We’ve now been officially at home for a little over 2 weeks. The only leaving of the apartment we’ve done is to pick up deliveries from the lobby or drop the rubbish to the bin. Even the building’s pool and gym is closed so there’s no movement to other areas – or distractions from your everyday space.
It’s a strange feeling, the world is revolving around Corona Virus – you wake up, read the news. Go to sleep, read the news. All of us are fixated on the number of the cases, the global changes and the local changes the government implements.
Living here in Bangkok, Thailand – but having roots in Belgium and Australia – there is even more to consume. It’s not just keeping up to date with your own surroundings but also the ones where we have family and friends.
Life definitely doesn’t feel normal. It’s hard to say whether this situation improves or decreases my sense of focus and living in the moment. In one way we are forced to live in the moment by staying at home. In another way there is this complete feeling of lack of control and inability to plan. Immediate plans for travel are gone, future plans for travel are unknown. It’s a mess.
The best way I’ve found mentally to categorise it is with benefits and negatives pre and during-COVID-19. The strange thing and the one that I’ve heard those close to me say is it feels like I don’t have any more time than usual. This may come down to I haven’t had to remove social interactions, so quarantining, seeing people less hasn’t been a part of my life change.
Benefits:
- No thoughts of travel of going away for the weekend
- Minimalism has become a focus again – how much of my material things can I use up and how important are these material things to my life. As a result of COVID-19 my addiction to online shopping has greatly reduced (seeing less people has made me less conscious of buying new things). I’m instead focusing on decluttering, “hitting pan” on as many products as I can and trying you “water only” washing for my hair. 1 week in and so far so good.
- More time with my partner. Jens and I now spend 24/7 together – I can’t say whether it’s been a good thing for our relationship yet. Maybe more than before I realise we have been fortunate to spend a lot of time together.
- Adjusting back to not relying on Asia conveniences. We stopped our maid and I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to adjust back to doing everything ourselves at home, but actually the change has been nice. (Although I do feel like I go through ups and downs where I feel I’m doing all the housework with very little help)
Negatives
- Being with your partner 24/7 also doesn’t allow you to fully appreciate being with them since their is no time spent apart. After 2.5 weeks, I’m now starting to crave being able to pop out for few hours of shopping, get my nails done or a massage or something without being in each others spaces so heavily.
- Stockpiling, whilst being aware of limiting outside movement and also that the infrastructure could breakdown at any point (online groceries no longer available). It’s meant more planning and less planning all at the same time. The mental ease has not changed significantly.
Here are some photos of life from the last 18 days in quarantine.
Champagne Vivant 