With no real travel experiences possible on the horizon, I’ve had a lot of time to sit in the moment and reflect. This COVID-19 quarantine life gave me a few core reflections on travel, life, and human existence.

They are thoughts I’ve had before as a world traveler. But now I see these reflections are truer than ever and a part of a sort of global, social awakening. I offer a few of these thoughts in the hope that some of it may resonate with you, too.

From recognizing my own privileges to recommitting myself to living each day in the present, perhaps you’ve been having the same thoughts!

Carpe Diem has never rang truer.

Back in 2012, I decided I wasn’t going to waste any more time. I was working on my PhD for 4 years at that point. I was over it and wanted out. I put my mind to finishing my degree but I also put my mind to making a long-time dream I had come true.

I spent too much of my life dragging my heels, lusting after adventure travel. I wanted to sling a backpack over my shoulders and set out on a budget trip with no return ticket. I wanted to make fast friends with strangers, experience cultures completely different from my own, bury my feet in sands on the other side of the world, wake up to the sound of cows and a sunrise outside my tent, swim underwater caverns while listening to whales singing, and drink in the rain on a hillside with people from 6 different countries. I wanted to do all of this without worrying about the next step in my plan. I wanted to feel like I could stay or go and change my path—to truly live in the moment.

Standing with my board at the Te Paki Dunes in Northland New Zealand (2015)

I managed to do all of that, even though I was a life-long planner. I never lived in the moment. I was always thinking ahead to the next step and trying to control the outcome of the future. I was focused on the next course I needed to get an A in or the next step I could take my relationships.

I managed to break that cycle as a traveler. I changed paths just because it felt right. I got in those dude’s car without being totally certain of the outcome. I said “I love you” without holding it in out of fear of the effect. I quickly learned through travel that things work out—even when they don’t. We can’t control anything except how we choose to experience things right now and how we perceive what once was. The future is not ours to shape.

The global pandemic is a wake up call—a reminder to so many—that this life and our way in it is fragile. Society as we know it is held up by uneven, breakable twigs. Collapse is imminent. Being flexible and adaptable is the epitome of survival. We’ve all had to completely adjust our lives and live day to day not really knowing when things will change.

It makes me think of my time in Thailand watching them build bamboo structures. In a day they had new lofted guesthouses built at the resort I was staying at on Koh Tao. They had no time to waste. Peak season was coming and they needed them built. I got the sense from all of the Thai locals that if those cabins blew over from a storm it was “No worries!” I can hear it in their island Thai accents. “Just build again. Same Same!”

Living day to day like that is a lesson I’ve adapted right into this quarantine life. It also means doing the things you want to do right now and don’t worry about tomorrow. Things can change unexpectedly so you might as well enjoy the present!

Guesthouse on stilts in Ko Tao, Thailand (2014)

Travel is an enormous privilege.

I know I’ve said travel is a privilege before. But I appreciate travel even more now especially since it’s inaccessible to me. My appreciation is compounded by being in a country that has been so deplorably inept at effectively responding to a crisis. The richest nation in the world and travel is still largely unsafe because new cases are on the rise in so many states.

I’ve watched as friends in Europe were able to travel this summer between European nations. It wasn’t the same kind of travel as before but it was something! So even that has put things in perspective for me—that where you are born or what your government is like really does determine the opportunities you have.

At a market in Regensburg, Germany - Crowds like this in Europe are still mostly a things of the past! (2014)

Additionally, I’ve reflected on how insignificant and misplaced my complaints are about not being able to travel. There are doctors, nurses, custodians, and cleaners who are on the front lines of this pandemic whose last worry is “Oh boo, can’t go snorkel in the Caribbean anymore!” They are getting COVID-19 or worrying about bringing it home to their families. They are out of childcare options and struggling to balance their work obligations with home schooling. Others don’t even have a job anymore because their business or the business they worked for closed.

While I do believe every sadness, loss, and complaint during this moment is relative and valid—there’s definitely so much to be grateful for comparatively.

I count myself so lucky to still have a job and to be able to work and save money during this pandemic. I miss being social but I am also saving money not going out with friends on the weekend and not traveling. This pandemic is actually helping me save for a pretty epic trip once things open up again. There’s not too many people who can say that right now. No matter how much I worked hard for what I have, the support systems I have, the color of my skin, the opportunities and economic status my parents had—all these things helped me be in a position to save for and look forward to travel as I quarantine.

Remote work is opening more doors.

There are some people who have been privileged enough to work remotely during this pandemic. That certainly has been true for me. In doing so, I’ve proven to my employer that I can be even more productive working remotely if given that freedom. I believe the same is true for others lucky enough to keep their jobs and work from home.

The world was already moving to remote work pre-pandemic. But for those businesses still clinging to the old in-person work model, their reasons for keeping it that way are no longer holding. And I think that’s a great thing! It’s great for parents who want to spend more time with their families. It’s great for the environment because there is less car pollution. It’s great for businesses who want happier workers who produce better quality work in less time.

