Life in Lockdown and the Future of Travel

It seems like every blogger these days is putting out a post about life in lockdown, so I figured I would add mine to the mix. I don’t think I have anything horribly inspirational or important to say about living through a global pandemic.

But one of the reasons I blog is to get my feelings out. Another reason is to have a time capsule of my life. So, for those reasons, I’m sharing some thoughts about life in lockdown, living through a global pandemic and what I think the future of travel might look like.

What’s the same?

Let’s start with what hasn’t changed. I am still working from home. Most days it is still just Colin, Ellie and I and we only go out for Ellie walks. In that way, it feels a lot like Prague where we didn’t have a big social circle and spent most of our time just the three of us.

What’s new?

Well, we’re not in Prague anymore! In case you missed it, we raced back to Prague and then left to come home to Canada almost three months early.

We’re now living in a new apartment in a new neighbourhood in Vancouver. We’ve been here for a few weeks now but we’re still settling in and getting organized. The place was furnished and our stay was only supposed to be temporary, but we might be staying longer now, which I’m really excited about. If so, we’ll start to move in some more of our personal effects so the place feels more like ours.

On the job front, while I am still working from home, I’m certainly doing less work. My main clients are in travel and weddings, so the work has definitely dried up. Colin has also made a big change – he’s back at the hospital! He’s working part time in his previous position as an x-ray tech and is very happy to be back in his job.

And, like most in lockdown, we’ve picked up some new hobbies. We’re getting really into baking and cooking; our recent kitchen accomplishments include brownie cheesecake, homemade gyoza and shrimp scampi. But we’re also ordering lots of food too now that we’re back in Vancouver and can eat all of our favourites (and support local restaurants!). I’ve also taken to colouring, reading, organizing closets and watching terrible TV shows.

My new thing is also writing… a book! For years, I’ve been saying that I want to write a book and I’ve probably started writing at least 20 different ones. But this time I’m actually doing it! I’m about 50,000 words in. It’s non-fiction and about our time abroad. I’m not letting myself edit at all until I get a first draft out, so I have no idea where it’s going to go. It might never see the light of day, but I’m just excited to say I finished writing a book.

Lockdown recommendations

Since I’ve been spending a lot of time indoors, I thought I would share some of my recommendations to help you pass the time:

• TV shows: I’ve been watching a lot of Glee, which I don’t recommend because it gets horrible. If you’re looking for some lighthearted shows to help you through life in lockdown, I always suggest Brooklyn 99, Impractical Jokers and Happy Endings. Survivor is also pretty binge-worthy!
• Books: I strangely haven’t been doing as much reading lately. I think the pandemic is messing with my desire to read, but I’m hoping it comes back soon. For lighter books to take your mind off the global pandemic, I recommend Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Dear Girls and The Bride Test of books I’ve finished in 2020.
• Podcasts: I recently started listening to NPR’s Up First and their daily coronavirus podcast. I like it because it feels like really smart reporting and the episodes are short, about 10 minutes, so it’s not overwhelming. It’s US-focused, but since we’re just across the border, I like to know what’s going on. In lighter podcasting, I’m still listening to some of my favourite podcasts about travel, weddings, true crime (not so light, I know) and reality TV.
• Meals: Colin and I were reunited with our Instant Pot upon returning to Vancouver and it’s been a game changer. There are a million Instant Pot recipes online and we’re working our way through them all. Also, if you haven’t made banana bread or sourdough, now is probably the time.

Life in lockdown: What’s it like living through a global pandemic?

Living through a global pandemic is really weird. It feels surreal; is any of this actually happening? (Don’t worry, I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I know this is all real!)

I find I have more anxiety these days and less focus. Even though my workload is down, I still struggle to get to things. I have on and off days. When I’m on, I’m motivated to get everything done but when I’m off, I just need to lie in bed or get away from my laptop. I feel like I need to take more breaks. And I think all of those feelings are really valid and totally normal reactions to have to a pandemic. So I’m trying to give myself some grace. I allow myself to take breaks and do what I need to do, without the guilt.

I’ve also been fighting a strong feeling of not wanting to do any work. I struggle with this because most days I just really dread opening up my laptop, checking my email and working on anything. I would much rather be making something in the kitchen or working on a creative project. Sometimes I even procrastinate work by cleaning the house! I don’t know if this is a reaction to coming home and cutting our expat year short, feelings brought on by the pandemic, or something more long term happening inside me. I’m still trying to sort this one out.

Life in lockdown has also forced us to find new ways to connect. I’ve had video calls with friends and over Easter weekend we had a few family zoom calls. My mom is just a 10 minute walk from our new place, so sometimes I’ll go over on Ellie walks and talk to her outside her window. It’s strange to be back home but not be able to really see anyone.

