Survived Chile but … the quarantine?

On the 15th of March full of excitement, literally in one of the most southern and most remote areas on Earth, some 14,174 km away from home, I was about to enter Patagonia’s most iconic national park Torres del Paine … overwhelmed with emotions, entirely on my own, just in the company of my 30L pink, gorgeous, about-to-save-my-life backpack, full of everything I was gonna need (clothes, tent, stove, gas, food) to survive the next 7 nights in the Chilean wilderness where phone signal and WiFi were only buzzwords trekkers would pop here and there … just for fun ’cause neither of those things existed in the area.

4 days later … having experienced more than I ever thought I would during the entire so-called  “O circuit trek”, let alone in just 4 days, we were told that the national park has now been closed following a government order to shut all national parks in the country … and we had to leave the park the following day. 

What now? 

I genuinely thought the guy at the camp reception was taking the piss. Or maybe I’ve pushed my Spanish a bit too far and have completely misunderstood what he had just said. So I asked again …. and again.

“Toda la gente tiene que salir del parque mañana.” – holly sh**, I wasn’t going crazy. He was repeating the same damn thing over and over again … Everyone has to leave the park tomorrow.

And then it hit me … I had entered the park 4 days ago and now, just a few short days later, the world was different … so damn different.

The next day all of us packed our wanderlust at the bottom of the backpacks and boarded the catamaran that was gonna transport us back to this new reality where freedom, wilderness and the crave to be outdoors, to explore and trek until everything hurts, had given way to uncertainty, fear and this new big thing, the new conversation starter if you will, the century’s biggest crisis that someone had decided to call Coronavirus … and like any other name that we’d repeat millions of times, we even shortened it to COVID-19.

As I am writing this … in the pre-COVID world, I was just about to head to Peru to explore the ancient towns of Arequipa, Cusco and Huaraz, to trek to Machu Picchu and Cordillera Huayhuash, to sandboard in the dunes of Huacachina, and learn about the Inca history and the Peruvian culture, among sooooo many other things … before eventually settling into a little village in the Amazon to teach English to the little Peruvian kiddos .. all this, having trekked through a huge chunk of Patagonia, done a glacier expedition in Argentina, ventured along the Chilean Carretera Austral, through the marble caves and the lake region in Chile, before making my way back to Santiago and onto Lima.

Well, that was the plan … however, in the reality of the world during COVID, I vacated Torres del Paine on the 19th March, spent the next few days trying to figure out “What now?” and on the 26th March, after a series of absolute inexplicable miracles (I’ll tell you about those later), I touched the ground in Sofia, took a 7-hour train to my hometown Ruse and instead of all the above adventure that was supposed to make the next 2 months absolutely unreal, a taxi took me to a flat I had never stepped foot in before … to spend the next 14 days completely on my own in … quarantine.

Sooo, if you’re sitting at home thinking that this whole situation kinda sucks … well, tell me about it haha

But, and here’s the silver lining … it doesn’t have to suck.

Now you think I’ve completely lost it, don’t you?

… and maybe I have, but check the mirror ’cause you’re probably losing it too 😀

And that’s ok.

We’ll all lose it for a little bit at least because let’s be honest … we love our mums but especially so when we’re not in the same house 24/7, we cherish those moments with our partners ’cause usually we get home from work, we cook, watch a movie, collapse on the sofa and usually don’t have much time for each other, we adoooore our kids (we really do) but secretly, really kinda love it when we drop them off at child care ’cause they cry and jump and spill the cereal eeeevery freaking where haha …

But now, this is our reality … mum is constantly here (to make sure you don’t get the wrong idea, I do LOVE my mum haha), our partner is constantly here, our kids are getting bored and are jumping and running and screaming even more than before and to top it all off, the cupboard is full of treats, the gym is closed and we just can’t be asked to cook so we order a pizza … ’cause this whole quarantine, COVID, World War III thing freaking sucks.

There will be days that we’ll all fall into the trap of thinking that it’s all genuinely f*cked but … hold on a second. It really doesn’t have to … yup! I said it again.

Luckily, in all this uncertainty, we still get to make our own choices, maybe not as freely as before but we get to choose whether we think this sucks or that it actually is a pretty damn good opportunity to finally find time and experiment with some new cool things.

We all moan that time is flying by, that we don’t know where the year has gone, or how it could be April already, and that there just isn’t time for this or time for that but now … time is what we all have! We just gotta decide how to use it and not spend it being frustrated, wishing we could be somewhere else, with somebody else … more this or more that!

