Hotel Quarantine Tips - An Artist's Guide
Nothing is more painful than getting a phone call from your family to fly back home immediately because of an emergency. Under normal circumstances it would mean buying the tickets for the next flight out, packing my bags and heading straight for the airport - all possible within 24 hours. Sadly, with the pandemic, I wasn’t able to reach my family within 24 hours - it became a month long wait! In this post, I detail what I needed to prepare for the trip, and how I managed to keep my art practice going through the hotel quarantine.
Preparation
Read up - This was the most stressful part for me because with travel restrictions being updated regularly, it’s important that you get the most up-to-date information at your finger tips. I went to the government websites and even joined relevant quarantine Facebook groups. It’s also good to keep the relevant website links in one place so you don’t need to go searching for the information again:
Will the airline allow you to make complimentary postponements to your travel date? Yes, this is important because sometimes your destination may suddenly decide that your country is a high risk, and may bar you from entering.
Are you allowed to travel to your destination? That’s right, some countries have closed their borders to ALL travelers regardless of their citizenship or residency, while others will only welcome travelers who have the right to land. Make sure to check and double check, and also ensure you are allowed to make the return trip too.
What pre-departure COVID test will you need and what are the test requirements of the country you are landing in? Remember, not all COVID tests are equal (according to certain countries).
What are the required quarantine periods - this will depend on where you are flying from. Do note that this can change from week to week, so you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. Within a matter of 1 week, passengers travelling from the UK to Hong Kong had their quarantine duration increased from 14 days to 21 days! If you have proof of vaccination, you could be allowed to quarantine for shorter duration, or not at all.
Where will you be required to do the quarantine - most destinations require travelers to quarantine in a government approved hotel. Do check whether you need to pre-book the quarantine hotel room directly (e.g. Hong Kong), or whether (e.g. Singapore), the quarantine hotel will be assigned to you once you arrive at your destination. Choose a hotel that’s within your budget and is able to offer the comfort that you want. Also remember to check for cancellation and refund policies - read the fine print - you don’t want to pay for a stay if your flight is cancelled or if you are denied entry into your destination.
How many COVID tests will be administered during quarantine and how much will this cost you.
Get all your documents in order - other than your passport and plane ticket, you will have another set of documents to have ready when you check-in / pass through customs. Upload or keep a digital copy (I had a set on Google drive) as well as a hardcopy:
Passport and proof of right to land in destination country
Plane ticket
Proof of vaccination and pre-departure COVID test (and any other documentation that the destination needs as proof of health)
Booking of hotel quarantine room, where relevant
Once you have all the above prepared, congratulations, the first stage is over! I was so relieved as I knew that I was finally going to be with my family. The next part was packing for the quarantine. I guess some of you might be thinking that this is strange, but there are a few things you can bring to help you get through the a period of solitude!
What to bring
Breaking My Day Down
I didn’t want to end up wasting time during quarantine (see what not to do section below), nor did I wanted to be stressed about it. I decided to divide my days into “bite-size” portions involving reading, rest (doing nothing), exercise and, more importantly, ART! I did most of the art in the morning and rested, exercised or did reading in the afternoon, with the evening for just chilling!
Art Things I Brought
Basic art essentials such as sketch book, colour pencils, pencils etc
Basic embroidery thread, embroidery stand etc I couldn’t bring a sewing machine (although I wish I could!) so I ended up doing hand embroidery.
Small piece of art work to make the room a bit more like a mini studio! Do you like the little nook I made :) ?
Embroidery thread I packed for the trip
If you are able to get a room with a lovely view and large window (think natural light!), then that would be a great bonus. If you aren’t then try to make the most of it. You can bring a small pieces of your work just to make the room more pleasing and help you settle in. If there’s no table, you can even use the ironing board - just think out of the box! As you can see from the picture below, I had a city view with buildings, but hey, these could be an inspiration for future work!
My tiny nook during quarantine
Things for Relaxing
One or two of your favourite essential oils, and an electric diffuser - I took rosemary and peppermint to keep my mind clear.
Large mug - hotel cups are just too small to feel good in your hand . I had a stainless steel one so it wouldn’t break.
HDMI cable to hook your laptop up with the TV so you can play some music, or even a portable mini speaker
Bring comfortable clothing - remember, you won’t be able to unpack everything, so what I did was bring 2 sets of exercise clothes, pajamas, innerwear and a cardigan for the quarantine period. I brought along a pair of rubber gloves to do laundry in the hotel bathroom sink.
Working small during quarantine
Get Creative
Look for out of the ordinary things in your hotel room, or even outside your window for art inspiration! I looked at textures, and even the beautiful yellow netting that was wrapped around the buildings opposite the hotel. That’s why it’s always useful to bring a sketchbook with you too! Oh, it got really strange towards the end of my stay because I decided to pick up and wash the lint that was coming off the new carpet - okay, that was wierd but it got me thinking what I could do with it!
What not to do
I tried to be very disciplined and stick to a regular schedule, but sometimes there were highs where I got a lot of art done and felt extremely productive, and then there were a few lows where I would just stare out of the window and just be lazy.
The important thing was not to be too hard on myself - it’s just a quarantine, and I would be out very soon (only a step away from seeing family), and secondly, to take it like a short retreat, a short holiday.
The other thing that I felt important not to do during quarantine, is not to binge on Netflix. You really have to be disciplined about it - just watch 2 or 3 episodes a day. Whatever you do, DON’T binge. You just feel really bad and tired afterwards - ie no motivation to do art.
Don’t forget to move - it’s very easy to curl up under the sheets and sleep all day! Find a workout or dance video and keep moving. You will feel much better afterwards.
Don’t forget to shout for help - zoom or skype with your friends and family, get support. There are also support groups on facebook for those of us in quarantine, and some hotels have a whatsapp / signal/ facebook group to help you through your lows. One kind soul even organised a happy hour for everyone to ‘meet’ too!
Hopefully most of you will never have to go through quarantine, but if you do, I promise it can be pleasant if you go in prepared. Stay safe everyone!