepting the new normal is what everyone on the planet has got to do unfortunately, its not a permanent thing its just until we get on top of this poxy virus.

I would be building my bike from the ground up & planning my trip, i have friends like yourself in the UK who are not handling this very well (i put it partly down to the UK winter blues) but yeah the fact nobody is allowed to travel is pissing everyone off.

Forget 2021 its not going to happen, look forward to the vaccine & 2022. :D

Mezo.

There all kinds of ways to be trapped--by poverty, ill health, prison, our own poor choices, family, in a shxtty job that pays too good to quit, plagues, true oppressive government--ones that will kill you and your family because they don't like your religion or ethnic group, etc. At least with covid it appears we will soon be clear of that, except those who die from it or become long haulers. I've had worst situations before, I know I could be really in trouble or pushing up daisies.

I got away in 2020, to the Colombres old bike Rally in Northern Spain, being at end September COVID numbers in both the UK and Asturias were very low. it was great to get away, being cooped up in the ferry was a bit uncomfortable and in Spain everyone wore masks when outdoors and is was obvious that the Rally wasn’t that popular with the locals. Numbers were maybe a tenth of the usual. Endured the 14 day self isolation in the UK.

Booked for 2021.

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You didn't have any concerns about Covid when you decided to go? I know Sept was a low point but it stopped me going to the French HU meeting. I'd guess if the numbers at the rally were low others must have looked at the same set of facts and come to a different conclusion.

Yep, we are all trapped atm.

Though when compared to other times in the past when the populace has been ‘trapped’, our lives are pretty easy;

1914- bang bang, stab stab

1918- cough cough, die die

1939 - stormtroopers - mushroom clouds

;)

It will pass - soon enough.

:)

The main constraint was insurance.....we were able to get travel insurance to cover us for non COVID medical, expensive mind you, and we could have used our ECHIC (?) cards for COVID medical, no cover for cancellation of course.

There were a lot of rally participants who decided not to come, not that surprising given the demographic.

In terms of conversations with partners we were lucky that Asturias had the lowest level of COVID of any area in Spain and we were coming from Bristol which also had low levels and we felt that we wouldn’t be adding to the pandemic by participating.

Trapped is a state of mind, unless you're in jail or similar of course. I can certainly imagine all of us on this board are pretty frustrated, after all the thing we have in common in throwing a leg over a bike and riding it to faraway places. And those of us (like me) who are retired and hoping to spend some time doing this are pretty bored as well. But in many ways we are lucky, we have the money to do this (or a job to earn it), we have our health and we have places to live with nobody shooting at us.

If we really wanted to go out and travel, we could. Border crossings would be tedious, it would be hard to find hotel rooms and we might experience some hostility from locals and police. So, most of us prefer to sit tight and wait, because we are in a position to be able to do so. It's easier to come to terms with this from a moral perspective as well, would you want to unknowingly be the one who gives covid to a bunch of others? Not to mention an element of self preservation - are you confident that if you caught it on your journey you'd be all right in the middle of nowhere?

Spare a thought for people who have lost jobs, or homes, or the lives of loved ones, or who are living with long covid, who have no prospect of being able to afford a long motorcycling holiday. They're the trapped ones. We, on the other hand, are fortunate that sometime in the next year our pause should come to an end and we can get back to doing what we love.

I have been touring around Europe during covid. Currently in Malta enjoying the sunshine. Accommodation has been dirt cheap. Stayed in a 4 star hotel in Rimini (Italy) for 150 bucks a week.

I toured all the way down from Finland to Malta. Over 3 months or so - there hasn't been anyone stopping me at any border or at any point at all. Everything is closed in Europe, so it's not exactly a vacation. But I do get to ride my bike and enjoy some of the epic empty roads of Europe.

When it comes to the virus: I don't really socialize much. Always wear a mask when not on the bike. Haven't caught it. Probably more isolated that most people.

This is the low point Ted, darkest before dawn and all that.

Winter (More miles on the ***ing ******d spin bike this year than the real ones), projects finished (the CL350 now needs running in), the tightest restrictions yet.

My film cameras and the odd Airfix kit are keeping me sane (er).

Thing is, they can't go again. We have the vaccine . The real non-government economy is stuffed. Only the Mumsnet crowd who love lockdowns will believe a sixth will work after the first five failed. They know come the summer they either let us out or use the Army to keep us in.

I have to have a week off in March. The 350 is getting insured and the run in started even if I have to do it 5 miles at a time with a pint of milk in one pannier and a print out of the legislation in the other.

Andy

Nice one Andy . Mind you be careful what you wish for I did a shopping trip and delivered prescriptions to my folks today on the bike . Tomorrow is the painful bit....washing all the bastxxd salt off of it !!
On a more positive note.....sat on the new multistrada at work yesterday.......its very nice and a massive step up from the previous version . Lot of money.....but as most will be on pcp :scooter:

Salt is why I'm walking to the Old Boy's place. No point buying from California and riding on PDRoWY rot powder!

One of the manifestations of lockdown is certainly new bike fantasy. I bit in July, bought 6 months sooner than planned. I am now trying to avoid thoughts that a CT125 would be a really great start to post virus freedom. Think about Tigermoth interplane struts and Caffenol, that's the answer, cheaper :rofl:

Andy

I'd happily travel on any bike Andy . I just baulk at the cost of some bikes.....20k and northwards . That's alot to pay and still get wet :rain: