Covid 19 personal whereabouts

In 2019, at the start of my doctoral studies I relocated to Katarokwi; Kingston, Ontario on the traditional homelands of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabek and Huron-Wendat nations. For me, my move to Kingston was never intended to only provide a launch pad for my research in Inuit Nunangat. I arrived ready to commit- aspiring to make Kingston my new home. The first months after my arrival were filled with activities to learn about- and build a relationship with this land, the communities on it, and its stories. I immersed myself, for my hope was that this place could perhaps eventually become a new home for me. Which it did, in multiple ways, over time. The building of these relationships however became somewhat more complicated from 2020 onwards. The COVID-19 pandemic ended up uprooting me from all my home-bases, both Dutch and Canadian.

Netherlands in isolation

I initially chose to take shelter in my country of origin; the Netherlands. I stayed there for three months, after which the first wave of covid-19 had seemed to have passed. Having a high-risk parent, I did not take shelter in my family home in the Netherlands, and as a result I initially had to pay rent for apartments both in Kingston and the Netherlands. After the first two months of self-isolating in an apartment in Amsterdam, I moved in with my sister and her family, where I slept on an airbed and shared a room with my 2-year old nephew. Despite a lack of privacy, it was nice to be close to family and spend time with my nephew. I preferred it above being alone in an apartment.

Nevertheless, 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.

Kingston in isolation

Invitation:Trail-off to explore how buying a campervan helped me navigate being a graduate student during times of Covid