About finding a safe place and trying to stay positive

Before actually going deeper to our activities, I would like to tell about the place where I am quarantined and how I got here as well as little bit about what kind of fears and concerns are running through my mind these days. 

Visiting Casa Elemento before the quaratine

While for many my life might seem very carefree (and definitely cannot complain about the conditions here), the ones who know me also know that staying positive, keeping the brave face on and not thinking too much about the things I can’t change are my coping mechanisms to not let the fear and panic take over. It doesn’t mean that I didn’t cry because I felt super anxious mostly for my friends and family, wasn’t battling in my head if I should try to get on an evacuation flight or stay here and wait hoping it gets better, or wasn’t afraid that the situation here gets unstable and dangerous. It just means that I try my best to make the best out of every day and handle the situations as they come. Otherwise I would go nuts no matter where I was.

How I got here?

I was in Bogota when the situation in Colombia started to get real and many people had come there to try to find a way to go home since the international airport is located there. That said, the hostel was packed with many hysteric and panicking people. As the rumors about possible lockdown started to spread, I made a very quick decision to fly to northern Colombia as fast as possible to make sure that I was at least somewhere nice in case of a lockdown. I had had Minca in my mind as the place to go, so booked a flight to Santa Marta for the same night and a hostel for one night to continue to Minca in the morning.

At the hostel in Santa Marta I met two kinds of people: the panicking ones wanting to leave as soon as possible and the ones who had decided to stay. It’s very confusing to be around the panicking people who can’t even think clear anymore and try my best to calm them down or help them by borrowing phone or sharing the info I had (thank you Finnish Embassy in Colombia, your great and fast information flow has helped so many of us). Being around them really makes you question your own decisions and easily takes you down to the same hysteria, so I wanted to get away from those crowds as soon as possible. The following morning I found out that two other travelers had the same plan to go to Minca, so we decided to share a taxi instead of catching a bus. It ended up being a great decision, since the police had stopped the buses and were giving hard time to travelers.

After first night in another hostel in Minca, we got a good offer and decided to book a dorm from Siembra Boutique Hostel to move there in couple of days. Once we were there doing the booking, a friend of my texted to ask if I had got the information about the curfew starting that day. Of course I hadn’t, cause no one really had any info. That’s how all the information flow has gone here so far, nothing really from official sources. So I had to walk for 1 km throught the empty village in dark during curfew and try to explain the police with guns out in Spanish that I was lost and on my way to hostel to avoid 300.000 COP fine or even jail. I was seriously about to shit my pants. After this experience and all the growing rumors and panic, I made the decision with the other two to move to Siembra already the next day. And I’m very glad I did, since they decided to start a self-quarantine that very day and wouldn't accept any more guests the upcoming weeks.

Siembra Boutique Hostel - my home for now

Sun deck (=yoga room) and restaurant on left

Working space

This is a paradise where we don’t really have to worry about a thing and I’m extremely happy and thankful to be here, especially with great people that already became like a new family. The food is so amazing that I had to start limiting the eating to be able to walk out instead of rolling down the hill :D We are about 25 people (including staff) with 14 different nationalities and also staff staying here on premises to ensure complete quarantine isolation. I especially appreciate the fact that the panicking people are gone and even though every one of us have their concerns, we are trying to stay positive and not to stress about the things we have no impact on.

"Your life looks so amazing and carefree"

First, I really hesitated to post anything to social media since it feels unfair that I get to stay in this paradise while many have to stay locked inside their small apartments. I was very positively surprised after getting the courage to post something: all comments were only positive and asking to keep posting, since it brought so much joy to them. While my social media might look really chill, it’s a continuous emotional rollercoaster like anywhere else. I’m afraid that the situation gets out of control either with the virus or then people start stealing etc. due to shortage of money after losing businesses. I'm also worried that I get the virus and can't get medical treatment. I'm mostly terrified that one of my friends or family gets seriously ill especially when having many loved ones that belong to the risk groups. But at the moment I feel very safe where I am and try not to let the fears take over.

