Some blame the pandemic for the stress and boredom that have led them to buy more cigarettes.
Credit.Chloe Pang for The New York Times
Feb. 6, 2021
Maria Neuman blames Netflix. “Last night, I blistered through seven cigarettes because I was watching a movie,” said Ms. Neuman, 51, a freelance writer who lives in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. “It’s bad enough that I started smoking again during a pandemic. Now, I’m smoking inside.”
Milo Martin, a poet in Los Angeles, offered fewer excuses. “Being quarantined is a great opportunity to sit around and smoke,” Mr. Martin, 57, said. “It’s an existential exercise to tangibly see yourself breathing.”
Travel Used to Be My Identity. How Do I Move Forward? Megan Spurrell
Dear Women Who Travel,
Everyone is talking about how much it sucks not being able to travel. I’ve heard people around me say they feel trapped, or they’ve been down about canceling vacations they were really excited for.
But for me, not being able to travel feels like something bigger than that. Travel is the thing I’m most passionate about. When I describe myself to people, the first thing I say is that I’m a traveler. I feel like I’ve been cut off from the thing I cared most about, from something that defines me. I’ve even struggled to answer the question,