In late May, 2020, I went back to Kaohsiung to see my family. This is the quarantine hotel I stayed for 15 days and nights. The arrival day was excluded as a quarantine night.

I have been a flight attendant for 3 decades yet never had I stayed in a hotel room for 15 days and nights without stepping out into the corridor. Before my 50 days’ journey, I spent some time searching for a comfortable quarantine hotel. There were a few to choose from. This one offered a not too small space and a window view of the sky. There I went….

There was suddenly so much time to spend in the room. Besides chatting with family and friends on the phone, social networking, reading and watching Netflix, I made it a habit to record the 3 meals everyday.

At 8:00 am, 12:00 pm and 17:30 pm respectively, breakfast, lunch and dinner were placed on the chair outside the room. There were good varieties, mostly featured Taiwanese cuisine.

I had not seen or talked to anyone face to face since I entered the room after checkin.It was a happy moment to ‘open the door’ as it always gave me a feeling of connecting with the outside world and sometimes the meals could bring a bit positive surprise too.

Exercise was an important routine for me to stay focused and mentally healthy in the room. I moved some furniture aside and cleared some space for exercise. I did brisk walking and recorded my number of steps everyday. During the 14-days, I had made over 10000 steps everyday.

Freedom tasted SO GOOD! my GOD!……This is the nearby supermarket I visited right after I completed my quarantine.

At 12:00 midnight, the 14-day quarantine finally came to an end. I heard a loud slam from a nearby room. Someone must have just been released from quarantine like me. I went out and bumped into this ‘neighbour’ in front of the lift. We had a brief conversation about the 14-day hotel quarantine. He said it was painfully unbearable…… ‘But you made it! Congrats!’ I commented. In fact, one really has to be mentally prepared for this long period of ‘isolation’ if he gets used to a face to face style of social contacting and on-the-move life style.

After the quarantine, I moved to another hotel nearby KHH Harbour. I have stayed in this hotel many times before. This time they offered a rather low rate due to the pandemic.

I had a precious time with my family after the quarantine. Also went out with a friend for luncheon. Afterwards we roamed about a famous night market-Xin Jue Jiang 新崛江商圈。Even though I had completed my quarantine, I was required to wear masks in the public for another 7 days.

Freedom is priceless even when I was just wandering around enjoying the sunset… Through this pandemic, particularly the hotel quarantine, I have learned the most precious value about living in the moment. It is not only living in the moment but also “with freedom”.