Lifestyle

My Quarantine Routine: Alex, a travel TV presenter who has had every job cancelled


Alex working at home, and her view on her walk around Clapham Common (Picture: Alex Outhwaite)

It’s Friday so how are you spending the weekend? Hopefully, the answer is staying at home (other than going out for essentials, exercise, medical appointments and work, if you can’t work from home).

By now, we’re getting more used to lockdown but if you’re still struggling to figure out how to spend your days in this new world, our new mini-series is here to help.

Each day, My Quarantine Routine highlights a different person and how they are living through the coronavirus crisis.

We’re already chatted to Kelly, a foster carer and business owner who is worried about keeping six teenagers occupied, Rebecca, worried about the impact the pandemic is having on her mental health, and Jade, who is 34 weeks pregnant.

Yesterday, student Harry told us about living with epilepsy and working at a supermarket.

Today, we’re with Alex Outhwaite is a travel television presenter living in Clapham.

She normally works abroad every month but is staying in London and is social distancing. 

This is how she spent Friday 20 March.

8 am

Wake up. I have to set an alarm no matter what time I want to wake up otherwise I’m such a deep sleeper I’ll be out until midday. Make a coffee and check my emails/the news/Twitter.

I work with a lot of companies based in other time zones so I need to make sure to reply to emails as early as possible. 

9 am

I’m working from the desk I have at home. I do this a lot anyway so it hasn’t taken a lot of getting used in some ways. I have a new show coming out in April and I have to go through all of the edited footage and timestamp the music used onto a spreadsheet so the broadcaster can check the copyright status. 

10 am

Alex is working from home (Picture: Alex Outhwaite)

I’m still at my desk working but I’m on hold for a few airlines on the phone.

As I work as a travel television presenter, every single job I had booked in has been cancelled. Not only am I facing a huge loss of income but also loss of money spent of flights out to work on certain projects.

I’m trying to move flights where possible but some airlines are not being very helpful despite the travel bans. 

11 am

I’m lucky enough to live next to Clapham Common so I can go for a walk/run there without getting near to anyone else. I’m usually at the gym most days when I’m home but have chosen not to go recently due to social distancing so I’m trying to make sure I still work out outside, but away from other people.

Her view at Clapham Common (Picture: Alex Outhwaite)

Arrive back home from the common to a package from eBay, I bought a pair of retro salopettes for a Finland filming trip I was meant to be taking (which obviously I’m not going on now).

I put them on and took a photo to send to my friends, amusingly get a reply from a travel blogger friend of mine who is currently wearing a new surf rash vest she just received through the post for a cancelled trip too. 

12:30 pm

I’ve always been really into my food and enjoy cooking. When I’m home I make an effort with meals, both for variation and health but also as it’s quite calming for me and something to look forward to.

Today I made mixed Spanish beans with tomato and fresh chilli, and crack an egg in the middle before baking it in the oven.

It’s only a ten-minute meal but feels more of an event than a quick sandwich. I already have food in the house so I’m trying to avoid going to any supermarkets at the moment, I’m also quite lucky that there are some independent bakeries and grocers near my house that I can go to if necessary.

Last time I went people were stood two metres away from each other and didn’t enter the store until there was space.

Send a few memes on to my friends in WhatsApp groups, I feel like memes are all keeping us going at the moment. 

1 pm

I’m back on my computer now working on some edits for YouTube. Normally YouTube is a side project for me, but now as I don’t have another income until I’m able to film again then I’m going to be relying on the ad revenue from my videos.

Alex at work (Picture: Alex Outhwaite)

I have a few hard drives full of footage I’ve filmed previously so I’m going to be putting some videos together over the next few weeks from that. 

4 pm

Check twitter for probably the 40th time today. Put some washing on and clean the kitchen. Export a video and upload to YouTube. 

6 pm

Is it too early for wine? There’s a joke about working from home that says it’s basically just a series of hot drinks until it’s late enough to transition onto wine which seems a little too close to the bone at the moment. Spend a while chatting with friends on WhatsApp.

The food she cooked for dinner (Picture: Alex Outhwaite)

For dinner, I make paneer saag with some homemade flatbreads and daal. 

7 pm

Video call a friend of mine, we live fairly close to each other and would normally have met up so this is the best option for the time being. We both have a couple of glasses of wine and end up chatting for two hours via video. It’s not quite the same as being together but we still have a really good laugh. 

9 pm

Watch a few episodes of Narcos | Mexico, whilst convincing myself it’s also helping my Spanish. I did a partnership with a language learning app a while ago and I feel bad every day that I don’t use it as often as I should.

I guess lockdown is a good time to try and improve my language skills, it also seems to be a good time to binge watch Netflix while eating chocolate. 

12 am

Check the news one final time. Sleep time.

MORE: My Quarantine Routine: Harry, a 19-year-old student and supermarket worker living with epilepsy

MORE: My Quarantine Routine: Jade, a 30-year-old PR executive who is 34 weeks pregnant

MORE: My Quarantine Routine: Rebecca, a 21-year-old social media executive in recovery from anorexia and living with depression



Coronavirus latest news and updates





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.