covid-19 lock down empty M1

A Month In Covid-19 Lock Down – How Are We All Doing?

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost a month since we first experienced a ‘lock down’. We were in southern Spain when the ‘State of Alarm’ was declared about the Covid-19 outbreak, meaning only essential travel was allowed. We were turned away from a campsite on Saturday 14th March due to the state of alarm, and decided then to set off home. Fortunately for us, one of the reasons for essential travel (the list came out the following day) was to ‘return to the place of habitual residence’. During the weeks since then we’ve had hardly any contact with people.

coronavirus road signs spain
Coronavirus – Avoid Travel

On the drive back we kept to ourselves as much as possible (pay at the pump petrol station and unmanned toll booths), and as the Chunnel whisked us back to UK soil on Tuesday we were advised not to get out of our vehicles. Back home we put ourselves into isolation for two weeks. We’d had no advice about returning from abroad, but we didn’t want to bring anything unwanted back to our community, and it felt like the right thing to do.

Our isolation wasn’t too bad, we’re used to our own company and small spaces, but it was made easier because we had an end date. We even had a countdown drawn up, to help us through the trickier days. Then on 1 April (I kid you not) we were released into the freedom of lock down along with the rest of the UK. Now we could go to the supermarket (as infrequently as possible) and go out once a day for exercise, you can probably guess that we couldn’t wait to get out and running again.

Covid-19 lock down countdown
Our isolation countdown

On our first day of ‘freedom’ we did a supermarket shop for ourselves, and then cycled over to Jay’s parents, who are shielding, and did a shop for them before cycling back (we’re car-less and Zagan has been SORNed as he won’t be out of storage for a while). The following day we both went out for a run on our own, and we both found it hard – physically and mentally having to avoid people while we run. It seems that mainly sitting around for three weeks does very little for your fitness, even though we did try to maintain it with an exercise bike and some Joe Wicks workouts. So less than two days after we got out of isolation and had our taste of ‘freedom’, we were both feeling low.

Covid-19 lock down workout with Joe Wicks
Me and Joe Wicks ready for a morning workout

Life is just so strange, surreal, down right weird right now and I am finding it all a real struggle mentally. I know there are loads of folks worse off than me, those shielding, motorhomes stuck overseas, people who have lost their jobs or who have had to close their businesses and most of all those on the front line saving lives in the NHS, caring for those in need and simply keeping the world turning by ensuring we all have access to food and empty bins, etc. But no matter how much I try to think how lucky I am at the moment, I am still struggling.

Some days I feel OKish, and I can get my backside out of the door for a run or walk, other days I just can’t seem to focus or get motivation to do anything. I have written lists of things I should be doing; with all the free time I should be fluent in Spanish by the end of this, The Cooler should be shining clean and I should be the strongest I’ve ever been with all the strength and exercises classes available online. Personally I think should’s are a big part of the problem. I feel guilty for not doing them and for wasting this opportunity – let’s face it, if you were stressed out at work and someone said, ‘how about a month or two off, we’ll pay you a chunk of your salary, but you’d have to stay at home and only go out once a day’. Now that doesn’t sound too bad, especially at the moment with the nice weather, but it just doesn’t feel like that sort of offer.

covid-19 lock down 1 a day walk
Exploring the local area on our ‘1 a day’ exercise

To me it feels like I’m being restricted, even though I know there is nowhere open to go out to. I am missing contact with friends and family, video calls are great but they are no match for a hug with your Mum or a giggle over a glass of something with your best mate. I really feel for those who are locked down on their own, and I know I am so fortunate to have Jay here with me. Sure we get on each other’s nerves from time to time, but we’re coping well and find that talking about how we are feeling really helps – that and not being in the same space for a couple of hours a day (one outside while the other inside, or taking it in turns to go running).

covid-19 lock down 1 a day running
It felt good to put on my running club vest for a virtual relay race we took part in. Sadly I was about 3 minutes off my usual pace, but I did my best.

