Quarantined: What is there to do?Take advantage of the extra time!
- Practice safe distancing and follow your local advisory warnings. -
Updated: May 19 2020
You’re sitting there, home from work, most likely still in your PJs. Perhaps even doing a video conference with your hair still tied up. Maybe even you have just woken up…at now 1pm…
∼ You’ve also gone through your timelines twice and onto season 3 of Netflix (or pornhub…this is not the time for judging). ∼
It seems like time has culminated into one conglomerate of days in the week.
So, What else is there to do now for the next 4 or more weeks? I may have a few suggestions for you.
Try some new drinks
This one may be a bit too obvious, but it’s now perfectly fine to have a drink before lunch time. Sharing super simple drinks to make with what you have at home.
Even if just to make that cocktail you’ve been meaning to try. You needn’t make excuses for pouring as much or as little as you want.
Just be sure to sit out under the sun, and pretend like you took vacation off work.
That way drinking at 9:30 am isn’t such a bad look because now you’re on vacation time.
Food cravings
Aside from the lack of activities, indulging in food is at the top of any of my lists. And the great thing about living in Toronto during this Outbreak, is the abundance of options to eat.
Usually this time of year would be packed with many events all over the city. And normally I would have had a list of festivals that you should be attending. But as it stands, physical distancing will be impacting us all summer long.
This now means you could try out a friends home-popup-kitchen. I’d suggest a great place to start is with my friend Julien, known as the #DarkSkinnedChef who has emerged with his own menu. Let him know I sent you because you’ll be enjoying some of the best eats in the city; all while staying comfy in your joggers!
Restaurants in Ontario now allow alcohol to be included with your curbside takeout/delivery orders. So if you are feeling for a bottle of wine or some beer, be sure to take advantage of the discounts for take out or free deliveries from:
- Jackastors – 25% off,
- Boston pizza – 25% off and
- Moxies – 20% off.
Also check out your local restaurants as they also may offer some discounts/free deliveries as well. Supporting the locals will be the best way to make sure we all make it through these tough times.
Stay Home with the Vibes
These circumstances have forced DJ’s to adapt in tow of others in reaching their fans. You have seen many Streaming DJ shows, hosting online parties and providing many hours of music to get us through the day.
Some DJ’s you should check out includes Cavalier who has been busy re-branding and putting together some new mixes. But, while we await the relaunch, be sure to Listen to his latest LierView+Chill mix. The destinations may be in our yard, but he will be bringing the world to your speakers!
– It’s Here: The NewView (Explicit). Be sure and check it out!
You need also Subscribe to DJ BuzzB’s consistently updated soundcloud and podcast. Creatively, he has brought the fete vibes to your phones via his IGLive shows which hosted concepts like Ladies Night & Lovers Rock online. All the while has taken the time to organize charity donations during some shows for local organizations. So far having raised $1100 for two charities; A small but great impact for our communities.
Here’s a quick link to get jumping and grooving right away with his latest Safari Mix below:
Improve the mind/Body
More than likely you will be left with a lot of free time on your hands. So that business idea you’ve had, start it. Needed to start working out since 2019, do it now. The oyster is endless here.
Keep the kids entertained with some interactive museum exhibits online or take a virtual museum tour to ensure they stay stimulated throughout the day.
NASA has also launched a game for Mac and iOS that allows you to explore the ocean floors, what’s cool is that your kids are actually helping with real-world data and research by training super computers to recognize types of corals.
Something you may be interested in for yourself is that Ontario is offering their smart serve license free of charge for the month of April.
(Dead as of now. 100,000 got to take advantage. I hope you were one of them)
Many universities have whole courses offered for free online. This includes the likes of Harvard, Georgia institute of tech, and even Hong Kong UofScience.
Reading online is such a 2020 thing, so getting daily free e-books or having it read to you instead could come in clutch.
And if being active is your goal, check out apps such as Sworkit or GoodLife that’ll give you exercises of various levels you can do daily at home. Or stay limber while you WFH with some free online Yoga classes.
But don’t be fooled, you need to use this time to relax, get your mind right and enjoy your time off. Mental health is the most important thing you could improve through all of this!
Unwinding from the stress of work, school and life in general could be the most crucial part during this outbreak/quarantine. You can look towards City of Toronto’s excellent resource guide for active living, arts, and culture while staying home for all ages.
Staying Entertained
If you’ve been meaning to dive into The Witcher (Netflix) or Hunters (Prime Video), it’s a good time now to binge without the guilt of waking up early.
You could use Netflix Party to gather the squad and still have your movie nights together. That way you can stay in you PJs or get comfy in your hoodie while you grab the wine & popcorn and enjoy a movie with the group.
Many streaming and media companies have elected to make their content more accessible to those staying at home.
A few things you can take advantage of is
- HBO’s 500hrs of free content, (As far as I know no longer available)
- Cineplex bringing in-theater movies to their streaming service online,
- Crave having bumped up it’s 7 day trial to 30 days, and
- amazon prime offering a suite of free kids content.
If you know of anything else, let us readers know below!
Game Nights
All this free time has lead to my 100th hour of OverWatch and The Division 2. Btw, If you’re on Xbox add me up!
But there is something amiss not being able to gather up with your friends and enjoy some good ol’ fashion socializing.
The next best thing you could do is to try one of these face-to-face/gaming apps that many are getting into.
If you are looking for some simple games to play on your device, Houseparty includes video chatting along with a few classics such as heads-up, pictionary and “cards-against humanity”.
The only paid option here, you can host a games night from your Xbox or PS5 on Twitch with Jackbox TV. It is a series of collections of party games that can keep you all laughing for hours.
All that said and done, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of taking care of your mental state; likewise your physique. The priority should always be to take care of yourself and loved ones at all times.
Go for a walk, take a jog or just read a book outside. Make sure you relax, talk to people, keep your health up and enjoy that cocktail you made. Because I will for sure be enjoying my beer!