There’s certainly still people who miss the office environment. For them, I’m sure there will still be office work available to them down the road. But the option to be remote is amazing—especially for travelers! All you need is a wifi connection and your office is made!

Spark free wi-fi zones were a lifesaver for writing in my blog from my car all over the country! (2015)

If I could take my work on the road even for part of the year—oh, the places I would go and the things I would do! To make money remotely doing what I love and travel at the same time? I mean, travel nomads have been doing it for years but often times they do so building their income off of the travel industry. That industry is in shambles right now and so nomads are having to pivot. Many are pivoting to remote work in other industries and those options are becoming more and more available to them as industries and their workers adapt to the quarantine life.

I imagine after things open up again, that employers will be much more flexible when a worker requests to work from home. Of course, this is one of those options that is not available in many professions. But as desk-work becomes more and more the norm in many industries, the remote work option becomes more and more beneficial!

We need people.

Hanging out with my new friend Jimmy in Thailand (2014)

I live independently with no roommates, children, or relationship partners of any kind. And I’ll be real with you—it’s been tough. More than ever, I am acutely aware of how important it is to connect with other humans. I won’t bore you with all the social psychology research out there, but there are plenty of data to support that our survival is highly dependent on social interaction with other living beings. Plants help. Animals are better. But humans are the best form of company for a stable mind.

It’s not just social interaction that we need. It’s also physical touch. There’s a bunch of research on this, too, like that babies will literally die if they aren’t touched (like if put in an incubator at the start of life). At the very least babies will fare much worse—their development will be limited and they are slower to recover from illness, if at all, without regular touch. The more the better.

Me and Carolina (from Sweden) in Iceland the night before she left (2014)

I prefer to travel the world independently. But I am rarely alone when I do. I meet so many people. I go on short adventures and long adventures with others. I go on many first dates. Sometimes I develop longer term relationships. It’s really only the transit between places that I am not with others. Those times in between locations are almost like a respite when traveling long term—a time to reconnect with myself. I learned a long time ago (even before travel) that I love my alone time. But I also love sharing experiences with others. I enjoy people’s company. I like learning about new people and what gives them life. I need people.

For the first 5 or so months of quarantine, I was pretty good at being alone. I can be an introvert when I want to be. Social interaction through Zoom, phone calls, social media, and the very occasional socially distanced meetup outdoors with a friend was more than enough to get me through. But I hit a point at about Month 6 where I started to really need someone to at least hug hello or to sit next to and watch a show with.

With extreme caution, I opened up my bubble to one friend. I even went on a couple socially distant dates to see if I might open up a bit more to another lucky someone (the answer was no, but it was still nice to try!). I’m not sure I would be mentally healthy right now if I hadn’t done this with at least one person. And I am so grateful to have at least one continuous interaction now.

Escaping quarantine with Victoria to kayak Oleta River Park (2020)

We are all connected.

If global warming hadn’t convinced you before. If anthropological knowledge and genetic science connecting us all to African origins hadn’t convinced you before. If the power of social networks to influence social movements and change election outcomes hadn’t convinced you before. If your spirituality or religious beliefs hadn’t convinced you before. Then I hope, I truly hope, this pandemic has made more people realize just how connected to and dependent on each other we all are.

This virus spread across the world from one person to the next with an unstoppable force. But it’s not just one person’s behaviors that impact the health and well-being of the next person. It’s entire systems that depend on people carrying out their part to keep the other parts flowing. When one set of workers, one social system, or one industry goes away, it has a ripple effect on the economy and/or our way of life.

Take school as an example. We literally depend on school taking kids out of the home between 8ish in the morning to 3ish in the afternoon. We depend on kids being able to go to after school programs until 5 or 6 at night. When schools shut down, parents couldn’t go to work because there was nobody home to watch their kids. There still isn’t. And even if they can work from home, half their attention is paid to the kids.

This pandemic was a huge reminder about how important we all are to each other in this world. As individuals, our actions have a direct consequence on the well-being of others. As societies, the structures we have built hang in a delicate symbiosis to each other. Individualism is truly the antithesis to ensuring the sustainability of this symbiotic principle. Just doing what you want because you want to and “it’s a free country” is the most selfish, harmful, inhumane bullshit you can possibly subscribe to. I have very literal tolerance for that mindset/approach to life at this point. I hope more people realize this now than ever before—for the sake of our survival as a species.

In Conclusion

Quarantine threw many people into an existential crisis. People are being forced to reassess what is important to them in this life. Travel offered me some of these insights before but now they’ve become highlighted and bolded.

I am grateful for the lessons from travel and the lessons from this pandemic. I am going to keep enjoying the present—having gratitude for the good things that this moment does offer me. That also means acting in the moment without worrying about the future. But I have to admit—I definitely can’t wait for the day things open up and I can travel once again!

5 Reflections As A World Traveler In Quarantine