Do you feel life is on hold?

[ivykaty44]

Are we all just holding back a little bit from job hunting, booking holidays making plans with friends etc?

I feel that I’m just going to work & going home & staying there, haven’t been shopping for 10 days

I’d planned on going to Portugal at the end of this month but had to cancel those plans due to other reason, haven’t booked any holidays for this year or made plans with friends

Anyone actually make future plans?

No.

People do realise that even if we go into lockdown restaurants etc will still be open? So why are people avoiding going out for meals?

I don’t have a holiday booked anyway but I might have drawn the line at going on a cruise because of the horror of potentially getting stuck on a boat for two weeks

I have a job interview in London in two weeks for which I will have to travel on public transport. Not a chance in hell am I cancelling it since this is the first time in over 3.5 years I’ve been able to look for work because of health problems.

Washing hands should be a standard behaviour virus or no virus. And while I’m sensible this hysteria of “you just wait and see” kind of chatter achieves absolutely nothing.

I have to go into at least two hospitals over the next couple of weeks, I am ten months post heart surgery and need a transplant. I almost died while my dS was sitting GCSE’s last year, so it could be said that I’ve seen it all so to speak.

I will be sensible but the truth is that life is fragile regardless. We’re all just a car crash away anyway so there’s nothing to be achieved by not living your life while you still can.

Also struggling to see why you’d not get carpet fitted middleager. I’ve got a flooring company in as I type, fitting new vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom and have repainted the whole flat. If we are going to be stuck in it might as well look nice and local traders get some much needed work.

Other than that though yes I do feel like life is on hold. I’ve not arranged to travel to see DC and family and I was going to visit family in Germany but am not going. I don’t feel like buying clothes or going into town.

I feel in a weird atmosphere. I’m pretty laid back but right now I’m feeling on edge and in limbo.

Out summer holiday plans are on hold - we haven't booked one and won't be doing so for the moment.

Otherwise continuing with school and work more or less as normal.

Nothing has changed for me, but that may be because I live such a boring life anyway! Work, home, kids at school, still going out but I don’t go anywhere that often. I am not concerned yet, although I will be if we all have to have unpaid leave or something ridiculous like that.

As far as I can see everyone else is carrying on the same around me too, though one or two people are getting in a state about it.

I was planning to go on my first ever (proper) cruise this summer but hadn't booked it yet. Certainly not booking it now; being quarantined on a cruise ship for weeks would be awful.

Other summer plans include sporting events, for which we have booked non-refundable travel and hotels, and it's starting to look as if they might be cancelled / postponed.

Basically we're not making new plans, and stand to be considerably out of pocket if the existing plans fall through. I'm very mindful, however, that an awful lot of people are dying in this outbreak. As long as we and our loved ones come through it health-wise, I'll take the financial hit and still be grateful.

I definitely feel like life is on hold. It’s hard to think of making plans because there’s just so much uncertainty.

We have a holiday in California booked for May and I’m usually making plans and booking for events and attractions well in advance. All I’ve booked so far is an airport hotel for the night before we (should) fly out which can be cancelled with no penalty. The holiday itself is paid for and if we cancel we lose our money.

I am largely carrying on as normal but delaying travel decisions.

I have a residential conference next week and I haven’t booked the train tickets yet. I will wait until 48 hours before. We were planning on a last minute trip to Italy during the Easter holidays, clearly that is not going to happen.

However, I have been shopping and using public transport in London.

I’ve got a flooring company in as I type

I hope you've asked them that they've not just returned from holiday in an affected area. I've found people are ignoring the official advice to self isolate and therefore putting others at risk.

Well I'm job hunting at the moment so hearing you are holding back is excellent news for me. I've just missed out on getting a job I really wanted, if the virus puts my competitors off applying that'd be great! We have also just started trying for a baby (we've been holding off ages whilst I finished a qualification. I'm more worried we'll miss the boat due to age than a virus going around so I won't be changing our plans!).

I'm not doing anything different.

'I feel that I’m just going to work & going home & staying there, haven’t been shopping for 10 days '

Yes. Most days I go to work, spend a couple of hours trying to find hand sanitizer for the workers who keep asking for it, wait for today's numbers. Finish work, go to Tesco, look at the empty shelves, then go home.

Oh, and we have tickets to see Green Day in June and they’ve already postponed the Asian part of the tour so who know if the European shows will happen. It wouldn’t be easy to rearrange either as two out of the three UK shows are in football stadiums so are happening outside of the football season.

No our lives are carrying on the same. Just got back from a week's holiday in the sun. Will go back to work next week. I cant imagine not going out for meal or shopping just because of this. My DP is out shopping now.

If you’ve had to save £1500 for your carpets and the financial future is looking very uncertain it’s not hard to think why you might want to hang on to that £1500 surely? I’d much rather have that money as a cushion in case I needed it.

