Nomad Life Turned Upside Down When COVID-19 Hit

We were in the midst of enjoying February in beautiful Florence when we first heard rumblings of a virus that was spreading quickly in northern Italy. We were fast to dismiss any concerns. That was in the north; we were about to head south. Wasn’t it just a standard winter bug anyway? Surely the media was just overplaying the danger. 

Little did we know that the onset of COVID-19 was about to disrupt not only our pleasant journey through Italy but our entire way of life as newly retired, globetrotting nomads. 

We recently shared our story of getting trapped in Italy with Doc G of the Earn & Invest podcast. During the interview, we shared how we tried and failed to leave Italy as countries slammed their borders shut one-by-one. We also shared our initial thoughts on the impact of this unprecedented event on our lives as full-time travellers without a permanent home base. 

In a first for his podcast, we had a follow up interview with Doc G after we had been sheltering in place for a few months in the only nation that would take us, our home country of Canada.

Have a listen:

How we got trapped in Italy

We originally planned a stay in Italy for two months, with a visit in Florence for February and then Lecce in the south of Italy for March. Afterwards we planned to head off for a few months in the Balkans. We were aware of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases and the subsequent quarantine up north but, to be honest, the announcement of the national quarantine across all of Italy caught us off guard. We reacted as quickly as we could but found that we were always a step or two behind the escalating situation.

Monday, March 9 

I went to my gym in Lecce and discovered it was preemptively closed for a week, even though we are far from the northern quarantine zone. We realised that the situation was growing serious and we should consider leaving Italy, even though we had another three weeks planned in Lecce.

Tuesday, March 10

We woke up to the news that lockdown had been extended across all of Italy. We realized that we were in the wrong place and if we didn’t leave soon, we might be stuck. We agreed to leave Italy by the end of the week. 

Wednesday, March 11

We woke up to news that the borders of other countries were being closed to travellers from Italy. We realised we needed to move more quickly and booked a flight for the next day from the nearest airport — which was 2 hours away — to Budapest, Hungary. This was the cheapest and closest destination which was still accepting flights from Italy. We took a train that afternoon to Bari to be close to the airport for our 6am flight. We camped out in a hotel room ready to wake up at 3am and get out of Italy. 

Thursday, March 12

Our family called us at midnight to let us know that Hungary had now closed its borders to travelers from Italy and our flight was canceled. Fortunately it suddenly occurred to us that a friend had a holiday home up at Lake Como. As country after country closed their borders to travellers from Italy, it was seeming unlikely that we would be able to leave. We quickly made arrangements to retreat there and wait out the quarantine. 

Life at Lake Como

We discovered that the quarantine at Lake Como was being taken quite seriously by local authorities and the general population. Lake Como is in the region of Lombardy, which was one of the original epicentres for the virus.

Still we were very grateful to be there. We were safe and comfortable and in beautiful surroundings. We could take our dogs for a short walk in the mountains each day. We had everything we needed although groceries were an 8km round trip on foot because we didn’t have a car. Sadly, we heard ambulance sirens almost every day and woke up every morning to terrible news about the local mortality rates.

Decision to leave Italy

Even though we were safe and comfortable for a month, ultimately we were quite isolated at Lake Como. We didn’t have a car and didn’t speak the language. We were far from family so couldn’t provide them with support. If we had any health issues, including the virus or any other medical concern, it would be very difficult to receive treatment. Even though flights were running at the time, we didn’t know how long they would be available. Also our Schengen visa was due to expire at the end of April so the clock was ticking.

With all that in mind, we gave up on our European travels and went back to Canada. Despite needing to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival, it was worth it to be back in Canada where we could better take care of ourselves and our families.

For more about our experience of getting trapped in Italy and temporarily giving up our nomad lifestyle, our story appeared in a few blogs:

• Nomad Numbers: Sharing stories of nomads during the coronavirus pandemic 

• The Ramble: What happens to digital nomads during a pandemic?

• Nomadic FIRE: Should I Stay or Go Home? The Challenges of Living Abroad During a Global Pandemic

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