I’ve decided to stay in Sydney for two more weeks (minimum) and wait this thing out. I don’t think life will get back to normal within this time. But I think I will have more information to understand what the next move should be. Right now so many different opinions are being thrown around it’s hard to know what to think.
The Australian government closed it’s borders to all non-citizens last week. And now each of the states in Australia are starting to require a self-quarantine. Visitors to most of the states in Australia will have to distance themselves regardless if they are sick or not.
So for example, someone arriving in Sydney (New South Wales) from Melbourne (Victoria) will have to stay off the streets for two weeks. I’m not subject to this quarantine but it will restrict my ability to travel anywhere outside New South Wales for the time being. So I’ll have to stay in the state for a while.
I reserved an Airbnb in the same area that the hostel I was staying is in. So that made the transition quite simple. I packed up my stuff, hung around the hostel for a few hours, and walked the ten minutes to the apartment building.
The apartment will suffice for the next two weeks. Nothing fancy but I have a kitchen and a full-size bed. The kitchen was the most important thing to me. If I am going to be on my own then I need to be able to cook for myself. Eating take out would get awfully expensive. I want to stick to my budget as best I can.
A part of me is pleased that I will have my own apartment for a few weeks. After six weeks of living in dorm rooms and having to share a kitchen with other backpackers, it feels nice to have my own space.
I want to use this time to cultivate healthier habits. I think it’s a matter of perspective. We can all use this time in a productive way if we choose to do so. There are few times in your life where you are handed two weeks to do whatever you please.
I will have some time and space to exercise if only push-ups and bodyweight squats. That’s something I have been missing in the last few weeks. I was exercising a lot in New Zealand because I was hiking so much. Since I arrived in Australia I’ve been more sedentary.
I’d also like to take care of my mind while I’m distancing myself. It’s very easy to get bored and fall into poor habits. So this means reading and meditating. It’ll be nice to have my own space to meditate again.
I’m trying to stay optimistic as this situation develops. I don’t think that this situation will be resolved in the next two weeks but I am hoping that if I bunker down I will still have a chance to continue my travels at some point in the future. Very few people could have imagined how fast the disease was going to spread. So maybe we will be surprised by how fast the disease can be contained.