Things to do while social distancing
By Sonam Kaloti, Arts Editor
This pandemic has kicked in our knees and thrown us to the ground when it comes to our social lives. Thereâs an abnormal pressure in friendships, relationships, and people everywhere who are suffering from social isolation and lonelinessânot to mention extreme boredom.
To reiterate the Canadian governmentâs safety restrictions: avoid crowded places and non-essential travel, maintain a two-metre distance from people outside of your household, avoid common greetings such as handshakes, avoid going out if you have symptoms of illness or are vulnerable, maintain proper hygiene, wear a mask and gloves if possible, try to only socialize with the same set of people, and keep groups small.
Now, on to the fun stuff:
Go out
No, not crowded beaches, bars, or clubs. Donât live out the show 6teen at the mall with your friends. Do, however, get out of the house and get some fresh air. Whether it be a hike, a local park, or just a walk around the neighbourhood, keeping your body active is important for a myriad of both mental and physical health reasons. Try a lake trip in a secluded spot, a fancy picnic, and if youâre looking to get really active, the Coquitlam Crunch is a great place to work up a sweat.
Explore
Sure, most of the Earth is already mapped out. Discovering a new island may not be possible, but you can join tons of people on adventuring for the sake of finding unique locations. Try geocachingâan activity using an app and a GPS navigator to treasure hunt. People leave little containers called âcachesâ at specific locations which you can take the contents of if you leave a replacement treasure of your own for the next explorer.
Newly popular, you can try the Randonautica app which has been gaining traction due to the occasionally fun or unsettling finds documented on TikTok, Reddit, and other social media websites. The app gives you the coordinates to a local location by using a quantum random number generator. The app gives you an option to visit an attractor, void, or anomaly. An attractor has the most quantum dots, while a void has the least, and an anomaly is typically the strongest of the options to find the most interesting locations.
The app is known to bring people to some spooky areas, so Randonaut at your own risk!
All that and more
There are tons of ways to keep yourself and those close to you occupied. In a way, this pandemic allowed us the opportunity to broaden our horizons. Pick up a new hobby (gardening has risen tremendously in popularity, as has skateboarding and baking), go to a drive-in movie, climb a tree, camp in your backyard, put on a soap opera and mute the sound then proceed to create your own dialogue, fry some ants, just kidding please donât. Do any of the other endless things youâve never tried. Social distancing has given us the opportunity and time to better ourselves. You can finally try out that thing youâve been meaning to for years. As restrictions get lifted, the hustle and bustle of our old lives may return, so donât take this time for granted. The silver lining is clear, go chase it down.
