On July 22nd I returned home to Australia. I had not been home in over 2 years, and needed to take the trip home to get my new visa for school and really wanted to visit my friends and family. Due to coronavirus, Australia enacted a mandatory hotel quarantine. This meant that I had to spent two weeks in a hotel when I returned, which is not as much fun as it may sound.
Hotel Quarantine
When I arrived at Sydney airport I went through immigration and it was so quiet! My flight was the only flight that had arrived, so it was very easy to social distance. Going through immigration and exiting the airport was no different to usual, except there was a health check and your temperature was taken before leaving. and it was very quiet.
As I was exiting the airport, I had to speak with the Australian police, who helped me to get on a bus to go to hotel quarantine. I did not know what hotel I would be staying at or what would be happening until I arrived at the airport. There were about 20 people on the bus, and we were processed two at a time in the hotel. I was shown to my room and told that I would not be able to leave for two weeks.
The Good
The processing and transport to the hotel was really good. I was clearly given the instructions for the hotel quarantine, as well as the contact number for the onsite nurses. I had a COVID test on day 2 and day 10, which as unpleasant as it was, gave me the reassurance that I do not have COVID so I will be fine to go home to my parents. I was also fortunate enough to have a large hotel room with a really nice bathtub. We were able to order in food and have people bring us deliveries, so my mum bought me a box of candy and snacks which was so sweet and made me so happy.
The Bad
Not being able to go outside or get any fresh air for two whole weeks was TOUGH. I know in other places people in hotel quarantine were given 15-30 minutes a day of outside time and I really wish that had been the case. I really felt trapped, and can see how for people with mental health issues this would be very detrimental to their health. Personally, I felt so unmotivated to do anything. While I didn’t have anything I absolutely had to be doing, I just felt so lethargic, and lazy due to not doing anything (which makes no sense really).
I had thankfully booked my flight before the regulations changed, but when I arrived home they were charging people for the quarantine. While I understand that the government can’t expect to pay it all, it is SUPER expensive, and unfair to those who couldn’t come home earlier due to the lack of flights, or other commitments abroad. I believe the cost is too high, and should lowered.
The Ugly
If you have followed along on my Instagram stories then you have seen the ugly- the food. There were a few days of good food, but they were far and few between. In my opinion, hospital food is better, and that’s saying something. I did not have any way to heat food, and the only appliance I had was a kettle. I did get a grocery delivery, and got some ramen noodles, fruit, and snacks so that I had something else to eat. While I was not paying for the quarantine, the people who are paying are paying $65 A DAY for the food I received. To me that is a complete rip off, and I would literally be raging if I had to pay that much money for what I was served.
Things to do in Hotel Quarantine
I got so bored during my time in hotel quarantine. Here are some things you can do to help curb the boredom.
- Color: My mum bought me a large world map to color, which I really enjoyed doing. It was nice to do something that didn’t involve a screen and have something I could work on each day.
- Read: Have books you have been wanting to read? This is the perfect time to read them.
- Netflix: This one is obvious, and something you will probably spend a lot of time doing. Find a good series to watch,
- Exercise: There are so many great youtube workouts that you can do in your hotel room. I love Sarah’s Day and Love, Sweat, Fitness.
- Talk to friends and family: I spent a lot of time speaking to my family and boyfriend during quarantine. You really can get lonely and sad, so it is definitely important to connect with others during this time.
- Make TIkToks: I didn’t do this, but I sure spent a lot of time watching them! Learn some new TikTok dances, or even film your time in hotel quarantine.
- Blog: If you are a blogger or are wanting to blog, this is the perfect time to create some content.
- Online courses: I purchased the bundle co a while ago, which came with over 75 different online courses. These have been great to do whilst I’ve been locked up.
If you have to go into hotel quarantine, good luck. I would not choose to do this unless you absolutely have to. If the cost alone isn’t a deterrent, I can tell you that being in a hotel room alone for two weeks is really not as fun as it may seem. Hotel quarantine would not be worth doing for a short trip, unless you absolutely needed to. As always, thanks for reading.
Related Posts: Taking A Road Trip During COVID
Leave a Reply