It's not that life is busy at the moment. It's just that things have changed.
Spending 7 months last year travelling in the UK (and Aus) was a great experience, but it lowered my baseline for tolerating exertion (mental, physical, emotional, social).
Receiving an Autism diagnosis in the last few months helped clarify a lot of the reasons why I find social interactions awkward and such hard work. But also perhaps why travelling was both positive and so draining / stressful at the same time.
We've also recently adopted a lovely middle-aged greyhound who is very sensitive, quite introverted and easily overwhelmed.
Standing around with binoculars looking for birds, or hunting for flowers, lichen and mushrooms to take pics of is my happy place.
But right now my mind and body are just not up to doing those things, and I miss them. I'm not working, and life feels a bit isolated.
Just as well I've got a dog's tummy to rub every day.