Conference calls from the road

Pressure ridge: How Covid-19 redirected and unfixed my personal whereabouts

On September 11th of 2020, the second of what would in total become three- two-hour long conference- calls between three principle investigators, me and several respresenttaives of the Gjoa Haven HTO, took place. I was, in the week of those conference calls, self-isolating in my campervan “Butter”, and taking these calls “on the road”.

Two months prior, I had returned to my apartment in Kingston, Ontario- from my stay in the Netherlands, where I had sheltered during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The reality of returning to Canada as an international student, during the Covid-19 pandemic, was rough for me. Not so much physically- I recognize my immense privilege to have had the possibility to return to my home country and be in proximity of my family and loved-ones during the first months of the pandemic while remaining healthy and safe. Instead, my struggle was social. Having a high-risk parent, I did not take shelter in my family home in the Netherlands, and as a result had to pay rent for apartments both in Kingston and the Netherlands. My commitment to be present, and make a new home in Canada, combined with the financial stresses of double rent- eventually drew me back to Ontario at the first seemingly reasonable opportunity. Once back in Ontario, I was stuck in my tiny apartment by myself, without a university campus to go to.

To be somewhat more independent and self-reliant I had bought a campervan, and had taken it out in September to gain a better understanding of the country I was living in. Making sure to still take covid-precautions into account, I had done stocked up on groceries in my local Kingston-based food basic and continued isolating myself. I however did so, while exploring more of the province.