Instead, we can and we should make the choice to make the most out of this on-the-face-of-it super rubbish situation and not remember it by the number of cases, the weight we’ve put on, the bridges we’ve burnt or the nerve cells we’ve killed ’cause we just went totally bonkers with our mental health.

Easier said than done. – and trust me, I know that.

I spent the last 14 days, completely alone in a flat that isn’t even home, away from my parents who had gone mad wondering whether I’d even make it back home or whether I’d get totally stuck in Chile, saying Hi to my dad from the other side of the flat door every time he would come to drop off my groceries at the doorstep before rushing back into the elevator, showing my nose through the window just to wave at mum and dad before they drive off, leaving me all by myself inside my little dungeon haha.

Now, you can totally close the page ’cause you know … I was quarantined alone and you’ve got the whole 3 generations in the same house and it’s totally different ’cause I’m soooo much better off and I can’t possibly know what you’re really going through OR you can have a think whether you would even survive this whole situation (and be somewhat sane at the end of it) if you were totally and utterly by yourself, with not a single other person in the room next door … and then think again … is your situation really much worse than my version of quarantine or can you just suck it up and finish reading this article ’cause it’s bloody relevant to you too.

We agree that we’ll all have a few moments at least where we’ll just want to slam the door, scream, cry it all out, shut ourselves in our little bubbles and not speak to anyone … and that is totally fine. It’s all part of this insanely hard process of adjusting to the situation until we find our own ways to manage it so that we actually come out of this stronger, more resilient and hopefully not completely mad.

But where to even start …

In any situation and especially right now, there are a few things we gotta focus on to keep our sanity so we don’t get totally convinced that there’s no point in doing anything ’cause you know … the world is on standstill, everything is shut and all your dreams, plans, and even your commitments just got cancelled … so it’s never been more important to stay focused on these few things:

1. Our health (physical but even more importantly now our mental health);

2. Our relationships (with our families, friends, our partners but most importantly ourselves);

3. Our productivity/passion projects (i.e. the things that keep us busy, content, satisfied, useful and (yeah I have to say it) those that pay the bills too).

THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR PIZZA, COUCH PASTIME AND NETFLIX

OK … I know you wish I hadn’t put it in such big letters and in bold but I’m afraid to say that the fact that you’re stuck at home, doesn’t mean that you’ve finally reached the imaginary land where you can have aaaall the pizza in the world, or ice cream, or cake, or peanut butter (if you’re me) and can mess around in front of the TV killing brain cells as if there’s no tomorrow or hoping all the calories from the shocking amount of carbs you’ve been loading inside your body will just magically disappear despite the lack of much exercise.

Unfortunately, although we couldn’t see this shitstorm coming, I can pretty much guarantee you that without some healthy habits, the quarantine can mess up with your health pretty badly even if you don’t actually get the damn thing.

So we come back to this whole crazy idea of choices. Of course, you can fill up your shopping basket with your favourite pizza, ready-made meals (assuming they’re still in stock of course), flapjacks and all sorts of yum dairy stuff that are packed with so many calories that even if you run daily you can’t burn it all, and let’s face it … why care now when no one’s even gonna see you ’cause, remember?, you’re isolating, #stayingathome … so it’s either THAT or you can actually start making some healthy choices and stock up on some fresh foods and maybe even cook once or two … say whaaaat?!

Crazy or not, here’s how I manage to stay healthy and not slide face down the slope, scooping the peanut butter straight from the jar …

Intermittent fasting … every single day!

I started experimenting with intermittent fasting last year and omg! I’m never looking back ’cause honestly, it just works! With a bit of flexibility, I skip breakfast (yup, screw the whole “breakfast’s the most important meal of the day” nonsense), have lunch at 12-12:30 noon and finish my last meal for the day by 8-8:30 pm. Before 12 noon and after 8 pm, I have one coffee (with a bit of milk) and maybe tea (with no sugar).

I fast for a lot of reasons not to do with weight loss but in times like this when you can’t physically burn everything you’d normally eat, you need to adapt and be a bit more conscious of what and how much you consume … and let’s be honest, the earlier you start eating, the more you’ll want to eat and the more you will end up eating because, hellooooo, the fridge is right there … just a few steps away from the comfy seat you’ve been spending way too much time in … so you really need yet another reason to get up again. Sweets anyone?

