2 Days to Departure

Let’s have a quick show of hands. How many of you are still watching the news? A few of you over there at the back. A couple of you over here. It looks as though many of you, like me, have decided we have seen enough bad news. If it is not a story about social distancing, or different opinions on whether schools should stay open or closed, it is an update of the number of people affected worldwide by current events.

At times like this I would turn to my social media feed for some mood lifting pictures. Sausage dogs in raincoats. Or maybe giant burgers that leave me salivating all day. But now even social media has been taken over by the dreaded “c” word.

I’ll whisper this, but even though I am now without employment (through choice), I still found myself checking LinkedIn. This was until I discovered that despite it being a thing for many years, everyone now seems to be an expert on working remotely. Strewth. What is a person to do?

As the sun continues to shine, and we are experiencing unseasonably warm weather, a long walk around the water was in order. Followed by lunch at a local cafe. Looking around the cafes, business remains brisk. There are now new rules about how much space there needs to be between tables, when sat indoors, but we are yet to see a marked drop off in people eating out. That said, the cafes and restaurants are pre-emptying people’s worries by everyone now offering take out services. We may be struggling to get toilet rolls, and hand sanitiser, but we definitely won’t go hungry.

In terms of our plans, as I wrote previously, we are now on plan b. We have little choice to press on with our intention to leave Sydney, and eventually relocate to Perth. Why would we do this now, in the middle of all this craziness? Well, we are now jobless. And from Monday we will be homeless. We will embrace the philosophy of slow travel, and take an unplanned road trip around this beautiful country of ours. Then, we will probably relocate to Perth a lot earlier than we originally anticipated.

Like all of you, we are taking each day as it comes. We won’t take any unnecessary risks. We will follow the official advice and watch for when any of that changes. We will keep you updated from the road, and share some of Australia with you. 

In the meantime, stay safe. Stay calm. Stay rational. Shop like a normal person. Nobody needs to stockpile toilet rolls. And we all need access to basics, like eggs. This is a time like no other. A time to support each other. Pick up the phone and talk to your friends and family. Let’s show the best of humanity. 

And let’s start putting a little money aside for the party of all parties once we get rid of this thing.