Moving Through a Pandemic | What Travel During COVID-19 Is Really Like

May 24, 2020 by Emme

I’ve always said leap years bring change for me; they are my milestone years. I was born in a leap year, and for every one since then I can pinpoint a huge event that has happened during each of them. So coming into 2020, I knew this was going to be another of my big change years, I had felt it coming, and I was ready.

After arriving back from Australia, I felt the pull of the West Coast more than ever. Back in 2015 when I initially applied for my Canadian visa, British Columbia was the only place I wanted to go, so it’s never really been a secret, and it wasn’t a surprise to most people who knew me. When I began looking for a new job, though, I didn’t expect to find one so quickly that I really wanted, so when that happened it brought my moving plans much earlier than anticipated. Then Covid-19 happened… yay.

I had written some of this post just before I left Toronto, and planned out the standard topics: My Experience, Tips, How I Did____, etc. but after some careful thought, it’s not really any of those things which make up the most relevant or important parts of my experience. I figured there will be two types of people who read this; those of you who are curious, and those of you who are considering the move yourself (albeit not in such extreme conditions, I hope).

Covid-19, and the conditions it faced me with weren’t actually as bad as I had anticipated. Which is ironic, since I focused so much of my planning efforts around the challenges that I would have because of it. Actually, the virus presented me with with a lot of positives for moving alone; like being able to lock down a place before I had even moved, cheaper hotel rates which meant I could stay across the road from my new apartment, free public transport, and no tourists (the city is so peaceful).

Genuinely, I couldn’t have asked for the move to go smoother, even without the presence of the virus. All my furniture came on time, and other than having to bring it all in and build it myself, it was pretty easy to coordinate. The hardest part about the move (and as a self-confessed introvert is one I never anticipated) has been the social isolation. Now, there is something wonderful about being on an island with less than a handful of people knowing your name, but in the same breath, the virus has meant I don’t even have the benefit of seeing my work team every day, and when you don’t have anyone else, that’s been painfully difficult.

As grateful as I am for video calls and social media keeping us connected, that kind of social interaction just isn’t the same. It’s made me realize that so much of my social joy comes from the presence of physically seeing my friends, being able to feed off their energy and hug them; it’s amazing how much I took hugs for granted. I keep thinking how different I’d feel if the virus wasn’t happening, and all the things I’d be doing to meet new friends or just be in the presence of people (something I haven’t really done in a very long time). The things I miss most are the theatre, sitting in coffee shops, and visiting museums, art galleries, gardens and parks. I miss just being in those places and being part of the comings and goings; it really is the little things in life that make you feel most at home.

Luckily, I hit the jackpot in deciding where to move. Victoria is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to, and I have to pinch myself each time I wake up and realize I get to live on this island. I grew up in a small town in the north of England, I’m used to the slower pace of life, so being here makes it easy for me to recharge; I just have to get up and walk down to the ocean, look out at the Olympic mountains, and know that everything is going to be okay.