#51 Corona and Quarantine in the Van

January 08-14, 2022: Castellón

J. I have Corona. I had often feared that I would say or write this sentence in the last two years, but so far I had been spared. Now the time has come. Fortunately, with only mild symptoms.

On Friday, on the way to the mountains to Valderrobres, I didn't feel well. Although my self-administered rapid test was negative, since there was a Centro de Salud (health center, similar to a doctor's or hospital) right next to our parking space, I went there briefly to get a PCR test. PCR tests have not been carried out here since December, but the professionally conducted rapid test showed a positive result after a few minutes, and the casual nurse, who was joking around, suddenly fell silent and put on a very serious expression. So we canceled our plans with Pablo for the next day and prepared for 7 days of isolation.

Since I spent the first night in the mountains trembling in 5 degrees Celsius outside temperature, under many layers of clothing, sleeping bag, and blankets, and only got warm through the hot water bottle, we decided to continue south and to the sea the next day, where it even reached up to 26 degrees Celsius in the coming days. The advantage of doing quarantine in a car is that you are not allowed to go outside, but you can still move around. So we drove through the beautiful mountain region back towards the coast and enjoyed the breathtaking view. Later, we drove through vast mandarin and orange plantations, and we even visited the city of Castellón, as far as that is possible in a car.

In Castellón, we stayed on a very crowded and busy parking space for the first two days. So we were near a hospital in case of an emergency. Fortunately, the emergency did not occur. So I lay in bed with a slight fever and various varying pains (head, throat, limbs, and diffuse other pains), and I could observe the people from the windows of our rear doors and admire the many different vehicles from all major camper nations. Florian made a big shopping trip on the first day when he was (still?) tested negative, wearing an FFP2 mask, so we had enough food for at least 7 days. Of course, we also have a proper travel pharmacy on board. So we lacked nothing (except a little good health for me).

We were waiting for Florian to get sick soon, and we were prepared for every case with plenty of fruits and vegetables, but also canned soup and ravioli. For me, it was hard to understand that it didn't matter if Florian drank from my glass, touched my fully packed tissue paper to throw it in the trash, or kissed me. The most dangerous thing was finally the air full of my aerosols. Strangely, Florian didn't get sick. Is he an alien? Is he a superhero? We don't know. To have a little more certainty and to get a certificate of recovery afterwards, we tried to do another PCR test on Tuesday in Castellón in the hospital. New province (Valencia), new luck, we thought. But here too, there were only rapid tests with the same results: I'm positive, Florian's negative.

Since I was now only severely cold and Florian apparently still felt great, we decided to leave civilization a bit. So Florian no longer had to wander up and down the street at night when all other residents of the parking space were peacefully sleeping, due to lack of movement in our 8 square meters. We spent a day in the middle of nature. There was not a soul to be seen far and wide, so we could enjoy the sun and the chirping of birds in front of our van. (I had been ordered to isolate for 7 days, not quarantine. 😉) We spent the next few days by the sea. We listened to the sound of the sea and did things that you do when you hang out at home all day: watch movies, listen to audiobooks, podcasts, and music, read books and newspapers, write blog posts, play games, research everything possible on the internet, ... Florian repaired everything that needed to be repaired (unfortunately not much) and built a shower, which he immediately tested himself. The disadvantage of doing quarantine in a van like ours without a shower on board is obvious: you can't shower. After several feverish and sweaty nights, I had washed myself, but a shower felt quite good; even if it was outdoors in a bikini, with a little too little splashing water and a breeze.

When on Friday, exactly one week after I tested positive, the nurse from Valderrobres called to confirm that my quarantine would end on Saturday, we still had food left and hadn't even done everything we had planned for this time. Nevertheless, we were naturally overjoyed to go out and be among people again the next day. Florian couldn't wait.

Day 91 - Total tour 5,403 km

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