As some of you know, or many of you because we all know how fast rumours news spreads in Gibraltar, I have spent the last 14 days in quarantine in my bedroom to see if I developed any corona-esque symptoms. I think if you handed me a paper with 100 shades of blue I could probably tell you which one is the same colour as my walls because I've spent so many hours looking at them. I was in this position because last month I was travelling around Vietnam, and on my flight home my 2 hour layover in Bangkok, Thailand landed me a ticket to self-isolation for being on the 'high risk countries' list. Vietnam has had a total number of 20 cases of coronavirus and Thailand has had 43, but let's not talk about how those of us with no symptoms have had to be quarantined meanwhile passengers from UK (273 cases) and Spain (430 cases) have come in and out as they please.
Anyway, it wasn't the end of the world. I felt like I was in a VIP prison - I had unlimited Wi-Fi, home cooked food brought to my door, unlimited phone calls and wine, which doesn't sound as lonely as I made my friends have a drink with me via FaceTime. I know there are others who are currently in quarantine (thanks to the frequent updates on social media), so if you're worried about going insane or finally sick of watching Netflix, I'm here with 40 things to do to keep yourself occupied.
NOTE: I wrote this blog post before Gibraltar went on semi-lockdown in March, so I have added a further 20 things to do whilst we are all being responsible and staying home. I know being indoors sucks. A lot of my joy comes from having trips, festivals and social activities to look forward to, but this is not the time to be selfish. You know what sucks more than cancelling holidays and not being able to go out partying? Losing people you love. Missing out on stuff for a few weeks or months is nothing in the grand scheme of things, especially if it will help slow down the spread of the virus. I also know a lot of people depend on routine and social activities to help with mental health, so that's why I've compiled this list. Just think about how great it will feel to celebrate once all of this is behind us.
NOTE: I wrote this blog post before Gibraltar went on semi-lockdown in March, so I have added a further 20 things to do whilst we are all being responsible and staying home. I know being indoors sucks. A lot of my joy comes from having trips, festivals and social activities to look forward to, but this is not the time to be selfish. You know what sucks more than cancelling holidays and not being able to go out partying? Losing people you love. Missing out on stuff for a few weeks or months is nothing in the grand scheme of things, especially if it will help slow down the spread of the virus. I also know a lot of people depend on routine and social activities to help with mental health, so that's why I've compiled this list. Just think about how great it will feel to celebrate once all of this is behind us.
1. Binge watch a TV series - I finally finished Power, and then my mum suggested I watch Toy Boy para 'practica tu español anda'.
2. Go through your drawers and find letters, diaries and other stuff you wrote when you were younger, and cringe all over again.
3. Download tik-tok, learn tik tok dances and then send them to your friends for their entertainment.
4. Make a playlist of all the songs you're going to dance to when you're out of quarantine.
5. Organise your wardrobe - find stuff you want to give away and stuff you want to bin.
6. Find out how long you can hold a plank for.
7. Try not to think about how much fun everyone else is having in other countries where they're still allowed to go out, I suggest avoiding Instagram stories from the hours of 8pm-3am on a Friday night.
8. Face Time people you haven't caught up with in a while, wine is optional.
9. Come up with a new gym routine.
10. Brush up on your Spanish, after living in Australia for a year I definitely needed to!
11. Think about what you want to get out of the rest of the year. Download yourself a free digital planner and set yourself goals to reach on your calendar.
12. Write a love letter, and then throw it in the bin when you realise how embarrassing and mushy you sound.
13. Download The Sims.
14. Go online shopping for all the significant events or nights out you're going to have once you are released from captivity to the outside world.
15. Find a new recipe you can make once you have the luxury of going to the kitchen.
16. Unsubscribe to the annoying emails you get. Unroll.me makes this pretty easy to do.
17. Plan what you're going to go as for Halloween - it's never too early right?
18. Plan your future holidays. There's nothing I love more than creating a new google doc itinerary, ooft.
19. Sleep in. You don't have anything important to wake up for anyway.
20. Think about how whilst you're lying in bed eating snacks and watching trash TV, some people still have to go to work.
21. Look at houses on RightMove in random places around the world that you know you'll never be able to afford.
22. Make a 'future' Pinterest board full of clothes, hairstyles, furniture or whatever you want to purchase once the world returns to normal.
23. Listen to albums you used to listen to in your teenage years, it's an instant mood booster. Currently listening to All Time Low and I'm air guitaring around my room.
24. Wish everyone on your Facebook a happy birthday, now that you have the time to.
25. If like me you find quizzes and trivia amusing, head to Sporcle.
21. Look at houses on RightMove in random places around the world that you know you'll never be able to afford.
22. Make a 'future' Pinterest board full of clothes, hairstyles, furniture or whatever you want to purchase once the world returns to normal.
23. Listen to albums you used to listen to in your teenage years, it's an instant mood booster. Currently listening to All Time Low and I'm air guitaring around my room.
24. Wish everyone on your Facebook a happy birthday, now that you have the time to.
25. If like me you find quizzes and trivia amusing, head to Sporcle.
26. Have a movie night with your friends via Netflix Party - whatever you're watching will be synced and there's a pop up chat on the side to discuss.
27. Learn a language - now you don't have the excuse that you don't have enough time (I must have redowloaded Duolingo 3 times).
28. Get your friends together on Skype, put some music on and play some drinking games as if you're heading out after, but instead you're going to collapse in bed.
29. Watch all 236 episodes of Friends, by the time you're done this will hopefully all be behind us.
30. Call your grandparents.
31. Fill up a 1.5 litre bottle of water every morning and make sure you've drank it by the end of the day.
32. Take 10 minutes a day to stretch or do yoga poses, or you'll be walking like Quasimodo once you can go outside again, trust me.
33. Find out if you could be the next Taylor Swift by attempting to write a song.
34. Try and learn a new skill online - Photoshop, coding, SEO etc.
35. Read some self-development books, here's 25 of the best.
36. Help where you can - if your country still isn't on total lockdown, help the elderly with their shopping or volunteer where you can.
37. Keep a gratitude journal. Since the beginning of the year I've been writing a highlight of everyday and it helps to focus on the positive or the little joys.
38. Have a family games night. If you don't have any board games download the Heads Up app.
39. Go through your camera roll and delete all your useless photos and screenshots.
40. Try and limit your talk about the virus, unless it's breaking news. Hearing all the negativity, panic and rumours surrounding the virus on social media will just make things and your mental health worse. Stay safe and informed, but don't let it control your life.
G
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