Wednesday 6th May 2020

As the WordPress iPad app crashes time and time again I realise I have no other option but to write this on my phone. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to tell the difference but I’m hoping it will pretty much flow as normal. The good thing for me is, I’m typing it so quickly as I’m always typing away on my phone so this will be a 15 minute write up and jobs a good’un!

Has anybody been watching my morning walks around Benidorm on Facebook live? They’re getting between 5,000-10,000 people watching them which is absolute madness. It blows my mind how many people are tuning in. Lots of people are sharing how it’s helping to bring back some happy memories of being in Benidorm, which makes it all the worthwhile. I’ve had loads of requests for different places to walk and video which I promise to do once lockdown permits. At the moment, we’re confined to a radius so I’m not able to video in so many places right now.

I woke up feeling so much more positive. In the past, not even so long ago, if I had a bad day it would carry on for days upon days. I couldn’t shake it. Something would play on my mind and I’d carry the weight of the world on my shoulders over thinking and picking at it with a fine comb until suddenly it was a week down the line and I was so deep into it that I couldn’t even remember the original reason anymore. But these days, I have a much better state of mind. Alex thinks it’s the yoga, which I’d agree that it probably is. My dogs are the other.

They have given me infinite love and they make me smile in the toughest of times. Rio sympathises and empathises and gives us so much love everyday. He has this adorable head tilt when he’s listening in, or the way he sticks his tongue out and runs around wagging his tail when he’s excited. His love is neverending for us and the way he follows me around in the apartment just melts my heart.

Talking of melting, it’s like somebody came along and turned the heating dial all the way up here. We’ve gone from hey it’s kinda getting warmer to is this hell in a couple of days. Once May came around, it was like the heat just exploded and now here we are as puddles of sweat everyday. We’re experiencing nighttime temperatures now of 21 degrees so sleeping is one of the greatest challenges of the days at the minute.

We have a brand new routine now and we’ve pretty much settled into it. The funny thing is people say it must’ve been terrible being at home constantly not being allowed to do exercise, but it wasn’t at all. It was one of the toughest lockdowns, but it didn’t particularly feel that difficult. It felt natural. We got used to that routine yet suddenly we’ve got used to a new one. The way humans adapt and change is a marvellous, mind-blowing concept.

We can use this for good. I know we can. We reached a point where society wasn’t healthy. We can’t all look back on the way things were before lockdown and think it was sustainable, surely? It was a routine and a way of life not built to last. It didn’t seem like that at the time, but now looking back, we had major problems. We’ve learnt so much about a new healthy routine that I think it would be silly to go back to where we were before.

It’s incredible just how much remote working has taken off. Time and time again working from home and working remotely were seen as less valuable. Why should everyone have to sit in an office under the watchful eye and travelling into work to clock in and clock out again…just to make sure that the hours were put in? Why did meetings used to have to happen as they did? What’s wrong with a zoom meeting where members of staff can be in the comfort of their home or anywhere in the world? Why can’t a member of staff in an office job stay at home and do their job from the sofa on a day their child isn’t well or a day they don’t feel up to heading into the office, or to allow for staff to travel whilst working? We’ve learnt so much about flexibility and remote working that it would be such a step backwards to revert to how we were.

It’s been great for me in that sense. I’ve been able to work on new projects, learn new skills and just spend more time with Alex. We see each other so much more than before. I know Alex is quite enjoying working from home, but I think just like the majority of the children, he can’t wait to get back in the classroom. It’s difficult for a school. Social distancing can’t happen. Although these kids are doing fantastic studying from home, it’s so unfair for them. They’re being absolutely incredible though, all the kids and teachers are who are having to study at home.

Alex, just as much as me, is enjoying our new normal. Morning walks, having lunch together in the afternoon, more time together in general and less commuting. Although all of these won’t be able to happen after lockdown ends, hopefully we can try and keep some of them.

We’d walked around and live streamed our stroll around Poniente. My phone cut off abruptly 20 minutes in, but I don’t think people minded so much. There is still a police presence about but in recent days there have been much less people about. Perhaps for some the novelty has worn off.

The walk is without a doubt the highlight of our days at the moment. Not just for being out, but seeing everybody come together in the comments and all of the love we get sent from people from all over. All of the good morning messages just starts our day feeling so loved and thought of. I hope in the same way our walking videos bring a little bit of happiness to others with a morning sunshine walk around Benidorm to bring back happy memories and hope for future holidays.

I can’t say anything more happened that was interesting in the day unless you think sitting for hours on end at the computer screen writing marketing plans (for a company not myself!) and social media plans of attack (again, not for me!) are interesting. And trust me, they’re not. They’re far from it. They are by far the worst part about managing social media. Unless you count the negative comments you sometimes read from people. The amount of abuse social media managers get is crazy. I think so many people forget that the person doing the socials for a company is nothing to do with CEO or the founder. They’re just a normal person who has a creative flair and has no say in company policies, like opening times.

I sat at the computer for a good 7 hours. I had a meeting. I wrote plans. I scheduled content. I made some graphic. I wrote emails. It’s the first time that I’ve actually sat at the computer and had to put a full days work in and honestly, I’m shattered. But, it felt good. It felt productive. For the first time in a long time, I felt challenged. Like I had to learn something.

I’ve been feeling quite numb recently. Like work was just a state of mind. I could do it with my eyes closed. Nothing was challenging me and there was no progression. It was stagnant. But today wasn’t. There was talks of progression. I had to learn new stuff. I broached new horizons. For the first time in forever, I felt satisfied that I had worked hard and produced something that was pretty good without coming easy. But that’s not to say the excel spreadsheet was fun because it so wasn’t!

By the time both of us had logged off it was about 6pm. It’s so funny, you should see us. Alex in the balcony room and me in the bedroom with the door closed and the curtain shut. Rio tends to stay in the bedroom with me. On the balcony we have maths and geography classes and in the bedroom, we’ve got marketing going on. It’s scary to think I now have experience in marketing. It’s a job I never thought I’d get to do. I never thought I’d get the opportunity. Yet here I am.

Dinner was ready just in time for Lockdown TV to start. We haven’t missed an episode. We watch Asa’s show and have started to recognise some of the names in the comments. They’re a good laugh. Nice little community he’s built there. After that, we watched High School Musical, the musical the series.

The moon shone bright and low illuminating the living with a gorgeous soft yellow glow. Laying on Alex’s shoulders I gazed at the moon for a little while. The moon never fails to dazzle with its bright and bold glow, but today more than ever it was shouting for attention. I had a quick google and it says that May 6 and May 7 2020 are super moons. There’s something so enchanting about looking up at the sky and the moon and envisioning everything that’s beyond our little world. We are all connected in some way and the sky brings us closer. I think of the moon shining brightly above Benidorm beach and wonder who else is looking out at the moon right now?

The world is entering a shift and so is our routine. We’re learning how to adapt everyday. The relief I felt to know that Pedro Sanchez’s request had been granted to extend the state of alarm was strong. He has a plan, and it makes sense. We have a deescalating routine with phases. I couldn’t bear to think of that all being thrown aside and everybody being able to be released with no structure. Benidorm would be mayhem. Right now, we’re taking baby steps into rehabilitating into our new normal and for now, that’s the pace we need to go. One toe at a time.

Day by day nothing has changed but since lockdown everything has changed. We have a new routine, a new normal and a new outlook. We’ve had a new way of life and we’ve adapted to it. How about you?

I’m going to bed content, happy and fulfilled tonight. Long may this feeling last. Have the best start to your day and keep smiling.

L x