We are supposed to be going to the US in two weeks. Haven’t cancelled yet but am 90% sure we won’t be going. It’s tricky as it’s not just us. We can cancel the hotel up to next week sometime so will make a decision then.

Have a holiday to Greece booked for July. Trying not to think about that yet. Again we can cancel hotel if needed.

We have decorators in this week and next but I’m glad it’s now rather than next month.

I’ve just booked to get my hair done on Friday. At least I won’t have grey roots if the shit hits the fan!

And car is being serviced and MOT done on Friday.

After that I’m staying home though. We are lucky that we can so us reducing our risks of catching it has to be a good thing.

Holidays and school trips are booked before started but now very much on hold with high chance of being cancelled and losing the money.

DH still goes to work, kids still go to school so that's normal. Still doing work on old house and current one so that's normal.

Things may get increasingly difficult for DH who is French with a very elderly mother alone in France. So some aspects on hold but nothing like DH's colleague is going through in Wuhan.

Interestingly though I logged on to Sainsbury’s to book a delivery for later this week given reports of no delivery slots, and I could have got one for this evening, so no shortage of those here.

No change for us although I don't have any major plans for the year anyway. Going camping in summer but that's about it.
Still going out, still socialising and not buying unnecessarily ridiculous amounts of toilet roll

Pretty much carrying on as normal here but we are having to be careful financially as DH is s/e and his industry is already being affected, so we know the next few months could be tough. I've stocked up a bit foodwise and we are not making any plans for holidays or big expenditure.

I do feel like things aren't quite normal though, a bit of an unsettled feeling like I'm waiting for something though, though I'm not quite sure exactly what!

@middleager I agree - wouldn't spend my cash on carpet right now. I was going to get decorators in and build an extension /completely remodel.

I don't want strangers coming in the house unneccsarily (a lot of people will not self isolate properly and or will work if ill), plus there is no way of knowing how bad things get economically and financially I might need the cash to feed my family.

However, I appreciate by not spending we are all probably contributing to the dowfall of the economy as well. I am continuing my regular spend food, sports, gym, petrol, consumables, DIY/garden stuff for a project we are doing, and possibly spending more on some things like food and medicine and crafts than perhaps Iwould normally. But I am delaying any capital/one-off type spends.

I do feel on edge a little, I can't lie. I'm a parent/carer and a single one at that. I have also just had four breast biopsies and am awaiting the results. I also have two close family members who could die if they caught this virus. My adult child is at uni and also working in London, admittedly that worries me immensely. She's a sensible girl and is taking all the precautions she can, avoiding socialising and only going onto campus when she absolutely can't avoid it. My DS is still at school as there appear to be no concerns there, but I do feel uneasy about it. They are fortunately very hot on hygiene and the kids have to wash hands frequently. I am still exercising outside on a daily basis, mainly for my mental health but fortunately live quite rurally so can avoid people. I pop to the shops if I need to, at quiet times. However, there is no doubt that there is an air of worry. While I think you can't put your life "on hold" as such, I do think it's wise to take as many sensible precautions as you can and hope that this sodding thing will blow over sooner rather than later. It's a waiting game.

Not really - I’m taking more vitamins and being more vigilant about not touching my face - but life goes on you can’t put everything on hold anything could happen tomorrow you can’t live in a constant state of fear. I have anxiety so I do understand but I’m just trying to be rational about it.

Well I am job hunting but there is nothing to apply to. I am immune suppressed so am staying home as much as possible. I want to see The Invisible Man in the cinema but am resisting. Just back from my routine appointment at the doctors where I saw someone coughing all over the touchscreen, which no one cleaned.

I think a few posters are missing the point here. The references to being on hold / in limbo are not because people are changing their own behaviour, but because of uncertainty and worry about things being taken out of our hands. A PP described it as feeling on edge, that is exactly how I feel. It's the not knowing what might happen tomorrow / next week / next month, that is getting to me.

I was hosting a biggish party this weekend and I've actually just postponed - we had quite a few people cancel for various reasons so it would have turned into rather a sad affair if we'd gone ahead! Luckily nothing that won't keep, DH and I can sit at home and drink all the champers

Yes. I've said a few times this week 'when corono is over we'll...'

I don't think it's going to be over for a long time .
The virus isn't just going to disappear. It might turn out to be seasonal like flu but we don't know yet.
As more people get ill and recover perhaps there'll be some herd immunity and make it less likely the most vulnerable will catch it.
And of course a vaccine should make a big difference.

I'm feeling really unsettled and anxious which is unlike me, I want to keep dc at home but older ones have exams so can't and dh and I still need to work anyway until gov advises not - both self employed so money is a real worry.
Trying to decide whether to attend theatre trip on Friday and dd upset that a much saved for and looked forward to event next month will likely be cancelled.