The restrictions are easing down in UK, but, from my point of view, we are still in lockdown, just as we were last month. We are still not going anywhere, unless for shopping. I’m wearing my face masks when necessary, of course. Even so, I am thinking of how life after lockdown will look like. I’ve decided I will keep some changes, and here is my short list.
Life after lockdown – Transport
When I was commuting by train to Oxford I was thinking of getting a couple of face masks for when I am in the train station, as the gases from the trains were a bit unpleasant. I didn’t do that because there isn’t a mentality to wear masks in public in UK. But, now, after wearing them in shops, even if I was the only one with a mask, I can say that I do not care. I will wear a mask when I’m in the train station and I mainly refer to the one in Birmingham, where I change trains.
I will also take extra care to have hand gel with me. I usually have it and use it, but now I will make sure that I have it every single time or I will pop in a Boots and get one.
Life after lockdown – Shopping
Before lockdown, if I wanted to make a specific dish, I would go out and buy the ingredients. If I couldn’t find one ingredient, then I will go to another shop or even two to get it. That is not happening any more and I’m glad. It was a waste of time. I can put those ingredients on a shopping list or change them, if possible. I am using now more of what I have in the cupboards comparing to before and that is important, as some products might go off, and, anyway, I spent money on them, so I should use them and not keep them for too long.
Also, when it comes to supermarket shopping, I am buying now less often. We eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, we have to go food shopping quite often. In the lockdown I’ve started using more frozen and canned varieties, meaning that I can space the supermarket shopping trips. From 4-5 trips a week, we are now down to 2 a week and I will keep this going. I also buy from a nearby supermarket, which is smaller and doesn’t have everything I need, but it has enough to top up and leave the big supermarket trip to once a week or even seldom.
Another thing that I was forced to do, but I think is great and I want to keep it, is click&collect. It is so much better as I only go and pick up the items, instead of having to go into the shop and search for the items myself. I also know before going to the shop if they have everything that we might need. It saves time and money too, depending on the sort of items I’m buying.
Life after lockdown – Leisure
In lockdown we did not have the same leisure activities we had before the lockdown. It was hard at first, but it became easier and now I’m thinking more at the sort of things we used to do before. I am seeing my free time as very precious, so I will be more mindful of where and when I going to. Sounds really obvious, but it took me a lockdown to figure out that.
Are there any new habits you picked during lockdown that you would like to keep afterwords?
We’ve learnt alot about appreciating where we live rather than going elsewhere- the countryside round here is beautiful and very quiet so we will hopefully make use of it more!
I agree about wasting things and being more careful. We’ve been lucky to find a vegetable wholesaler to get our veg from so we’ve stocked up once a week or less and it’s been good to use things better!
I still haven’t worn a mask yet…I do have one but I have always had this weird fear of masks…if I need to, I will do it but luckily my train has been very, very quiet so I haven’t had anyone anywhere near me and the supermarket is very good. I will try to get over this.
I have become less wasteful in my consumption since this began, and have learned to “slow down” a bit because I’m spending most of my days caring for my two-year old grandson while his daycare is closed. Two year olds definitely live in the moment, and he’s teaching me to do that too. I hope that lesson stays with me once this is all over. (As for the hand gel, I’ve always kept it handy too!)
There are definitely some positive life changes for all of us after lock down. I do think we will see people wearing masks often even when the virus is no longer a threat. Picking up groceries or having them delivered is going to be more common than traditional food shopping ever was. I wonder how many people learned how to cook through this. It is so much healthier to eat at home. We are in a similar phase here but finding that cases are rising in places where people are getting back to normalcy. We are playing it safe too. I was surprised to see a lot of cars at the local gym the other day. That is probably the worst place to go right now.
Gym?! Wow. I wouldn’t go to the gym.
Much of my life has not changed through all this, but that’s because I was a home-body to start with. As you said, though, I’ve tried to limit my trips to the store. I do wear a mask when I’m in town, but I am always irritated to see how many people don’t wear them. It’s seems a simple thing to do in order to protect those around me. I’m having trouble envisioning the future, especially seeing how easily folks have gone back to “normal” with the partial lifting of restrictions. We’ll see how that all turns out in the coming weeks….
Hopefully it will not bring a second wave, that would be terrible for all sorts of reasons.
I think we are very much on the same page with so much of this. I will keep the mask with me and wear it whenever there is someone near. And shopping — for awhile, I will still do home delivery unless someone I know is going to the store. and although they say it’s less necessary than before, will still do some sanitizing, at least for awhile. I’ve saved a good deal of money on food by not going to multiple stores to find something and I’ve had fun being creative, using what I have. I’ve also lost weight because I haven’t made bad-choice impulse buys. As for leisure, I think it will be awhile before I’m comfortable in a crowd or traveling beyond a certain degree. That I will miss. But I can work with it. This isn’t over.
You are right, is not over, and depending on when it ends, more things can change in the meantime.
Well done for loosing a bit of weight and for making better choices, food-wise.
This was very interesting to read! Like you, I think some of my habits will also change after this is all over. The epidemic was such a dramatic event and changed so much in such a short time, that we will certainly keep some habits. Having some gels at the ready to clean our hands at all times is a great idea from now on, especially when we travel again and are in contact with a lot of people. As for me, I think I will avoid crowds as much as I can for a while, even after it starts getting better. I hope measures will be taken to avoid crowded restaurants, shops and so on for months and months to protect us better!
Julia x
The thing is that I always have a hand gel in the car and I use it after going to buy stuff, even before the pandemic. But I didn’t always had one in my handbag, which is strange if you think about it.