COVID-19 Days, Not So Bad, After All?!

Biking through old growth forest in absolute silence, not a car in sight. Stopping to pick salmonberries, arranged like gems in my hand, bright orange, yellow, red. Young kids and seniors (and the rest of us) biking right on the road, no worries of being run over by a car. Grinding up to Prospect Point to an awesome view of Lion’s Gate Bridge from above, and then zooming down the hill to Third Beach and downtown. This is Stanley Park in the time of COVID-19 – it has been closed to cars almost completely for three months or so, and it ain’t so bad!

I feel only slightly guilty writing this – this time period of COVID-19 has been good for our family in numerous ways. Sure, it’s not all golden. Sure, we are lucky and privileged in that we have been very healthy, have not lost much income, and so on, while many others were not as fortunate. On the other hand, there’s something to be said also for having a positive attitude, being flexible, embracing change, and living in the present. So, why is it that these COVID-19 days have been so good?

Biking more
I’ve been working 100% remote for the last three months. Initially, I was a bit worried that I’d miss my commute. Yes, it’s a short ride – just 4km each way, but still, that does add up, and I confess to sprinting most of the way to the office and back, so it is a small workout. But it turns out that we’ve been biking far more. Most weekends we go on a long bike ride, both days. Midweek we try to head out on at least one long bike ride. All in all, I’m doing 100+kms a week. Our son Neil, five years old, has built up his stamina to the level it is at when we’re cycle touring – and now regularly bikes up to 30kms at a fairly good pace with just a short break and no complaints.

We haven’t owned a car for a few years now, so our bikes and our feet have been our main mode of transportation. This preparation serves us well now when public transportation is not an attractive option, and driving around the city is just as attractive as ever – which is to say, not at all!

Shopping less
In COVID-19 times we try to go to shops less frequently – to the supermarket every two weeks or so, and to the fruit and vegetable store about once a week. By buying more on each visit, we can go less frequently. Since we buy more, I’ve now perfected my shopping by bike technique – which was the way we shopped before anyway. It turns out that a Rubbermaid tote (or even two, stacked!) fits perfectly on our cargo bike. I take it in with me to the store, fill it up, and carry it out to my bike – no shopping bags needed. I then ride home and roll my bike right into our apartment. So much easier than shopping by car.

Saving more
With our daycare and car bill down to exactly $0, no trips out of the city, no extra weekend ski trips, and various new government aid programs (thank you Canada!), we’re definitely saving significantly more than we were before. The extreme sale on stocks in March was a nice opportunity to “stock up” too.

More coffee, at home

Until COVID-19 hit, Maya had developed a “coffee habit”, which involved an almost daily visit to a coffee shop to pick up a $5 cappuccino. I had tried to convince her that this was an extravagant luxury, but to no avail. Then COVID-19 started, and I was tasked with figuring out a new coffee solution. In came a new Bialetti and milk frother.

After just a day or two, Maya pronounced this a huge success! She now has the new satisfaction of making herself a wonderful cup of coffee cheaply and guilt-free, and has now doubled her consumption from one cup a day to two. The smell of coffee wafting through the air is a nice byproduct that we all enjoy. It’s a win-win situation.

Working from home
When a co-worker recently raised the question: “when this is all over, will we be forced to return to the office?”, I could definitely relate. I’ve been enjoying working 100% remotely very much. I feel more productive, more satisfied with my job, and I really like the additional flexibility that this arrangement allows. I save the commute time, and there are fewer meetings. I’m also able to work in a private space – I never understood how people are supposed to do deep technical work in an open office layout… Working from home also allows me to be more involved in family life. For example, we have all our meals together.

Not that it’s all rosy. There are distractions at home too – chores to be done, kids banging or screaming, and a well stocked fridge and chocolate stash. Also, working from home 100% can lead to working more, and it’s definitely harder to create a work/life separation. But, I feel that all in all, it’s been very beneficial to both me and my employer.

More family time
With our older son Neil’s daycare being closed for the last few months, I find that we are all spending more time together. Before COVID-19, Neil spent much of the day at daycare. When he got home, he needed his quiet time, and was often a bit tired and not up to doing much. This didn’t leave us much time to be together during the week. He also had far less time to interact with his younger brother Kai. Now we spend more time together.

Re-discovering our city
Vancouver is an incredible city. It’s easy to forget this. When a family member visits us, we suddenly go out of our way to show them how great our city is. It’s an opportunity for us to experience our city with fresh eyes. I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing for the last few months as well. Trips to Trout Lake Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, Pacific Spirit Park, and so on, were far too rare in our “before COVID-19” lives.

Less busy schedules
With it not being practical to socialize, and with weekend trips being out of the picture (until recently), our weeks have been more relaxed. We love doing weekend trips, but they do require a lot of time for trip planning, picking up and dropping off a vehicle, meal preparation, packing, unpacking, laundry, sorting photos, writing a blog post, and so on.

More creative outdoor play
With playgrounds closed, when I took the kids out, we looked around us for things to play with or experience. Smelling flowers, climbing trees or benches, jumping off things, balancing off other things, and so on. With the right mindset, everywhere is a playground!

Then when playgrounds opened, it was sooo exciting. It’s so irrational, but we sure do appreciate things more if they are taken away from us and then given back, just like in Passenger’s Let Her Go:

Well, you only need the light when it’s burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go

More beach time
We are very lucky to live within a short ride (or walk) of the beach. For a few weeks we had a weekly beach picnic every Friday, and we also end up at the beach on at least one or two more days, often as part of a bike ride. It’s definitely the most easily accessible natural environment for us. Other than that, the beach is also a place where our kids can entertain themselves for hours, mostly playing in the sand, but also exploring the tide pools (if it’s low tide), flying a kite, and swimming, or more likely at this time of year – dipping and splashing (the water is cold here year round).

The End?
Now that many of the COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted (at least here in British Columbia), it’s bittersweet… What if things go back to the way they were before? What if Stanley Park opens both lanes to cars, and bikes are again relegated to the narrow Sea Wall? What if we all go back to working 9 to 5, Mon-Friday, in an office? I’m optimistic though that some things have changed for the better, for good.