The toughest part by far is to talk with people back home that feel very anxious and have hard time because of the situation and I’m not able to be there for them. But even though I was back home I couldn’t meet and hug them due to curfews and stuff. So I’m trying my best to be there for friends and family. And for my friends and family: I really want to know how you actually feel and what's happening back home, even the worst parts. It also helps me to understand what is the situation like outside of this paradise and make me more prepared to face the world after this minimum 4-week quarantine.

My favorite hobby: watching these amazing sunsets

I’m living in this perfect bubble on top of the hill with no idea what’s the situation even in the Minca village 1,5 kilometers down the hill. It will be super scary to leave this place one day and enter the outside world. It really does feel like a Big Brother house where random people are put together and isolated from everything (well, we do have news and social media, etc.). The national lockdown is supposed to end on 14^th April, but no one know if it actually does. So at I’m trying not to worry too much about the life after that, because no one has an idea how things are afterwards making planning quite pointless and impossible. Making the best out of the situation is the best I can do. 

So next time more about our activity schedule and how we’ll be awesome multitalents after leaving this place, thanks to all the mostly self-organized program.

Love,

Else

In Finland we feed ducks, here hummingbirds are casual guests

Travelling during Corona: Why I decided to stay in Colombia?

No one can tell which decision is good or bad, no one has been in a situation like this before. I trust that everyone makes the decisions based on what their gut feeling tells them is the best thing to do. No one has the right to judge others' best decisions. Some stay home, some panic, some sleep at the airport to find a fastest way to get home. Some decide to stay where they are. I decided to stay.

I have been asked multiple times why I didn't return and got even criticized for staying, so I hope this gives a bit more perspective how it definitely isn't that black and white.

There's very controversial info if the masks work, but I decided to wear one at the airport and during flight.

Imagine yourself in this situation:

You're abroad (in my case Colombia) with bunch of rumours and hardly no official information. Some people around you start really panicking, some handle the situation more rationally. Your government sends you an email that you should try to return to your home country within 48 hours and contact your airline company to organize it. They also give you information about possible flight that got cancelled before you even had a chance to book.

Your options are:

1. Stay where you are and find a safe and comfortable place where you're prepared to stay for longer time of it comes to that.

2. Try to fly back home with no possibility to reach airline companies. Therefore you're left with the only opportunity to travel hours (my case 1 hour by car and a flight) to get to the airport (Bogota) to line for hours to sign up on a list so that they can tell you if you get a seat on some flight with 2 hour notice. The flight would cost you 1800-3000 euros (easily enough to cover living costs for more than 6 months in Colombia). This then means that you will be forced to stay at the airport to catch the flight if you get one and spend possibly for days there and sleep on the floor or the brought sun chairs with thousands of others (with a huge risk of getting the virus from the crowd). Still there is a very high chance that you won't get a flight and you're stranded in a big city (Bogota) during a complete lockdown with nowhere to go and lot of hostels/hotels not accepting people or even closing and kicking people out. And then it's too late to try to return to the original spot where you were.

What would you decide? It’s not so simple, right?

Crowds at El Dorado airport in Bogota (Source: Las2Orillas)

The government suggestions are great in theory, but what a lot of us really needed was information and facts about the real situation instead of rumors, and instructions that we could actually follow in real life. This question list by David Abraham in FB group Coronavirus Forum for Nomads & Remote Workers really helped me when struggling with my decision: 

• Can my basic needs (prescriptions, funds, etc) be addressed in this environment, for longer than usual?
• Am I in a place that feels comfortable for me?
• Am I ready to be flexible for interruptions to plans just made?
• Are there people (or a person or community) around me who I can ask for help?
• Has a government issued a travel ban or requested people to refrain from traveling to your intended destination or leave?
• Would I be a burden on the local society by taking resources or using limited services?

First week of complete quarantine/ national lockdown done, 3 more to go! In the next post I will tell you more about this place and how I spend my time while not allowed to exit the hostel premises (not even for a walk or doing groceries).

Stay safe and healthy 💗

Love, Else

All good in quarantine paradise.