Written: 12 May 2020; Published: 4 Apr 2021

Greetings!  This is a topic that I never dreamt I’d be writing but yet, here we are.  The day is 12 May, year 2020 and I’ve reached the end of a 14-day quarantine after arriving for duty far from home in a foreign country on official business.  Prior to my arrival here, due to the pandemic of novel coronavirus COVID-19 I had been teleworking, homeschooling and thriving from the comforts of my own home.  I practiced good social hygiene and distancing and only left my home when necessary.  Mainly these excursions out of my home would be to get more supplies or on the rare occasion into the office to handle matters that simply couldn’t be completed virtually.  In all transparency, I’m an introvert, a homebody and a socially awkward moth that would love nothing more than to curl up on the couch with a good book.  When the lockdown hit my state, I took a hard look at my routine.  Not much had changed because I rarely ventured out anyway.  I didn’t go to parties or bars and on the occasion that I wanted restaurant food, I ordered it for curbside pick-up because I just didn’t want to be bothered!  I was very much so a social hermit and I was ok with that. 

For 8 long (glorious) weeks, I built my own schedule and swiftly managed virtual office activities alongside the added pressures of homeschooling for my kiddos.  As long as the tasks were completed and the customers were happy, my Boss had no complaints with emails sent at 2am.  I’d said for years that I wanted to work from home and when the pandemic hit, I was put to the test.  I struggled in the beginning with napping during the day.  I mean I spent sooooo much time napping but hell, after feeling like I was living in a perpetual race with no finish line, napping was necessary.  The rat race that was my daily life had come to a screeching halt.  It was when nearly everything stopped that I realized just how riddled with anxiety and worry I’d become.  I’d found my groove and life was pretty good.

Fast forwarding a bit, I received my tasking orders.  I was to be on a plane in less than a week from the date the order was received headed directly into a 14-day quarantine.  We were given minimal details but were told that there would be no Wi-Fi and no phone provided.  The words “no wifi” rocked me to the core.  I was terrified.  What if I needed help? How would I keep in contact with the outside world without wifi.  Like a true Capricorn, I dreamt of the worst possible cases and mapped out a plan.  I bit the bullet and paid my wireless carrier a ridiculous amount of money to maintain communications with my family during isolation.  I packed books, portable chargers and windup flashlights.  I prepared for life in isolation by packing things to keep my mind busy where there would be nothing left by my thoughts to occupy my mind.  I even packed resistance bands so that I could maintain physical activity. 

As the small group of us began to converge we been comparing notes about what little information we’d been given about the quarantine situation.  As we began to piece together the details, one members of our motley crew announced he’d just received a message from his sponsor.  “Hey guys, listen up” he said.  “Oh this shit just got worse! Apparently, we are staying in tents for 14 days!”  There was a brief silence as we all let his words hang in the air.  Jumping to conclusions, someone else speculated that we’d likely be stuck eating MREs (Meal Ready to Eat) for the entire time we well.  Things were getting worse by the minute but with no confirmation on the MREs, I decided to remain optimistic and hope for the best.  Worrying wasn’t going to solve anything and besides, I had sausage jerky and trail mix in my carryon.  I’d already been about 1 month into intermittent fasting for 22 hours with the OMAD, One Meal a Day plan and since we’d be confined to tent, my energy output would be low enough that I wouldn’t need much to eat any way.  I chose to be optimistic and not worry.  Worrying wouldn’t do much good anyway.  I leaned back in my seat, closed my eyes and imagined my happy place and waited to board the plane. 

– Stay tuned for Part 2, to be posted Sunday, 11 April 2021!  I Hope you enjoyed! Ta-Ta for now! ❤ – Kiki