As you’ve probably noticed I’ve taken a break over the past 3 months from writing blog posts. This is somewhat a result of my life transitioning from backpacker to expat. Whilst over the past couple of years I’ve been writing about my travels around the world, now that I’m settled in Galapagos my life has shifted to one more stationary but still awesome.
I’m back into a life of having things like a house with a dining table, couch, and plates and glasses. But the great part is that we design and create these pieces of furniture ourselves, such as our new lamp.
I work with both an agency in Isabela and the Charles Darwin Station in Santa Cruz which means attending meetings, working to deadlines and sitting at my laptop for a few hours everyday to work. But the fantastic part about my work is I do it most often from the dining room table in my house, outside of the main hub of Puerto Ayora. As a contractor I can work from wherever I am, allowing me to maintain the freedom I’ve discovered I need in my life.
It’s also nice to be earning money in an enjoyable way, feeling like I am making somewhat of an impact with my work and making future plans.
Changing from a life of constant travel to one of more ‘normalcy’ means that I have good friends who I catch up with regularly. We go out for dinner, have drinks in each other’s houses, have friend’s pop over to our house if they are in the area, and it’s nice. I still move between the islands here in Galapagos. As I work for organisations on 2 different islands, and my love of and desire to travel remains deeply imbedded within my soul, I like being able to change where I live and reduce the boredom I am prone to suffer living in the same place doing the same thing everyday.
Galapagos is a beautiful place to live
There is a good sized expat community who live in Galapagos, therefore I am surrounded but many different languages, cultures and customs which is one of the things I loved staying in hostels while traveling. There are also a lot of local events in Galapagos that we participate in. Local fairs, outdoor cinema nights, beach events and parties happen frequently and, as an expat with more time and resources than I had as a backpacker, are something that I happily participate in.
Though I am currently traveling less, my future plans are still very much around travel. With plans to return to Australia to visit, friends located around the world, the USA a very short flight away, and family and friends located in the Ecuador mainland, travel still plays a big role in my life.
So though my blog posts will be less frequent, I will still write them. I still enjoy incredible opportunities, adventures and experiences here that I want to keep sharing with readers.
Hello,
Are you still living in the Galapagos? How have you felt about being away from home during COVID-19? I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Hi Wendy,
Yes I am still living in Galapagos and we are trying as best we can to deal with the crazy COVID-19 situation the same as the rest of the world. As a preventative measure against COVID-19 reaching Galapagos, the government of Ecuador is currently restricting all passengers from arriving to the Islands. Therefore as the majority of Galapagos resident’s income is based on tourism, this is a very difficult time for everyone.
However the sense of community in Galapagos is strong and everyone is supporting each other to try and hold on and get through, and to find solutions to allow visitors back in without causing a virus outbreak.
My family in Australia are doing their best and fortunately Australia is a country that has avoided severe consequences of the virus thanks to social distancing measures. We have the thought of possibly needing to go to Australia for a while in the future to earn some income if things do not improve here in the islands, however this is not what we want so we will hold on here as long as we can.
I hope you are safe and well wherever you are in the world, and are looking forward to when we can once again travel.