So trick your mind, tease your hunger, challenge yourself to persevere despite the temptations … and eat only 8/24 hours a day. It honestly works and it’ll do wonders to the way you feel about yourself … not only because you wouldn’t want to throw the scales out the window every time you dare step on it but you’ll also love yourself for actually sticking to the challenge and showing you can be committed especially in a situation as hard and new as this one.

Cook and when I do, I make it healthy, yum and different.

I knooooow … you hate cooking! We all do or at least we all have at some point. But honestly, there’s never been a better time than now to give it (yet) another chance.

This comes from a person who literally used to think of cooking as a major waste of time which I obviously hated until I totally changed my diet to eat mostly vegan food (nope, I’m not a vegan … not even a vegetarian so don’t cross me off the “cool kids” list just yet haha). So with the change in diet, I had to find some creative ways to keep myself excited without eating plain rice all day, any day.

So I started experimenting with some quick recipes, opened up to things I never used to buy before, like tofu, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, aka all the stuff you just pass by in the supermarket aisles haha, and I started throwing all these new weird things inside the pot until it eventually started tasting alright LOL.

So have a little play in the kitchen, don’t pour half the bottle of oil in there as you season your salad (I know you’d love it but calm yourslef down haha) and also, I promise you … you’re not trading down if you don’t eat meat or dairy every single meal so get cooking and don’t just put a steak on the stove … make it fun and creative. And who knows, by the time this is all over you might even love it. Crazy idea, I know.

Luckily, all the pasta and flour’s now hard to find in the local supermarkets so want it or not, you’ll have to rack your brains a bit to come up with something else to make anyway (since your favourite pizza and pasta seem to be in a tough high demand/ low supply kinda situation these days) … so just go with the healthy option and you’re all set.

If you get stuck before you’ve even started though, let me know and I’ll quickly sort you out with some cool recipes.

Don’t stock up on all the “good” stuff

Here’s the thing … this is a hard time and you’ll have to lift yourself up more often than ever before and you know yourself better than I do but you know I’m right when I say that there’ll come a time when you’ll finish the whole tub of ice cream, or the entire pack of M&Ms, or whatever your favourite treat is because it’ll make you so happy when all you wanna do is get the hell out and feel as though life is back to normal …

So make it easy on yourself and don’t hide temptation in every little corner of the house. You’ll never win this round of hide and seek if you’ve stocked up on all your favourites because let’s face it … at the end of this, you’ll have finished them all, you’ll feel guilty ’cause you couldn’t resist, you’ll be miserable ’cause you’ll have even more weight to lose and to top it all off, all the chocolate’s now gone so you can’t even make yourself feel better … So don’t do it … don’t set yourself up for failure and go with some … apples??! haha I knoooow but you’ll thank me (and yourself) later 😀

YOUR GRANNIE, YOUR UNI PALS, YOUR TRAVEL BUDDIES, LITERALLY, THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS YOU’RE STUCK AT HOME SOOOO HOW ABOUT A CALL???

Gone are the days when you could come up with all sorts of rubbish excuses for why you didn’t phone your parents back, or ignored your friends’ messages that kept popping up or just couldn’t quite find the time for everyone because honestly life’s just been way too crazy to fit it all in … well, it’s no more!

So pick up the phone and show you actually care. Send a message to all the people you haven’t talked to in months but really wish you knew what they’ve been up to. You’ve got a killer conversation starter now so even if you haven’t been in touch for ages, that’s ok … there’s never been a better time in this entire century to just send a random message asking “How is it all going” … and unless your pal’s been lost in Torres del Paine for the last month or so with no bloody signal and WiFi, he’ll know the world’s been trying to fall apart so he’ll relate to your cry to get back in touch.

So reconnect … don’t be the guy who says “Well, she didn’t call or message … why should I”. Everyone is trying to make sense and adapt to this new reality and there hasn’t been a time in our lifetime where having friends and being sociable (despite the physical social isolation) has been more important so invest in that and really use the time to strengthen your relationships, have the uncomfortable conversations, reconnect with people you used to be close with but life kinda got in the way so you lost touch … there’s never been a better time for all that! So make the most of it …

Having said that though, chatting and being on your phone for hours is amazing, it’s fun, it’s using up all this extra time you’re unsure yet how to fill up so it’s coming handy and it’s super helpful to feel you’ve got people around you who totally get it and feel your pain. But don’t burn yourself out … there will be days when being on your phone, messaging and calling will get the better of you and you’ll have had enough of it and all you’ll wanna do is put the phone inside the cupboard and forget you’ve got calls to answer and messages to reply back to .. and that’s ok.

