"Linking arms with old-time friends as we walk around Green Lake, sitting on my front porch steps with new neighbors, hugging my patient’s and parents at Children’s Hospital as they finally get to go home!"
Kim Brent / The Enterprise
"Make sure all my friends are cured too, then we'll party!"
Nina Riggio / Special to The Chronicle
"Water my office plants."
Death to the Stock Photo
"Go explore the mountains with friends."
Snohomish County Tourism Bureau
"Get to my mom as fast as I can. Hug her, hug her."
Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle
"Probably lots of gatherings with our big family and friends. Some sort of travel, road trip and camping and reschedule our spring break to Hawaii."
Southwest
"Hug my co-workers and have a coffee at my neighborhood Starbucks. Then I would plan a trip to see my parents and family."
Godofredo A. Vásquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
"Hug everyone!"
Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
"Go to church!"
STACEY WESCOTT/CHICAGO TRIBUNE | MCT
"Celebrate my 90th birthday with family and friends. Don’t know when but April 7th party is postponed!"
Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media
"Find a mountain to ski down, go to National parks, HI and MI to visit my mama."
MARK GRANTOR, SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI
"This is so stupid but I can't wait to go to Marshalls and casually shop!"
Mike Mozart // Flickr
"Hit the softball field with teammates for a game or two. They play senior men's softball, age 70+, and practice on weekdays when there are no games or tournaments."
"Send my kids to school!"
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
"We are going to have an amazing night out to celebrate my husband's Master’s Degree completion. And I am dying to go see a movie!"
skynesher / Getty Images
"Can't believe I'm saying this. Go to the gym, and then to a bustling restaurant!"
Michael Wyke / Contributor
"Book a flight for the whole family to Italy, but hug my elderly neighbor who lives at home first!"
Brian LoPiccolo, Contributor / Getty Images
"Go get a scoop of ice cream with my friends!"
Courtesy, The Baked Bear
"In the immediate term get everyone in our house haircuts, and see friends and family."
"Go hug people I haven't hugged for so dang long!"
Luis Alvarez/Getty Images
"Go see my mom, haircut, pedicure. In that order."
Rachel Bujalski / Special to The Chronicle
"Plan a trip up to Vancouver B.C. to visit my parents."
Russ Heinl // Shutterstock
"Shake someone's hand."
Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images
"Go to the beach!"
Ashlee Rezin Garcia, MBI / Associated Press
"I need a haircut and color so bad. I know it’s vain but I’m gonna take my mom and girls out for a spa day. Haircuts, colors, mani and pedi and coffee!"
Ned Gerard Hearst Connecticut Media
"Schedule a girl's trip!"
"Well I wasn't going to road trip this summer, but now that I know the government can control us like this, I'm going to try to road trip to the Northwest!"
Pixabay
"Walk and coffee with friends."
Atlas Coffee Club
"Go to our favorite restaurant, Saltoro's, and leave a large tip!"
Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media
"Taking a drive to Bellingham to see and hug my oldest daughter. Hug my other daughter who we've decided that it's best to continue self-isolation in our basement because of her job. And go to a restaurant and sit in their dining room rather than mine!"
Nick Kelly/Faithlife Corporation // Wikimedia Commons
"Go hiking and then out to dinner and a movie!"
Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle
"Go to the Oregon coast!"
for sunset.com
"Work out at my Orangetheory gym! I miss it so much."
Yelp/Trinh J.
"Read the newspaper in a coffee shop."
YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images
"Yoga classes and going to my favorite breweries and restaurants."
Paul Chinn / The Chronicle
"Ladies nights, hugs with friends, going to the gym, seeing older relatives again, play dates for my kids, the energy of a packed restaurant, having my amazing babysitter back!"
Jason Rearick
"Go to the movie theatre and get a giant bucket of popcorn, followed up by the most expensive mani-pedi at Oscar Nails Spa."
Shutterstock / Blue Planet Studio
"Take the train to Seattle and get my long hair cut and pay extra to my hairdresser who had been out of work for months."
CBSI/CNET
"I think I'll probably go to a Mexican restaurant."
Jerry Lara
"Restart my walking tour business."
Editor's Note: This story first appeared on the Seattle P-I on April 8, 2020.
By this point, it's safe to say life in wake of the novel coronavirus looks just a little bit different for everyone.
We miss our families, we miss our friends, even the introverts miss giving out hugs, and evidently, most of us really miss our hair stylists.
While many remain tucked away in their homes, first responders work around the clock, and just about everyone dreams of better days to come, perhaps some semblance of our perspective has changed as well.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Whether it was stepping into a sports area for some burly competition, sending the kids off for school, hugging our relatives, or merely visiting the grocery store without rushing to the toilet paper aisle, the things we once took for granted have, perhaps, come into some light.
As we hope for happier days, we've rounded up the many answers to one simple question:
"What is the first thing you will do when the social distancing and quarantine orders are lifted?"
In a colorful collection of 50 popular responses, it seems those across the globe are looking at the things they cherish most in life just a little differently.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
While the list spans from hopping aboard a flight going anywhere, hugging loved ones close for hours, and celebrating birthdays that have passed from home, for many, they look forward to the simple pleasures of watering plants at the office, nabbing ice cream from a convenience store, and getting a haircut.
Click through the slideshow above for the top 50 answers of popular post-pandemic activities, and take a glimpse with us into life after quarantine.
Christina is an editorial assistant focusing on food, travel and lifestyle writing for the SeattlePI. She's originally from the bluegrass of Louisville, Kentucky, and earned degrees in journalism and psychology from the University of Alabama, alongside a full-stack web development certification from the University of Washington. By her previous experience writing for food and travel publications in London, England, Christina is extremely passionate about food, culture, and travel. If she's not on the phone with a local chef, she's likely learning how to fly airplanes, training for a marathon, backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail or singing along at a nearby concert.
