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AsiaOne talks to Singaporeans abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic and sees how they cope. Know someone with an interesting story to share? Let us know!
We’re talking to Isabel Leong through a Zoom call and it’s 7:30 PM Los Angeles time (11:30 AM Singapore time). Home for now is at her friend’s house in Inglewood, California.
How did a young Singaporean woman find herself on the other side of the world and in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic when she really didn’t have to be there?
For someone who makes a living by hitting the road, sharing her experiences, and once she wrote that traveling makes her a better person, the entire period of circuit interruption was an unsettling moment for Isabel.
For some contexts, the 27-year-old travel blogger spent just two weeks in a row in Singapore for the entire year in 2019.
And she had been stuck at home since January 2020, when she returned for the Chinese New Year.
“Being home for eight months was taking its toll,” shared Isabel.
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“I didn’t like feeling lost, unmotivated and unmotivated, watching Netflix all day and waking up late, which is disastrous for freelancers.”
Without a doubt, the pandemic had also negatively affected the independent digital marketer, with its revenue falling 50 percent from last year.
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But being a digital nomad also means that how much you earn doesn’t depend on where you are. This made her seriously consider her American friend’s offer to travel across the country with him in a recreational vehicle (RV).
“I don’t accumulate as many expenses while traveling as most people think, including travel insurance,” says Isabel.
“I usually stay with friends so I don’t pay rent or accommodation. The idea of a slow commute means you’re not constantly on the go. That means I cook and I don’t spend a lot on transportation since I’ll be home most of the time .
With her innate wanderlust and with the support of other friends here who could see how hard she was struggling, she decided to accept the offer.
Isabel was not blind to the fact that the Covid situation was a major concern and, unsurprisingly, when she brought up the idea of embarking on her months-long journey during such an uncertain time, her family was “very much against it.”
She must have worked her magic in some way, because with some guarantees, they gradually softened her posture.
In October, Isabel was ready for her three-month trip to the United States, with a suitcase loaded with disinfectants and disinfectant wipes that her parents packed for her.
“They even bought me a face shield to wear on the plane, but I didn’t wear it because no one else was wearing it.”
But within hours of her trip, Isabel was hit by a roadblock after being detained at the Tokyo airport, her transit stop, for 24 hours.
“I completely forgot that my visa was linked to my (expired) passport, and I had to reapply for the visa immediately.”
“I panicked because I was wondering if I have to buy another ticket and where would I stay.”
They told her she had to pay about $ 700 ($ 933) for a security guard to watch her overnight at the airport.
“It was a shock to me because it was exorbitant and ridiculous to spend that amount for one night in a clinic bed.”
Coming out of his pocket for close to $ 1,000 was “super painful,” especially when his journey hadn’t even started.
When she finally reached the United States, she was questioned by three “very mean-looking customs officers” about her plans and how she would have enough money to survive the three months.
“They probably didn’t want people to stay longer and become illegal immigrants,” Isabel said.
Over the past two months, he traveled from Washington and Colorado to California and observed different pandemic behaviors in every state (Colorado is the least strict), but people generally still wore masks.
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We reached out to Isabel on December 7, a few days after the number of infections in the US crossed a record 200,000 cases in one day.
However, she maintained that the health crisis “was not a problem” for her in Los Angeles, California, one of the centers of the pandemic in the United States. A contributing factor to how you feel may be that you are hiding mostly indoors during the week, only going for a run at night.
Not recommendable
[[nid:512793]]While she has no regrets for her quirks, we were half expecting Isabel to release “YOLO” (“you only live once”) as a tip for those who want to follow in her footsteps. To our surprise, it is not something she would recommend, “especially for those who just want to travel for travel.”
“Because honestly, if you are a tourist, the attractions will be limited and there are still restrictions, so you won’t get the full experience.
“In Los Angeles, where I am, they have closed all outdoor activities and even in restaurants you can only make takeout.”
“Actually, apart from being on airplanes and at the airport, I have been alone or with a friend, quite isolated from the rest of civilization,” Isabel added.
One of the most interesting experiences he’s had so far, aside from traveling in an RV, was taking a road trip to Slab City, an off-the-grid hippie neighborhood about a three-hour drive from Los Angeles.
And in Colorado, where the temperature dropped to negative 10 degrees due to an overnight snow storm, “I went out and my phone died immediately because I was not used to the cold,” he laughed.
The next thing on your itinerary is to travel to Costa Rica or Mexico “for a tropical climate” and do a visa processing before your 90-day pass expires, in order to extend your stay in the United States.
So for now, going back to Singapore is not in the cards. And one thing’s for sure, by no means are you going to pay $ 2,000 for the mandatory two-week quarantine.
“It is ridiculous to pay this amount just to be quarantined for 14 days. Unless there is an emergency at home or you have had an accident that requires immediate medical attention, I am happy where I am for now.”
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