At the time of writing, I’ve got quite a few people to respond to and it’s not that I don’t care or am being disrespectful … it’s just that I need a break from looking down at the screen, living in this virtual world, have kinda similar conversations of how it’s all going and if the family’s keeping well and bla bla bla. And who’s to judge … so balance it out and take a break from it all if you need one.

… oooh and when you do take a break, don’t slap yourself in the face by starting to think you’re totally getting anti-social and depressed … you’re not (ok, you may be if your break continues for weeks on end at which point do reach out to someone). Generally speaking though, all it means is that you need time for yourself and if anything, it’s amazing you’re recognizing that and giving yourself the time to reflect, adapt and readjust. So embrace this and give yourself some slack … and some space!

Ohhhh but I don’t have space … Remember? 3 generations in the same house, can barely turn around or hide … stay focused 😀

DANCE, JUMP AND LIFT WATER BOTTLES … A.K.A THE QUARANTINE ALTERNATIVE TO THE CARDIO AND THE GYM

In the pre-COVID reality, we were getting constantly bombarded with offers to join the gym, go to yoga, try out the new awesome super-high-intensity circuit class ’cause all this will tone us up, get us “back into the game”, make us all sexy and basically will make life rosy and wonderful and aaargh so damn ripped … but only if you join the newly refurbished, high-tech, it’s-got-it-all gym.

Sure you love my sarcasm and sure I’d usually hit the gym as often and as early as I can but you know what … you don’t need the physical gym to stay active, keep fit and burn some calories. What the awesome fully equipped gym or new snazzy yoga studio does is make it easy.

You pay some cash, you make the financial commitment to go and attend some classes … after all, you’ve given money and if you don’t even turn up, well that’s you just throwing money down the drain and no one likes that. Sooo you tend to show up at least once or twice a week … if you’re insanely committed like I am, you might even be opening the gym at 6 am (or maybe not haha).

But now, in these beautiful new during-COVID times, the gyms are shut, the yoga studios are a no go as well … and to make it even better, you had to cancel your monthly membership so you’ve got no idea when you’ll be able to get back into it again so really?! why even bother …

Well, hold off the dreaming … Who said you actually need the gym or the yoga studio, or the pool, or wherever it is you normally go to to get your exercise in. Truth is, all you need is a bit of space, maybe a mat if you wanna play it fancy and some music … ok, you can copy me and throw some water bottles and resistance bands into the mix but really that’s just for some added spicing up.

You can laugh all you want, you can think I’m crazy, totally some kinda rare breed that no sane human could relate to … but I spend my quarantine jumping, and dancing, and squatting, and walking about the entire flat in my desperate efforts to keep active and get some exercise in … and it totally works.

What better time than now to unleash your craziness and just do whatever you need to feel good. Who cares if you look hilarious dancing all over the living room or squatting with water bottles, boxes, speakers or whatever else you find lying about that can be lifted … Who cares if you made some healthy cake ’cause you desperately needed a treat but the whole floor is now covered with ground nuts and whooops you even spilt the milk all over the fridge …

You no longer have to justify yourself or your dubious choices because it’s quarantine times and you’re expected to go a bit nuts … we all are! But you get to decide your version of crazy so make it creative, make it healthy, keep it fun and remember … it’s totally cool to stay in and have a quiet one at home … the whole world is doing it and you’ve got nothing to prove so just relax and allow yourself to slow down.

YOU’RE NOT ON HOLIDAYS SO SET UP THE ALARM AND FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR ROUTINE

It’s all cancelled or suspended … indefinitely. So let’s wait it out, pause it all and just pick up where we left off in some .. mmmm 6 months or so when it’s all gonna be back to normal … well, if you’re seriously thinking that, I gotta say it to you straight … you’ve officially gone bonkers and this is your wake up call so WAKE UP haha

Despite the fact that we’re in quarantine and it’s all kinda weird, totally unpredictable and maybe even a bit financially insecure, this is how life is right now and whether you love it or not, you gotta keep on living it, adjusting to it, learning from it and changing as a result of it.

So don’t you dare pause for an indefinite vacation. If anything now’s the time to refocus and get some stuff done … maybe you’re fortunate to have a job that you can still do from home or maybe you’ve lost yours already. However good or bad you think you have it now, it’s all likely to change so there has never been a more important time in modern history to upskill a bit, polish off some old skills and work on some new ones because reality is that just like we didn’t see this coming, we don’t know what sort of post-COVID reality we’ll wake up to when this is all over and frankly, we have no idea what the new version of normal will look like so you gotta be ready for it and I’m afraid that watching Netflix or sunbathing all day ain’t gonna cut it.

