3 April 2020
The weather hasn’t been great the past couple of days, so I haven’t been out and about taking pictures. Instead, I’ve spent some time going through old photos and memories. This has made me quite nostalgic, so I thought today’s post would focus on the things I miss about life before covid-19 and self-isolation.
Family
We’ve were very lucky to spend a lot of time with our family shortly before the coronavirus kicked-in. We spent three weeks back in England over Christmas and also had family visiting in February/March. It still doesn’t make it any easier. As our family are all based in the UK, with the current restrictions, we have no idea when we’ll be able to see them again.
Friends
We have a great group of friends here in Australia, back in the UK and all over the world. In the past we have taken for granted the fact that we can meet up with friends whenever we want. The new self-isolation rules make this much trickier. Again, we’ve no idea when we’ll next see our friends in the flesh.
Travelling
We love to explore new places, both around Australia and around the globe. We’re fortunate that our lifestyles have enabled us to explore a multitude of countries, all over the world. Sadly, the current situation means we’ll be keeping it local for at least the next six months or so.
Sport
Personally, I love sport and I love watching sport. Football, cricket, tennis, golf, badminton, AFL, NRL, rugby union, swimming, track and field – I can happily waste away hours watching it. When I first moved to Australia, the thing I missed most was watching decent live football. Now, I miss all sports. To not have any sport to watch at all is alien and is a huge loss for me. When will it end?
Eating out
Food is a passion and eating out is one of our favourite things to do. The coronavirus outbreak has led to all restaurants, pubs and bars shut indefinitely. The silver lining is that without a job, at least we’re not tempted to go for food out.
The pub (and alcohol in general)
The craft beer scene in Australia is awesome. I love it and I miss it terribly. As above, all bars and pubs have been shut indefinitely – likely for at least six months. I feel that we’re in the minority who have used this opportunity to sober up and save money – at the time of writing we’re 12 days sober. But who’s counting right? (I am).
Swimming
One of my favourite routines was going for a weekly swim at our local Olympic-sized swimming pool in Manly. This has been closed in the past few weeks due to Covid-19. The ocean pools ahve also been closed recently due to social distancing regulations. There’s always the ocean or the harbour – but it can be a bit murky, swelly or sharky!
The beach
Ok. So this is a very recent as until last week we could use the beach for sunbathing, relaxing, reading etc. However, now the rules state we’re only to leave the house for an emergency – sadly, working on the tan is not regarded as an emergency by the Australian government. Booo…
Exploring Sydney
As well as exploring overseas and domestically, I also love exploring Sydney. To me it is without doubt one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I love the botanic gardens, I love the coastal walks, I love the city’s bars and restaurants. Sadly, the Coronavirus outbreak has made it much harder to explore our home – it is hard to argue that travelling to the other side of the city is essential travel.
Work (well…money)
So, I’m now circa 2 weeks unemployed. The work aspect, I do miss in terms of a sense of purpose and daily routine. And if I’m honest with myself, I do miss the daily challenge of a working environment – but I can get over that. What I really miss is the money. In December 2019 we were all excited for 2020 – we had new well-paid jobs and hoped to save enough money to buy a place in Sydney in 2021. 2020 and the coronavirus had other plans – if we can avoid eating into our existing savings now, we’ll be delighted.