I am also finding the uncertainty difficult to deal with. I know this won’t all end on Monday when they do their 3 week lockdown review, just looking at Spain, France and Italy tells me that. So I am trying to mentally prepare myself for this being the ‘new normal’ until June (at least), if it ends sooner, great, but if not it won’t be too much of a surprise.

So, how do I motivate myself to do stuff for potentially the next two months? I have no idea. Right now, I am being kind to myself and just doing what I feel like. Avoiding the news where possible, reading, sitting in our yard in the sunshine, playing Pop Master against my brother (via WhatsApp), running if I feel like it and walking if I don’t. The TV is still staying off until 5pm (and it continues to be called Boris o’Clock, although he’s in intensive care as I write this) and we’ve started to play a press briefing drinking game to try to lighten the mood. One swig for each time they say the ‘stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’ advice, ‘unprecedented’ also gets a swig and any other phrases that pop up depending on who the speaker is. Oh and don’t worry, the situation hasn’t turned Jay back to the booze, we play the game with water as it makes sure we’re drinking enough of the stuff – something we often forget to do.

covid-19 lock down empty M1
We keep seeing photos of the M1 looking empty (many local walks go over it), I waited for five minutes on a bridge to get this shot and there are still quite a few cars in it.

My new thing to look forward to is a trip to the supermarket to get our food for the week (I also shop once a week for Jay’s parents which is a tad stressful as I need to make decisions on their behalf if stuff isn’t in stock, but thankfully they are very forgiving and it’s lovely to be able to help them). Having never been a person who does a weekly shop – often a ‘big shop’ at Lidl followed by lots of nipping to the shop for fresh stuff or to see what has been yellow stickered. I now find myself writing a list throughout the week of what we’ve used up or are running low on, and add to that a couple of lists of ingredients for new recipes. So far the supermarkets have been quite well stocked (we were in Spain when the panic buying was happening and luckily it was all quite civilised there) and we get most stuff on the list, then I head to the treat aisle. As I eventually leave my trolly is loaded with cake, puddings, chocolate bars, biscuits and crisps, with the boredom of lock down I have taken snacking to a whole new level.

Covid-19 lockdown take away fish and chips
A weekly highlight is a takeaway from one of our local restaurants to help support them. Sadly our local chippy has now closed for the foreseeable future.

At the moment, I guess the virus itself is not the least of my worries, but quite low down on the worry scale for me. I don’t want to catch it, and am taking as many precautions as I can, but I fully expect to get it at some point. Hopefully it will be just a mild case and I don’t pass it on to anyone. I do worry about our parents catching it, this I worry about a lot. Reading reports that people are critically ill in hospital alone and dying alone because of Covid-19 really upsets me, and I can’t bear to think about that happening to someone I know and love.

In answer to the question at the top of this rambling – how are we doing personally? We’re doing OK, I think. There are ups and downs, but that’s life, and I’m probably just noticing them more as I have more time to think about things. Maybe next week I’ll get myself in gear and clean The Cooler from top to bottom, but then no one is going to pop round and visit, so maybe it can wait a little longer.

How about you guys, how are you all doing? Drop us a line, it would be great to hear from you.

Keep safe.
Ju x

13 replies
  1. Marie Ellis says:

    Hi guys. Glad to hear you’re both OK. We arrived back in England the same day as you after cutting short our 9 month tour. We keep ourselves going by remembering how lucky we are, we are stopping with our daughter and son in law who are both key workers, loving cooking and baking them goodies to keep them happy.

