With our Alone, Together series, we’re amplifying the voices of our teams and travellers around the world. This week, we’re turning our focus to living through Covid-19 in California – the first state to order lockdown in the USA. Barack Obama recently blasted President Donald Trump for his handling of the virus, against a backdrop of further Covid-19 cases, bigger cities such as Los Angeles doing everything they can to prevent the spread and residents remaining under the Stay Home order.
Here, we catch up with Aubree West, Content Marketing Manager and Abbey Schoenberg, VP Marketing and Communications at Contiki US to find out the human stories behind the headlines.
The current situation
“California was the first state in the US to adopt the Stay Home order,” explains Abbey. “Restaurants and bars shut down for dine-in guests, all non-essential business were forced to close, professional sports were suspended and schools were closed. The good news for us is that despite the spread of Covid-19 in California, we can still go outside. Up until a few weeks ago, parks and beaches were still open – but as it became more difficult to enforce the 6ft of separation requirement, those were eventually forced to close (devastating for us beach-loving Californians).”
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“For us at Contiki it means working from home, lots and lots of dog walks, a newfound love for at-home workout videos… and the special Friday occasion of picking up food from one of our favorite local restaurants (in the name of supporting small businesses, of course).”
Regarding Covid-19 in California, residents are relying heavily on the governor, Gavin Newsom, and his strategies for handling things. “The governor came out a few days ago and announced what the roll out plan would be to bring the economy back,” says Aubree. “They’re planning on reopening non-essential businesses gradually, but with a six-step plan with milestones that we have to hit in order to open the state back up.”
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“I’d say that there’s two things going on here in the US. The national government’s plan, i.e. The White House and Donald Trump, and the state government’s, i.e. the governor. For us, we’re going through two polar opposite experiences right now. We’re not getting clear messaging from our national government and many people are saying that we should have reacted to this in January, before New York exploded with cases.
“I feel fortunate to live through Covid-19 in California, as I think it’s one of the most progressive states. But at the same time, I feel that nationally we’re all in this together. I still feel that pain for New York and other states.”
And when it comes to masks and PPE, things are changing slightly there too. “I’m not one that usually wears a mask,” says Abbey. “But it’s becoming more of a requirement in the US – plus, you do feel judged these days when going out without one, so I’ll be fashioning one for myself out of a bandana this weekend. I’ve also become intensely aware of how many things you touch when you go out. I’ve never been a germaphobe, but I’ve become so much more aware about the spread of germs and have started to be ultra-sensitive to avoiding the spread – you start to develop a little paranoia.”
Adapting to the WFH routine
A Stay Home order sounds simple but it can affect us all in such different ways. It has to be said that being able to work from home is a HUGE privilege – making us appreciate the key workers of the world even more. But adapting to this new routine can still play havoc on our emotions and mood.
“Usually I have a really strict daily routine; waking up early to workout and shower, reading before work, walking the dog and meditating after work,” says Aubree. “But now, I’ve adopted a more flexible one. My main goal each day is to get the things I need to get done… done, but the order of them doesn’t matter much to me anymore.
I recently read a quote: “You are not working from home, you are at home during a crisis, trying to work” and I think it’s important to differentiate. Each day, we’re trying to process what’s going on.
“I’m also a news fiend, but now I’m finding it really hard to escape all of the Covid-19 coverage. I’m trying to listen into the press conferences as much as I can – I prefer to get info straight from the source. In the last four years, this is the most I’ve ever heard Donald Trump speak…
“I limit myself to morning and evening news reads. I don’t go on Twitter past 9pm because it induces Covid-19 anxiety-ridden sleep (or no sleep at all!). I definitely don’t trust all of the news, so I stick to local California news outlets, like the LA Times, OC Register, as well as BBC and WSJ.”
Image source:Unsplash
New times, mixed emotions
We’ve never seen anything like Covid-19 in our lifetime and so it makes sense that living through it is a confusing, overwhelming and sometimes terrifying time. “Some days I feel totally normal and some days I’m overwhelmed by anxiety,” says Abbey. “When you can’t see an end to things and you don’t have the control to fix it yourself, it can be incredibly hard to manage mentally. I’m lucky that I have a good network at home – we’ve decided to isolate with my mom since she lives alone and I was concerned about her getting through this without any human contact for weeks. I try to find as much stability in my day to day to help with that anxiety, like evening walks with my husband (and pup) and sitting down every night for dinner together.”
“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, too,” says Aubree. “My S.O. (who I live with) travels to NYC for work every month. In late February he was in NYC and one of his coworkers tested positive for Covid-19. So this entire situation got real for me very quickly. I’ve been self-quarantined at home since March 5. I’ve been going through the emotional pendulum for sure but mainly I’d say I feel a mix of anxiety and appreciation on a daily basis.
“The outbreak has definitely impacted me and a lot of my colleagues because we work in travel. I previously worked at an agency that services hotels and resorts and many of my friends have lost their jobs or been furloughed. The US has seen a huge spike in unemployment and a downturn in the economy.
“It’s also been hard not seeing my family as much. I do weekly grocery drop-offs for my parents so luckily I do get to see them from a distance – we stand very far apart in the backyard and chat for an hour or so. I think the hardest part for my entire family has been not being able to support my sister who just had a baby. I just want to hold and see my new nephew. As for keeping in touch with friends, thank goodness for tech – we’re chatting via text, Instagram meme DMs and FaceTime. We all seem to be checking in with each other a lot more and they’ve been the best at finding the humor in this crazy situation.”
The power of community
The situation has pushed us to become experts at seeking out the silver linings – like our positive thinking survival instincts have kicked in to get us through. “As a woman with a huge soft spot for animals (#dogmom) the stories that have been so uplifting to me have been the public’s response to the crisis at the animal shelters, with more and more stories reporting that shelters are now running out of dogs and cats to adopt,” explains Abbey.
We’re all holding tightly onto the positive community stories and random acts of kindness. In the US, New Yorkers are clapping from their apartments every night to thank healthcare workers, people are volunteering in shelters and landlords are waiving rent for people impacted by Covid-19. “I am loving reading about the wedding, birthday and milestone drive bys,” says Abbey. “Not sure if these are a thing around the world, but it’s where you decorate your car, drive by and honk at your friend or family members’ house to celebrate their birthday. It’s the best.”
From this grandma’s 90th birthday parade…
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To neighbours coming together to celebrate Coco’s last round of chemotherapy…
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“Residents are also leaving little care packages outside like toilet paper, hand sanitizer and other essentials for their delivery workers,” says Aubree.
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And it really is true that you don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone. In these times when our movements are restricted and our routines turned upside down, it really does make you grateful for the simple things. “This time has humbled me so much,” says Aubree. “Being healthy. Having food to eat. Hugs. It’s made me let go of ‘preferences’ and pickiness all together. Like, who cares what brand of soap you buy? I’m just thankful soap was in stock and that I have food to eat. I know this isn’t the case for everyone, which makes me even more grateful.”
Adventuring again
When it comes to travel, the future is still pretty uncertain. “I have so many mixed emotions,” says Aubree. “I’m looking into local travel, researching national parks and thinking about where I might go for a long weekend when we’re able to. We’re such an interconnected generation – we’ve never really been restricted in this way, more able than any other generation to go anywhere and do anything we want. But we’re also such a conscious community – thinking more about the impact of our decisions on others. I think this is what will help us navigate this uncertain world as we begin to emerge from the pandemic.”
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