The global COVID-19 situation is a brand new experience for me. Not only am I trying to live a fulfilling life during a global pandemic, but I’m also doing it in a foreign country where I have minimal contacts outside my family. I would like to share some of my experiences during this time and how I’m still trying to improve myself.

A protracted feeling that this is actually happening.

Writing this in the third week of April, the number of cases for the global COVID-19 situation is more than apparent. The fact that this could be our current state for a while has finally sunk in. Back in January the virus still felt like someone else’s problem; as long as it didn’t cross borders and as long as everyone in my own country obeyed proper social distancing rules, things would be ok. It did cross borders however, and no-one did obey the proper social distancing rules. Writing in retrospect I think we all know what happened. Most people were still taking things casually until their countries enforced movement restrictions or until the cases got too high. I myself thought it would be over in a matter of weeks.

I flew to Malaysia in early March, to rendezvous with my wife and begin our travel journey of a lifetime. Within a week Malaysia had it’s first big outbreak and the country announced it would be suspending all international flights. So I’m stuck here now, living out of an AirBnb apartment, still unwilling to completely unpack all my things. As the second extension of Malaysia’s Movement Control Order comes into place, the travel borders remain shut. It became apparent that we would need to make do here for a while and our travel plans were tucked far away on the shelf till the right time came. My trip was now about learning to make something of myself here in my apartment room, in a foreign country.

Working with the family to help each other.

I am so grateful now for the opportunity to be able to live with my wife; previously we had been living in separate countries. Now we have overcome that challenge and living in this trying time is our next challenge. My wife still has her day job commitments, but she only goes into office maybe once every 10 days. It’s great because we have so much time together, but it’s also difficult as not all her colleagues are used to this style of workspace. New boundaries need to be drawn when the boundaries of the office cubicle are lifted and new times need to be drafted when time zones are fluid.

My family probably worry a lot too. Not only was I living away from my family, but there was so much uncertainty about both our countries. This must have caused them a lot of stress too. If you would like to read more about balancing uncertainty during this time, follow the link to this blog here. In both cases, I needed to work with my family to use what little I have to help them out. During the global COVID-19 situation, we all needed to help each out. We would:

• Provide emotional support in light of changing work circumstances
• Take on more responsibilities at home
• Or simply make more time for phone calls with my family overseas.

Finding self-validation and continuing on with life.

Moving overseas has removed a lot of my support systems; my former colleagues, my dodgeball team mates, favourite cafes, and time with friends. It’s even more challenging trying to rebuild those systems during COVID-19, when I can’t go out to replace most of those things that I miss about home. I won’t be going insane from the cabin fever any time soon, but there is a tendency to simply fall into a slump of late mornings and Netflix bingeing.

After about a week, I knew I couldn’t keep living like I was on holiday. I would need to keep myself busy and even look at making some sort of business. Keeping myself physically and mentally engaged takes some effort because no-one is forcing you to, and it’s just so easy to do nothing. I believe, however, that everyone has interests and passions; we always speak about how if we had more time we would do so many things, well here’s that time.

With the time that I have had, I’ve been able to start this blog, spend more time learning languages, write, focus on spirituality, and even play Dungeons and Dragons online. I would encourage anyone going through a similar slump as me, where things are not certain, to try and invest some time in self-fulfilment. Don’t just focus on fun all the time, but rather invest in your self. Part of that is making sure you’re having fun and taking a break from the pressures of the day, but another part of that is investing in yourself; getting better at the things you’re good at, or learning new skills, as well as branching out into ventures that may bring back reward in the end. Despite the downtime we’re experiencing, we will still want to look back even on this period of time and ask; what did we do for ourselves?

I hope everyone can learn something from this post and more importantly from our current experiences. There are so many ways that we can utilise this slow period in our lives to emerge as better people. If you enjoyed this article and would like a more recent commentary on travelling a post-COVID-19 world; check out this article here!