    Reply
  2. Emma says:

    Hi Jules & Jay, love following your blogs. We got back from our first 8 months away with our ‘van-rabbits’ in our self-build at the start of March. It’s been an interesting world to return to. We’re staying with my parents, who are I think actually glad we’re back as we’re sent out to do the shopping, so they can avoid being out too much in more crowded places. But it still unnerves me being out, I don’t want to bring any bugs back.
    We’re keeping spirits up by exercising each day (cycle, run or walk to collect extra grass for the rabbits). Have also been doing lots of email and photo sorting – computer housekeeping, and getting a list of local pubs that do takeaway food too! It’s been important to keep ourselves busy and occupied. What it has flagged for us is that we need to start looking for a bricks and mortar place to live when not travelling in the van – we’ve realised that not having a bolt hole and having to park up the van at my parents is ok, but not when you’re suddenly faced with possibly several months during a lockdown.

    Reply
  3. Ken Octon says:

    Hi Ju & Jay,

    Glad that you got home safe and sound. The journey sounded pretty stressful with the Covid-19 lockdown snapping at your heels all the way from southern Spain.

    Carol and I have been self-isolating since March 16th because Carol was recently diagnosed with low-grade Lymphoma, although no invasive treatment has been prescribed in view of the virus’s proclivity to circulate more in hospitals than outside. I act as the designated contact with the outside world, driving to collect food orders from wherever we can find it.

    Our house build project has stalled, not only due to the virus, but more due to the ridiculous costs quoted by our design and build team – a mere £100-125k over our stated budget maximum! The idea was to use someone else to act as PM for the build but clearly we cannot afford their fees and profit. Apparently we couldn’t even afford to build our last house using them, even though we built it for £220k. They would require at least £360k…
    So we are sacking them off and looking at several routes to achieving our goal within our budget, including being joint PMs ourselves and hiring in all the contractors direct, which is what we did last time.

    Apart from that whole topic, which takes up a lot of our time and energy, we are exercising by taking our Cocker Spaniel for at least 1 walk (each) per day but he was getting ‘walkies-averse’ with both Carol and I walking him for a minimum of an hour in the morning and the afternoon. This week we have reined back and go for a joint walk once a day, much to his evident relief!
    To keep our brains active I have picked up my guitar after a 3 year furlough, whilst Carol has explored various techniques with her enamelling of jewellery. In addition our son and his wife have a yoga studio in Crewe which had to close, so they set up an online presence for existing and new clients and we (well Carol mainly) uses their lessons for relaxation. They have just issued some free to use videos on their website covering breathing exercises to rebalance and reduce stress. Check out http://www.ministryofyoga.org
    A couple of days ago we unpacked our inflatable hot tub/spa and after a good scrub (not been used for 2 years) got it up and running. 20 minutes in there with a glass of wine around 6 o’clock is a really excellent way to wind down. We can’t take our phones in with us, so we have to talk to each other, which is a brilliant piece of ‘our time’. Sounds very bourgeois but at the end of the day it’s just 2 old wrinklies sat in a paddling pool having a drink!
    We are quite happy to sit tight for the next 3 months or however long it takes, especially in view of Carol’s vulnerability – her immune system is compromised by the Lymphoma. Tomorrow we find out more from her consultant in terms of the prognosis- currently it’s ‘Wait and See’ – but she is being monitored by frequent blood tests to assess the trend.

    Ideally we could do with having our motorhome here onsite but the access is too tight. There are a few jobs I could be getting on with in this period of enforced idleness.
    Hope this message finds you well and that you both stay safe.

    Reply
    • Jason says:

      Hi Ken, good to hear from you. I’m sorry to hear of Carol’s health problems, a reminder that there are more challenges than viruses. From what I’ve read of the two of you, you’re a tough and resourceful duo, so I have faith you’ll be fine. The house build sounds like something from Grand Designs but again, you nailed it before so I guess you will again, hat’s off to you, I wouldn’t have the balls! I can easily imagine your pooch’s relief; while out for our one-a-day earlier we had a sad laugh at the point our spaniel would refuse to take another step, the crafty wee fella knew the shortest way home. Thanks for all the pointers on things keeping you busy, an inspiration. Keep smiling, best of British, Jay