So have a bit of a think.

How can you use the extra time? Is there something you wanna learn? Something you’ve been wanting to try out for ages but never got round to it?

Or maybe you’ve actually got enough work as it is but with so many distractions, you can’t seem to get anything done.

The answer to all our problems right now (apart from the obvious of course) is routine!

You no longer have to get up by 7 am to catch the 8 am train because … remember? You gotta stay at home. You no longer need to change into your work clothes ’cause you don’t even have work. Or maybe you’re still employed but who’s gonna know if you’re typing on your keyboard dressed up in your pj’s or your swimsuit or your black-tie … let’s be honest, no one’s gonna see you …

You no longer need to lunch at 12, work till 6 pm, pick up the kids at 6:30 pm, be home by 8 pm, talk to your parents as you’re making dinner and have it all wrapped up by the 11 pm bedtime cut off … whatever your routine looked like before, chances are it’s all completely changed now.

But let’s be honest, unless you set up a new routine, you ain’t gonna do anything, not realistically and certainly not consistently for weeks and months on end …

So come up with a simple daily plan that works for you. Keep on setting the alarm because believe it or not, you still have stuff to get up early for, even at the weekends.

Set a time when you’ll get work done. Schedule your workouts, your dinner time … maybe even the hours you’ll get totally and utterly lost in your phone and all the platforms for virtual meetings and calls so you can catch up with all your family and friends.

But keep it simple, realistic and easy to stick to consistently.

And remember, some days you’ll follow through perfectly, others not so much but give yourself some slack and just commit yourself to do a bit better tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that … until this new routine builds up some new COVID-inspired habits.

You might think that you’re great at getting things done as is and that you don’t need a routine to get yourself moving (in fact, you might even love not having a routine), but have a think … when was the last time you were in this situation before? I’d say never … so realistically you don’t know how this might hit you in a few weeks’ time if this situation continues for longer than we hoped it would. And that’s what you need to be getting yourself ready for and that’s exactly when routine becomes crucially important.

I, for one, stick to this very rough plan:

• Get up round 7-8 am and do some yoga
• 9-12 noon Write/ Research / Study Spanish + time for a coffee
• 12-13 pm Cook and break my fast
• Write/ Research / Study some more until 4 pm-ish
• Fit in a work out sometime between 4-6 pm
• Have dinner by 8 pm and then (drum roll haha) it’s time for the daily dose of virtual socializing haha

Whatever your rough plan is, stick to it … not for a few days or one week but until the whole thing is over and the world starts functioning again.

I’d love for the borders to open, to pack up my bag again, to get on a plane and go back and do all the things I wanted to do but sometimes sh*t happens and we need to accept it, to adapt to it and to not lose it all completely because of it. I’m sorry to break it to you but nothing’s gonna change if we keep on wishing things were different. Daydreaming we’re someplace else ain’t gonna make it all go away and trust me … the more you daydream, the further away it’ll all seem ’cause you’d feel even more miserable you aren’t even moving towards there at all now.

So, instead, … I choose to be present, to enjoy this for whatever it is, to make some good choices and to turn off the TV that paralyzes the mind and bombards the brain with figures, and constant updates on movement restrictions, flight cancellations and lack of hand sanitisers, gloves, masks, pasta and … toilet paper in the local supermarkets.

Some people out there are going through some pretty God damn sh** right now. Some are losing their health, their jobs, their sanity, their purpose. Most are panicking, getting overwhelmed with fear, anxiety and insecurity.

You and I, we’ve got it all ok. Just think about it … I, for one, miraculously made it home. I’m no longer stuck in Chile, sleeping at the airports, wondering if I’ll even make it back. Everyone I love is still safe and somewhat sane and whatever happens, I’m close to family which is exactly where I should and wanna be right now so yeah … I can happily stay in and wait it all out.

I can suck it up that the borders are shut, not moan it’s all rubbish ’cause I can’t go run in the park or have my sushi at a restaurant. Instead, I can get some work done, focus on the good stuff (there’s a ton of it, just gotta look a bit harder now to find it) and not get grumpy at the whole world ’cause this whole thing majorly freaking sucks because …

It doesn’t have to suck.