Wanderwoman Update: Sarah Emery
Based on the current state of the world, I wanted to check in on some of our first wanderwomen and see how the pandemic has affected their lives, thoughts and practices. For those of you new to the site, meet Sarah, (IG: sarah_with_a_smile) a travel blogger and an American expat currently living in Singapore. You can read her original feature here and check out her travel blog sarahwithasmile.com. Let’s hear what Sarah has to say about her experiences and life in the new normal.
How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your life?
I'm happy to report that by the end of a 2 month lockdown. I didn't drive my husband completely mad. Besides living on top of each other 24/7 and having thoughts of, 'why are you blinking so loudly?' We did pretty well in living in a weird loop of unhinged sleep cycles, and not knowing what day of the week it was. Like many others, we experienced intense cabin fever, weathered the waves of panic buying by front loading our kitchen and pantry with all sorts of foods. And the major drastic plummet drop of what was a busy and bustling social and travel life, to socializing with others through screens in the same pajama pants we had been wearing for 3 days straight.
Moving past all that to now. I'm thankful that my husband and I are healthy, he's still employed, I'm still blogging, we are keeping productive, actively exercising and keeping each other happy.
We are also thankful that the majority of our friends and family around the world are also doing considerably well. Although we've had some friends who've been infected with covid-19, some being mild, while others have been severe. Thankfully there have been no deaths.
As for me and my life on this Little Red Dot island. Covid-19 life has drastically altered my social and more notable my travel life. Now that we are in phase 2 of the recently lifted restrictions of Singapore's circuit breaker (their term for lockdown). We are allowed to gather in groups up to 5 and go have a bite to eat and drink at restaurants and bars. It's been nice to see friends again and feel a little more social. Schools and some businesses are back to somewhat normal. And with the borders lifted (of course there's still a lot of restrictions) more Singapore residents who've been stuck overseas (some since March), are being approved to re enter the country (though there are still thousands of people still waiting approval).
Since travel life has taken a 180 degree opposite turn, from what it has been over the past two years. I haven't given up on the thought that travel will one day return. Prior to the pandemic, I was extensively traveling with my husband (on his work trips) and now all that is at a complete stop.
How do you feel your country is handling the pandemic? Do you feel safe?
The numbers in Singapore are doing well with both import and local community cases. Singapore's population is 5.6 million and to date we've had 26 deaths with about 45,000 reported cases. Although the local and import cases are low. The majority of the cases are attributed to the foreign workers living in dormitories. These dense living quarters are not designed for privacy let alone, a pandemic.
The government is doing well with proactively testing. Such as, testing those in essential services, the education systems or those who are returning into Singapore. Which has been interesting and some of the results are a bit alarming. Specifically the rise of asymptomatic positive cases that are being found in the community. The contact tracing is also in full effect. It's very common to scan QR codes at every entry into a building and or individual business. Wearing a mask outside your home is mandatory and keeping at a distance is reminded almost everywhere you go.
With many of the precautions and measurements set in place around the island. To have a 100% sense of safety from covid-19, for me is not fully there. While there are individual decisions that are controllable. I do self-rate myself and my husband to be at low risk. We don't have children that would expose us to more people, nor do we have our elderly family here to put at risk by visiting. My husband works from home and I blog from home as well. We haven't been using public transportation but we have taken Grab (similar to the Uber service) a handful of times. We are still apprehensive to dine at restaurants but we are happy to sit at hawker centers (outdoor eateries) and have a bite to eat .
Even though we are both healthy individuals with no underlying health conditions or diseases. We don't have a sense of security from being healthy (being healthy is good for a better recovery). We self rate being low risk by our daily encounters and low risk decisions daily decisions.
The risk is being around someone who's infected (and presymptomatic or asymptomatic). We have to rely that everyone is taking proper measurements and the general public is practicing proper hygiene habits. I'd put money on the fact that, before the WHO and CDC released guidelines on how to effectively wash hands for 20 seconds. That this was information was new for many as it was certainly for me (full transparency; when all this started I did a self experiment and I got to 10 seconds).
Based on current travel restrictions are you happy to be where you are or do you wish you were somewhere else?
While I'm happy and grateful to have health insurance in a country with one of the best health care systems in the world. I wouldn't mind being in New Zealand. That way I could be road tripping all over the islands and exploring the outdoors.
What are your thoughts on travel right now? When do you plan on traveling? And what are your new guidelines/precautions?
Missing leisure travel is a struggle that's real. It's a longing, that will just have to wait a bit more. I've already accepted the possibility that we won't be going back to the U.S. for Christmas but I will be happily surprised if certain events change in favor of safe travel.
Right now, Singapore has restricted travel guidelines and as mentioned, many residences are still waiting overseas to receive approval to return. Because of that, we haven't made any plans to travel.
Besides not having a vaccine, there's also the hassle of needing a health document in order to arrive (for some countries). Serving a 14 day quarantine (which can be costly and timely), arranging covid testing, and needing permission to arrive in a country, will all have to be sorted out. Also, knowing how efficient the health system is in the visited country and having travel insurance that covers covid-19 treatments. With what's involved to travel right now, piled onto the health risks to oneself and others is enough for us to stay put for a little longer.
Until a vaccine is developed and distributed, leisure travel won't be as active that we've seen in the past, for the foreseen future. Until then, I'll keep abreast of not just Singapore's travel advisories, but the C.D.C. and W.H.O. and other countries as well.
What is your new normal?
For us, the new normal for us is to keep vigilant, proceed with caution and keep doing the golden rule of 3. Which are, wear a mask, properly & effectively wash hands, and keep at a distance.