I have been a digital nomad for the last three years, which as I explained in a previous column, means I use the Internet to make a living via freelance writing while travelling.

Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, my New Zealander partner and I moved from country to country after every 30 or 90 days, when our tourist visas expired. That’s how we have managed to clock 30 international flights in the last three years.

In the last three months, however, I have been confined to my parent’s house in Kulai, Johor. In fact, I have stepped out of the house only twice in the past 11 weeks.

Let me explain how I have done it.

I arrived at Changi Airport at around 11pm on Feb 29 after a 13-hour flight from New Zealand. Following a 90-minute drive back to Johor, I was too tired to think about the impact of Covid-19, possible lockdown, and the political turmoil in Malaysia.

I was more worried about being stuck in limbo with no income. Freelance writing jobs were getting scarce. The global economy was slowing down.

I was lucky to find a few content writing gigs on Upwork right before Malaysia’s movement control order (MCO) kicked in on March 18.

Subsequently, I secured a work-from-home contract as an English-Mandarin interpreter for a United States-based live interpretation company through Facebook Jobs.

In all honesty, I was surprised to pass the interview and language tests even though I do not have any formal Chinese language qualifications.

Despite that, I wondered if I could survive the MCO confined in my parents' house.

I have not lived there for 12 years, having left for my university studies in Perak when I was 17 and then working in Kuala Lumpur before living in various parts of the region.

I had returned to Malaysia on March 1 thinking that I would soon be able to return to New Zealand for a longer-term stay with a partnership visa.

But the closure of borders has upended those plans.

As a digital native, I spend my free time exploring new cities, mingling with its people, learning their culture, hiking and checking out bars.

On my lazier days, I would end up watching Netflix and be a couch potato.

When I first returned to Johor, I wondered if I should be content with my life or if I should sulk and whine about the complete change in my lifestyle.

Thankfully, I cleared my head pretty quickly and set a few clear goals and plans to achieve them.

First, I needed to improve my Mandarin at the speed of light to ensure that I could keep my new job. The action plan included daily practices, noting down new words, and asking for help from colleagues who are more proficient in Mandarin.

This new job is a splendid opportunity for me to finally improve my Chinese language proficiency.

My second goal is to lose a total of 10kg by the end of July. The plan is to eat healthily and to exercise for at least 45 minutes a day. Besides shadow boxing, I picked up high intensity interval training, pilates and yoga to make my home workout sessions via the FitOn and Yoga Downdog mobile applications more interesting.

I am proud that I have managed to lose 8kg so far.

My third goal is to save RM3,000 per month while helping to pay for household expenses and my student loan, both of which can come up to almost RM2,000 a month.

As I follow US time for work, my body clock is turned completely upside down.

I work from 10pm to about 6 or 7 in the morning, go to bed at around 8am or 9am and wake up at 4.30pm.

The first thing I do is to video call my partner who is living in New Zealand and chat for about an hour.

My breakfast —  or dinner —  is simply a 150ml protein shake. By 6.30pm, I would find my folks watching Korean drama on Channel U while I play with our family dog.

We would have a short conversation before I start exercising in my room.

I'll then have another meal before preparing for work.

Once my shift ends, I would spend some time playing with the dog again before heading to bed.

It took me just two days to get used to this complete reversal of body clock timing.

During the weekends, besides exercising, I'll work on earning more side income as a freelance content creator and translator, watch Netflix, clean up my room, prepare my weekly meals and study online courses.

I also love online shopping. It keeps me sane and it is my way to de-stress. I also use Lazada and Shopee to buy groceries.

Since the MCO began, I have only stepped out of my parents’ home just twice — each time driving out and back for not more than one hour, once to get groceries and the second time to activate my new ATM card.

I am content with my simple lifestyle currently. Although I have not had much sunshine nor physical contact with people other than my parents and the delivery people, I do not feel alone nor bored.

I also don’t suffer from any cabin fever nor do I have an urge to go out. It helps that I keep myself occupied at home.

I also find that I am actually communicating a lot more with my friends compared to when I was travelling. Sometimes we would have group video calls while enjoying our food and drinks.

Some of them still cannot stand being cooped up at home and are dying for life to return to normal, but others have learned to enjoy staying at home a bit more.

Some of my friends were surprised that I am perfectly fine with not going out. However, those who have the same lack of trust in our community's capabilities for safe distancing would understand my mini self-quarantine plan.

Even with the Malaysian government's announcement on June 7 that the MCO restrictions will be eased from June 10, I will not be in a hurry to go out more often.

One thing that I do wish is for international travel to resume soon so that I can be reunited with my partner in New Zealand.

Reflecting on the changes in my life due to Covid-19, I am actually rather grateful for how things have turned out.

This pandemic has given me a chance to save up for my future travels and spend time with my elderly parents whom I have not spent much time with in the last 12 years. This is somewhat a blessing in disguise.

I suppose you can say that when life throws us lemons, we should catch them. We can always choose to make lemonade or bake lemon cheesecakes out of them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A Malaysian born in Johor, Sabrina Tan, 29, worked in a financial institution as a fraud investigator for four years before becoming a freelance writer and now an interpreter.