Preface
I've been living as a digital nomad since 2017. I lived in more than ten countries before I arrive in Vietnam on 25.01.2020. On 28.01.2020 Vietnam decreed the closure of the border with China after the news regarding the appearance of a strange virus in the Wuhan market.
On 1 February all flights from China, Macao, Taiwan were suspended. Subsequently, the flights and the border with China were opened, but the situation kept changing. The restrictions on the entry in Vietnam were changing accordingly to the number of cases growing in different countries. Thus, Koreans and Europeans were also banned from entering the country at the beginning of March.
On March 22nd, all foreigners were forbidden to enter the country. In 28.03 activities such as gyms, cinemas, tourist sites, massage parlors, karaoke, and others were closed
On 01.04 Vietnam decreed the total lockdown implementing the social distancing measures. Since then, people can only leave home to buy food and medicine.
The restrictions imposed by the country totally changed my reality, my plans and my life as a digital nomad. I decided to write this diary to report these days and somehow continue to travel within an apartment of less than 60 square meters.

11.04_Should I stay or should I go?

I wake up a bit late. I’m tired of feeling life so much. There’s a bunch of dishes to wash on the sink and I decided to make a quick clean on the apartment. I didn’t exercise today and I was procrastinating a lot the book that I’m writing to a client. I seat on my chair, put the alarm clock for one hour “ok, Helga, no Youtube, no social media, no nothing besides write this f… book”. I tried. I tried very hard, but I guess procrastination was bigger than me yesterday.
Usually when it happens and I’m working from home, I move to a cafe and my brain normally starts to work again, but today, no place to go, so I kept dealing with my mental fight of the "productive Helga" and the "procrastinating Helga". Yesterday the second one win.

It’s so much time at home that you lost the sense of time. It’s crazy to be here, in 60 something square meters doing do much stuff. My head has been in so many places with an incredible speed, but I’m here, between one coffee and another trying to get the shit done. I decided to keep with the strategy of the alarm clock. One single hour you'll try to do your best and just write.

I realize that the worst thing to do in terms of procrastination is wake up and turn on the social media. I saw during these days of quarantine that, when you do that, someway somehow your monkey mind is just activated, and it gets harder to concentrate in one task. I promise myself that I will avoid social media first thing in the morning during these times.

Yesterday I receive the news that an expat flight was approved by Brazilian authorities. The idea is to bring back to Brazil around 360 people that are in Asia now. After I receive the news that the flight was confirmed and I could subscribe myself for a place on it, I felt a bunch of mixed feelings, and to be honest, I fell quite confused now.

Being so far away from my family on these times become more tough, I cannot lie. My parents are around 60’s, so both risk group and I wouldn’t forgive myself to be away in case something happen to them. Also, my oldest brother is a doctor who has been on the front fighting for corona virus. I’m also worried about him.

Besides that, I believe the situation is better on Vietnam now and I don’t feel deep in my heart it's time to comeback. Maybe I will regret about my decision in the future, but something says that it's better to be where I am now, and wait more until things get more under control. The uncertainty of the future,mixed with all those crazy feelings make me feel kind of lost. Don’t know what decision to make. Should I stay or should I go? I wrote to the Brazilian embassy, since there’s no certainty that I can board. So I cannot get worried with a possibility.

This is the biggest lessons of these times for me: worry with what is real, root yourself into the present moment, every moment is a moment.

(PS: On the moment that I’m writing this post, I saw the news that the Krakatau, the volcano that causes the Tsunami on 2018 in Indonesia is awake. Many friends are on Indonesia right now. I cannot think about anything else at this moment. 2020 is not for beginners…)