Yesterday Boris announced the whole plan for when lockdown ends! It’s pretty exciting, especially since my family and friends in America never really went into lockdown (#coughnocomment). I, like everyone else, started to imagine all the things I am going to do! . . .and then I started to think about all the deals I can get through Boris- my Benefits Communication Portal, and then it pretty much started to feel like my Birthday!

Just in case your mind is not racing like mine, I will outline a few really cool things I plan to do (thanks to Boris and my Perks at Work).

1) Happy Birthday Party! I don’t care what day it is- we are throwing an ‘unbirthday party.’ There will be cake, there will be games (outside), and there will be lots of people. We will each draw a name beforehand and everyone will get a birthday gift. Then we will sing Happy Birthday with no masks on.

·         25% discount on all food purchases-Tick (Thank you Boris/ Benefits Communication Portal)

·         2,000 stores with discounts and/or point to shop for party games and gifts- Tick (Thanks again Boris/ Benefits Communication Portal)

2) Run a 5K ParkRun…. with a new Fitbit. OK- I am not going to lie, I threw away my last Fitbit because I was so overwhelmed about not getting my 10,000 steps. It is hard to get 10,000 steps when you walk from your homework computer to the kitchen and back for a break (my flat is small… it might be 12 steps each way). Boris offers 20% off the new Fitbits and they are cool. The ParkRun is just over the bridge from my flat, so this is exciting!

3) Go somewhere! I don’t know where yet, but I am going to go somewhere and it’s going to be amazing! Below is a list of all the deals Boris has with Perks at Work to get you discounts on travel or even just experiences with Red Letter Days.

·         Hotels, Car rentals, Flights, Package Holidays (Tui, Expedia, Booking.com, holiday extras, etc…), Airport Parking and even just experiences with Red Letter Days!

4) £5 movie tickets! Yes-I know! IN A THEATRE (even more exciting). I am not sure if I am more excited to walk to the theatre and smell popcorn and mill about the lobby or to actually watch the film. You might be thinking, I never want to look at a screen again. To that I say, ‘go to a 3D movie’ I bet you didn’t spend your lockdown looking at anything with fancy 3D glasses~

5) Rain Gutter Regatta- This is a fond tradition from my childhood. Every summer, we would take down the rain gutters (around 5 meters long) hose it down (so it was clean), and then fill it with ice cream and have ALL the neighbours over. It was basically a GIANT banana-split Sunday. Now as an adult, in hindsight, I realise this activity was the epitome of sharing germs, (what was my mother thinking?) but to my knowledge, no one ever got sick from it. After clapping with my neighbours for the NHS and having conversations through our windows during furlough, and then receiving soup at my doorstep when my family actually got Covid; I really want to close the street down and introduce the Rain Gutter Regatta to all my neighbourhood friends and have a giant banana-split party! … it might be a few years off since we are supposed to be coming out of this slowly- but I am still excited for it- You’re all invited!

If there is anything, we have learned from lockdown it is to never again take for granted the luxury of leaving the house. To savour even the simplest of experiences; like meeting a friend for coffee or cheering our children on during swimming lessons.

Life is a collection of experiences- and THAT is exciting!!

SO-What are YOU going to do once lockdown ends? x