The Covid-19 Commute
Lockdown. Covid-19. Travel bans. Face masks. It seems bizarre to think how much has changed in 2020. Suddenly, our lives are completely different and as a travel blogger, I found one of my favourite things to do taken away from me – although it’s important to acknowledge, that in the grand scheme of things, I’ve been extremely lucky with the impact of Covid-19 on my life so far.
Never has the world felt so small, and simultaneously so big. In fact, one of the things lockdown has taught me is that our previous definition of what it means to work in “an office” has been so small. I can work from anywhere; it doesn’t have to be in a room with my colleagues. In fact, there’s a total joy in a ten-second commute to your desk and the ability to start cooking an elaborate dinner at 5pm. Of course, working in marketing means that I have always been able to work digitally but in reality I would spend an average of 3 hours a day of commuting – that’s over 780 hours, or over a month in total, every year! There’s so much more that can be done with that time and I’ve enjoyed discovering it over this period.
During those previously lost three hours each day, I’ve explored more of my home than ever before. It started with our one permitted walk or run a day, then we ventured further to keep ourselves entertained on those long weekends without pubs or trips away. For me, I’ve discovered the simple pleasures of the slower pace of living; endless countryside walks alongside fields of poppies, cooking elaborate three-course meals and even growing courgettes in the garden. We bought an Ooni pizza oven perhaps the ultimate lockdown purchase!) and spent our evenings experimenting with different dough recipes, cooking techniques and combinations of ingredients.
If you can work anywhere, there are also suddenly more opportunities to work from places other than home too. Once overnight stays with another household were allowed, we started to travel up to Liverpool to visit family. By driving up on Thursday evening, working remotely all day on Friday, then heading back on Sunday, we extended our weekend without the need to take annual leave. Once foreign travel is more secure, there’s no reason that this formula can’t be repeated to open up new possibilities of working in new countries and environments. It is exciting to think how truly global our work lives could become, no longer constrained by a physical office.
How have your attitudes to work and travel changed during lockdown? Do you think you’ll ever return to the office? And if not, where will you go instead?