      Reply
  4. rose says:

    nah – Feck it. Don’t feel like you have to do anything. Go with the flow and just enjoy it. Honestly, when again in our life are we going to have the excuse not to do anything? Hopefully never, so soak it up and take each day as it comes and do what you want to do on that day and if the plan changes – who cares. I find running good, and I’m glad I still have some projects to do for clients so do tend to find the days go faster with a bit of work. But I’m so sick of looking at a computer, I am thinking of pulling back on that work and just hanging out with Paulie. Glad to hear you guys irritate each other from time to time. Sometimes I think Paul deserves a medal for putting up with me and then he jacks me off and we are even. ….LOLs

    Reply
  5. Steve says:

    Stay strong guys – this is a challenging time for all of us in many different ways. Whilst we’ve all got the same instruction (stay at home) it’s tough in a multitude of ways – single people are lonely, families are rearing their hair out. But we can share that solidarity and revisit past adventures.

    We had got planned our first trip in a motorhome with kids at the beginning of June – a couple of weeks touring Central France. However, a pause has been put on that and instead we’re trying to keep two wee ones entertained in our house and garden 24/7! That particular adventure will have to happen another time.

    Take care of yourselves. So bdibg much love

    Reply
  6. Lynne morgan says:

    Hi ju. Glad you made it back home safely. I empathise with many of your emotions …. and it’s bloddy hard for a free spirit like me to be ‘incarcerated’ in my house alone…. like you say I feel guilty for feeling so low when I have a beautiful home and garden to isolate in and i can walk the many fab walks of this village… needing all my inner strength right now but putting coping strategies in place and finding the zoom and houseparty apps invaluable…. I’ve got loads of work to do in my office but just. Cba . Hopefully I’ll find my mojo when the weather is not so good….. but in the meantime I’ll continue to play mind games and stay connected with as many friends as I can. Love and best wishes x

    Reply
  7. Chris says:

    Pleased you are doing well. We miss our motor home but a small price to pay when you see the wider picture and the tragedy around.
    Regard ourselves as extremely lucky. Able to have a cycle ride every day on blissfully quiet roads. Online shopping difficult but OK. Younger friends helping with shopping which we can’t get online.
    We’re doing our bit helping an even older neighbour who has no ability to shop and is in poor health.
    Nice to see neighbours pulling together (apart from the odd one).
    Take care everyone and support NHS staff. We have one in family. So stressful for them all.

    Reply
  8. Andy says:

    Hey both

    Great to catch up with your thoughts here and I’m sorry to hear you are struggling at times but it’s perfectly understandable and normal in such times. I have had a hell of a 2020 so far but still managing to stay positive and looking forward to better times ahead and know I will appreciate getting abroad and maybe back to Andalucia even more!

    I can highly recommend Mark Manson’s recent blog post to give a good perspective on it all – warning he writes in a very loose and sweary way but I think he has a lot of this life stuff figured out…

    https://markmanson.net/coronavirus-mental-health-crisis

    Andy

    Reply
  9. Linda Davey says:

    I understand how you are feeling. This has been a tough few days for me, mainly because I feel the loss of freedom to travel. After nearly six years on the road, sitting still just isn’t comfortable. It is a loss I am grieving now. I long for the simple days of moseying from one place to another. The worst part is that we don’t know for how long. But, we travelers are hardy folk, so we’ll hang in there together. Sending long distance hugs to you both! ~ Linda

    Reply
  10. Sue says:

    Really enjoy reading your blog. You mention that Zagan is in storage, as is ours. We’d like to carry out some maintenance, following social distancing rules of course, but our club won’t allow access. Is this the case for all storage sites?

    Reply
    • Jason says:

      Hi Sue. Zagan is in storage at a farm that is still allowing access. I can’t comment on other sites, but other readers might. Even though we can get access, we aren’t planning to go and do any maintenance as it’s not essential. We’ll have a huge list of jobs after all of this though – anyone got a spare side window? Ju x

      Reply

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