10 Positive Sides of Life Under the COVID Lockdown

I am not going to lie.  Lockdown is pretty much kicking my ass.  After five weeks of sitting around alone in an Airbnb in Mexico, I have finally started to break down.  With five more weeks still looming in front of me, I have decided to take time and think about some of the great things that have happened because of this!

1. I finally moved to Mexico after years of saying that I would.   While these may not be the exact circumstances that I imagined, fate propelled me in this direction for a reason.
2. I have gotten to connect with friends that I have had for over 30 years!  When you are a nomad, maintaining long term friendships is really tough.  Time zones, other people’s family commitments and long working hours make it hard to devote the time necessary to cultivate friendships that span the globe.  COVID has brought the world to a screeching halt and people finally have the time to reconnect.
3. I am treating my body way, way better than I have for years.  Fresh fruit and vegetables are much cheaper in Mexico than they were in India and you don’t have to pay “white person” prices (or at least I don’t think so).  Trips to the grocery store and the markets have helped me practice vocabulary and are now pretty much the only interaction that I have with other people in real life. I have also finally started taking vitamins rather than having them just sit on the bathroom shelf. I have also had to severely limit my alcohol intake since you can no longer buy beer here. I have also started using coffee grounds and coconut oil to make my own body scrub which makes my skin feel awesome!
4. And I am happy to add that I am finally really trying to learn Spanish like I have said I would for years!  I may have asked how much a shoe costs today and told my neighbor that I teach 5 assholes rather than 5 year old kids but I officially speak more Spanish after a month of living on Duolingo and reading children’s books than I did in 7 months of traveling through Latin America. 
5. After a 15 year hiatus due to constantly living in tiny apartments, I have finally revisited my love for puzzles and remembered how therapeutic they can be.  They make the time go by faster and thankfully, are one of the few things that I can do that isn’t digital.
6. I have gotten better at all kinds of miscellaneous tasks.  I managed to run 10 kilometers in my last run before everything got super strict.  It proved to me that when I am not stressed out with daily life that my body can do much more than I expected of it.  I also re-learned how to do a handstand!  Sure, I have to turn off the ceiling fan in my airbnb so I don’t bust my feet on it but after years of being plagued by painful herniated disks in my lower back, it is great to know that I can still do something somewhat gymnastic-y.
7. I have learned how little I actually need.  Although I technically have all of my stuff with me, two years of living in a conservative country didn’t leave me with a whole lot of summer clothes options.  Right now, I am down to a few dresses, 4 pairs of “multi-purpose shorts” and 2 pairs of sports shorts, 5 tank tops, and 2 T-shirts.  I rotate these on a daily basis and try to extend their life as long as I can (I don’t have a washing machine so I wash my clothes by hand in the shower.)  I thought I had figured out how to whittle down my wardrobe when I backpacked for 18 months but I have reached a new level of efficiency now. 
8. I finally have time to spend on my blog.  While I may not have any current travels to write about, my blog is a way not only to share my stories but also to force myself to take the time to journal things.  I have been so incredibly fortunate to travel like I have and I want to make sure that years from now, I will still be able to look back and be proud that I did that! I also finally figured out how to start a youtube channel. I don’t know how to edit videos and barely have any footage but at least it is something. You can check out my channel here!
9. I have cut way, way back on expenses.  Mumbai was surprisingly a very expensive place to live.  Despite working 7 days a week and living in a crappy apartment, I never seemed to be able to save a huge amount of money.   I am still teaching online and was able to dramatically increase my hours. Hopefully will be able to save up quite a bit since there is nothing to spend it on!  After a very expensive February thanks to a trip through Afghanistan and then having to purchase emergency flights to Mexico, it is nice to see my bank account growing a little bit. As an added bonus, my students are a breath of fresh air and give me a reason to get up at 4:30 am every morning (yep, you read that right……every morning…….).
10. Last, but not least, I was lucky enough to end up in a beautiful city with very few cases of COVID, friendly people and what I can only imagine to be a thriving cultural scene.  I have connected with a few expats through Facebook and maybe, just maybe, I will already have a few acquaintances here when this is all over.