It's a big thing though considering how much I gain through travel; it's impacted me greatly. It's not the only thing that's missing of course, but not being able to travel leaves a huge hole inside me.

I feel the same way. Life is too short and unpredictable to be shuttered in.. simply due to "the risk of living".

Spending much of my professional life on a plane 2x/week for ~50 weeks a year for the better part of a decade, not only did I rack up the miles, I grew very accustomed to being airborne. Thankfully, I had an "adjustment period" where I wasn't flying every week, pre-lockdowns, but I haven't been on a plane in nearly 2 years now and it's definitely eating away at me.

While the experiences that you and I are missing out on are not inconsequential, I struggle with how much damage is being done on those who are being conditioned into believing that the current environment of restrictions are in any way "normal" or "necessary".