The last few weeks have been hard for me as a travel writer to comment on the Coronavirus pandemic. The situation has changed on a daily basis and on 23rd March 2020, the UK officially went into Lockdown.
We do not know how long this will last, there is so much uncertainty at the moment. We could be in Lockdown for months, possibly a year. Our current Lockdown is being re-evaluated after three weeks.
The sooner we can beat this virus, the sooner we can live our lives to the full again. We can do that by following the advice by the medical professionals and keep safe and stay indoors.
But in the meanwhile, what do we do in Lockdown?
At first, I loved the idea of self-isolation and thought of all of those shows on Netflix and all of the unread books on my bookshelf (which were mainly Christmas presents).
I got bored after a few days and the novelty wore off. So I started thinking of ways to take advantage of this opportunity - we all have some time at home for the foreseeable future, so what do we do with it?
I don't think we will get another opportunity to have this kind of time off again - so I asked myself if I had a few months off, how would I spend it? This is what I have spent my time on so far.
Books
I have been focussing on reading the books that are on my bookshelf. But I have also been considering how books can help me when we come out of our Lockdown period. As a rule, I have one non-fiction book and a book that I can learn from.
Warhammer Models
Before we went into Lockdown, I attended a workshop to learn how to paint models. I found the whole experience really relaxing and have since brought a starter kit and models.
I enjoy reading Warhammer books, particularly the Horus Heresy series - so it felt like it was a natural progression to paint the models.
My first model is on the left - I can see improvement already!
Online courses
At the beginning of the year, I purchased some courses on Udemy.com
I also signed up to some free ones as well and have been progressing through them during this period. So far I have completed one course but I am halfway through another. These courses will help with future goals and plans.
Overall, Lockdown can be seen as a negative or positive thing. I have made the choice to make as much of this time as I can. I believe great things can come from isolation. Keeping busy is the key.
Stay safe and well everyone!