I’ve also been keeping up with the news a lot more than usual. During our last few days in Prague, I was obsessively refreshing news websites all day long. I’m not quite as obsessed anymore, but I still read a few articles each day, check the global numbers and listen to news podcasts. Having the knowledge comforts me. But I also know it’s not the best thing to go to bed after reading a bunch of COVID-19 articles.

There are parts of this lockdown I really love: having the time to write and focus on hobbies, being in a new home, feeling safe in Canada. And there are parts I hate: missing income, not being able to see people, the general fact that a killer virus is wiping out a huge number of people. But the worst part for me personally about life in lockdown is the uncertainty. I hate not knowing when this will end, what new restrictions will look like and what the future holds. I know that no one has a crystal ball but I really wish someone did. I would rather know, even if it’s bad news, so I can prepare myself accordingly, rather than wait and take things day by day.

The future of travel

I’m not an expert on travel or health or anything, really. There are lots of articles out there predicting what the future of travel will look like. Many say that based on previous recessions or events that changed travel, like 9/11, we’ll see a cautious restart to travel. People will want to travel domestically first, choosing road trips over plane rides. There’s also lots of talk about how the travel industry will change with the death of the middle seat, enhanced hygiene measures and increased travel insurance.

There are a lot of unknowns about what travel in the future will look like. A vaccine seems very far away. As of writing, 12-18 months is the ambitious goal. And even if that timeline is correct, there would still need to be time to increase supply and get the vaccine to everyone who needs it. Antibody tests and health passports for travel are another theory that’s been floating around. Currently, the science isn’t there yet to support this. And if it gets there, we then get into the tricky situation of people trying to get infected in order to gain immunity.

Across the world, countries are handling COVID-19 differently. I think this will have a huge impact on travel as some countries will open before others or restrict travellers from certain regions. I have no idea how that would roll out without a lot of difficulty. And then there’s the second wave to consider. Many experts predict a second wave of the coronavirus will come. What happens if countries need to lock down again?

Between the two, I’m probably a pessimist more than an optimist. I do hope that I’m wrong and that some miracle will happen. But the realistic side of me thinks we won’t have total normalcy and open international travel for all for a very long time.

When will I travel?

Currently, I have no travel plans. This is the first time in a very long time that I haven’t had a trip on the books. Usually, that would really upset me. I love having a trip to look forward to. But strangely, I’m pretty at peace with the fact that I may not travel again this year.

Right now, it still feels like we’re on a trip. We’re in a new house and new neighbourhood, in a country we haven’t lived in for almost a year. Everything still feels shiny and new, which I think is helping to satisfy my wanderlust. But when that wears off in a few weeks or months, I’m sure my itchy feet will come back.

I’ve seen some very tempting flight deals for later this year. And while I know many airlines are offering to waive change fees if you need to postpone, I’m just not comfortable booking right now. There are too many unknowns. Will those airlines still be around? Will my schedule or Colin’s be different when it comes time to travel? Will I even have a job that can pay for trips?

Working as a travel planner, I know the stress and headache of pulling people out of a country during the coronavirus and the work that goes into securing refunds and rebooking. I don’t want to do that for others, let alone myself if I booked a trip.

So I’m not booking right now. I don’t want to get my hopes up about a trip only to have to postpone it. I don’t want to tie up my money in flights and hotels when my job situation is so unstable. And I don’t even want to think about what would happen if I got somewhere and all of a sudden borders shut or I got sick.

I know a lot of people are planning trips right now. Truthfully, it makes me uneasy. But I know that some people need something to look forward to, want to and are able to support businesses in the travel industry, and are aware of the risks. Hopefully, they have back up plans and are being smart about their bookings.

For me, I’m still enjoying my new life in Vancouver. As restrictions eventually do ease, I’m looking forward to exploring more of our home. Even before we left for Prague, Colin and I talked about treating Vancouver like a vacation when we got back. We didn’t want to just live in this city, never going to the beaches or the mountains or new restaurants. We wanted to really experience the city like we were visiting for the first time.

And now that we’re not allowed to, we’re even more anxious to not take this city for granted. So I’m looking forward to safely exploring locally when we can. I hope to spend time seeing what makes Vancouver so great. When it’s safe, I want to visit areas of BC I’ve never been to, like Tofino or Salt Spring Island, see Colin’s brother up in Kelowna, visit my family in Toronto, and finally do our road trip to Calgary.

I don’t have any dates or plans yet, but I’m allowing myself to start getting excited about the possibility of local travel. It’s a far cry from hopping through Europe every other week, but it might be the new normal for us travel lovers.

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How are you holding up in lockdown?
And what do you think the future of travel holds? Let me know!