9 Fun Things To Do In Hotel Quarantine & Make It More Engaging

Many ongoing restrictions still require travellers to self-isolate after their trips. Often they have to serve a week or two in quarantine – either at a hotel or private accommodation. This is not only inconvenient but also stressful for many solo travellers. But fear not! I had to self-isolate in a hotel quarantine when I returned from Australia and will share my 9 hotel quarantine tips with you so you can survive this awkward time, too.

Back then, I had to arrange my quarantine accommodation myself before entering the UK. I understand since then hotel quarantine after travel orders have constantly changed. Often, people have no choice and are forced into specific quarantine hotels.

TIP: If you can choose your quarantine accommodation, reach out directly to them. Some hotels offer specific quarantine packages & long-stay deals. These include a reduced day rate & lunch package. I secured New Road Hotel for £65 per night this way. Not a bad rate for a London hotel. To get the deal you’d have to book directly with the hotel instead of a third-party provider. 

What Do You Do in a Quarantine Hotel?

Ok, you’ve just had an awesome holiday and are travelling back home. Unfortunately, you would have to quarantine at a hotel or private accommodation upon your return. What can you expect from a hotel quarantine? What’s the best way to be prepared for the time in isolation?

Being grounded for an extended period of time in a hotel room is mentally challenging. Plan as much as possible in advance to make the most out of the inconvenient situation. This way, you can make it as pleasant as possible for you. Think about your needs and organise yourself before you enter the quarantine room. Think about potential activities or hobbies that you can pursue during your quarantine stay that will keep you mentally stimulated and busy.

These are some scenarios that you may face:

Downtime: downtime, lots of it. Quarantine is a forced break and you’ll have to slow down. You can embrace the passiveness and hibernate if you want. Some people really need a break from the constant pull of their lives, so anything relaxing that can help you unwind are worth bringing along, e.g. face masks, scented candles/fairy lights anything that’ll make you feel comfortable. Hotel rooms, especially forced hotel quarantine rooms aren’t as nice. Anything to make it homey and cosy will help you mentally to settle in.

Boredom: make plans in advance if you get bored easily. Keeping yourself busy and distracted will help kill time and boredom. Maybe there’s an annoying admin task or dreaded phone call to the energy company on your to-do list? Now you have the time to sort this all out. Bring a variety of media such as colouring books, books, magazines, or a laptop/iPad. Definitely bring a spiral notebook with blank pages, a pen, and crayons. You never know when the creative streak hits and often, boredom is an excellent motivator to kick in your creativity. The spiral notebook can also be used for journaling, writing, drafting ideas, and drawing.

Poor Food: Before you start your hotel quarantine, fetch some food at the airport before your actual flight. On the other end, you won’t have the chance to any food shopping. Have a fabric tote bag ready and stock up on water, fruit, and snacks to cover your first few days. Often the food in quarantine accommodation is little and of low quality. You’d need some additional food to keep you going in isolation. If you can, place a grocery order with a supermarket. Check with your hotel beforehand if staff would help out and would bring the deliveries to your room.

Food such as fruit, cereal/granola, drinks, bread, peanut butter, and treats hold up without refrigerating. Don’t forget most hotels come with kettles. So anything that can be prepped with hot water is a plus, too (soups, instant noodles, tea etc). Use sparingly though as instant meals aren’t as nutritious.

My hotel was extremely supportive given my circumstances and me having to rely on the staff. Even online deliveries for take-away meals weren’t an issue. Speak to your quarantine hotel and I’m sure they’ll be helping you out. 

Dependency: A solo traveller in isolation is heavily dependent on others. Hotel staff mostly, but also the support from family and friends. Let them know in advance the timings of your quarantine stay. You may call or text more often than usual. Let them know what you need and what they can do for you. Speak to the hotel staff in advance and find out how they are going to look after you during your stay. Are they ok with a food shop? Would you be able to order take-away and would they mind bringing it to your room? You’re not a prisoner, after all, you’re still a guest and may recommend the hotel to others after your quarantine stay is over.

Limited Movement: Be prepared for small rooms and if – limited time to go outside and walk a few rounds in the car park. A hotel quarantine is tough for anyone who is physically active and goes regularly to the gym. You won’t be able to make starjumps or lift heavy weights, but do some stretches every other hour.

Self-Entertainment: Introverts immerse themselves for hours and don’t mind being on their own. Extroverts, however, have a harder time. Killing time with doing nothing will only stretch the minutes like gum. Try to keep as mentally stimulated and busy as possible. Listen to music, watch a show, start drafting a new blog post. Make career goals, read an inspiring story or tidy up your CV. Make sure you engage yourself as much as possible and pack accordingly, e.g. puzzles.

Now onto the major question…

How Do You Survive a Quarantine in a Hotel?

Make Yourself Comfortable

As you’ll be in hotel quarantine for a while, let’s make yourself comfortable. Quarantine is a forced break and you have to hibernate for a while. Maybe this is the opportunity to catch up on much-needed “Me time”. You can nap unapologetically or lie in for as long as you like. I was pretty jet-lagged and needed to relax. It does kill a lot of time and makes the day go by faster. 

I often have Sephora’s Coconut face masks in my suitcase, so I can have a little spa treatment. Other travellers even bring small scented candles/fairy lights along to make them feel comfy and homey. This can make a difference especially if your hotel quarantine room is a small and dark space.

Reflect

Isolation forces you to spend time with yourself. This is an opportunity to stop and reflect on life. Is everything in my life still serving me? Do I have to cut ties with toxic people? Is it time for a change? Is what I’m doing in life moving me forward? Are people in my circle supportive? Do connections in my life impact me positively? Where would I like to be in 5 years’ time?

This is all food for thought and considerations to reassess your priorities and life goals. Journaling or writing a diary can help identify personal unhappiness, help to reorganise your life and document learnings & reflections. All great ways to reconnect & check-in with yourself. 

Make Some £££££

You’ll have a lot of downtime during your hotel quarantine. Why not get some coins in for your next trip? I travel with my iPad and have signed up with Prolific. The platform offers academic & scientific research projects for which you can earn up to £15 per study. On average, I make about £100 per month on the side.  

Qmee is a browser extension that rewards you for online searches but also has marketing surveys. These can be accessed via the app, too. The rewards are small and I’m not rich yet. In the end, every penny earned means more money for your next trip, right? 

Another way to earn some easy money during quarantine is with NaviSavi. This platform connects travellers and businesses through unedited UGC 30-second videos. The content can be anything from your travel adventures: nice restaurants, hotel stays, experiences, attractions, and major points of interest. Each approved video can earn you $1. The cash out is at $100. It took me 3h to upload my content to make the threshold. Happy travels!  

Here is my referral code for NaviSavi: solotravelstory

Binge-Watch A Show

If you travel with your laptop/iPad or have a quarantine accommodation with Netflix access, you can finally catch up on all of your shows. I personally love interior design shows, baking competitions, and documentaries. Street Food was a highly interesting travel documentary exploring South American countries through their food culture.

Other enjoyable series are The Minimalist, Movies That Made Us, Toys That Made Us, or Abstract. The latter introduces artists, designers, and creatives from industries such as film, theatre, sustainable architecture, photography, and performance art. It follows their work and impact on the world which I found educational and inspiring.

Keep Busy: Work & Study

Do you want to be productive during your quarantine? No problem. A quarantine stay offers an undisturbed work environment and you can get things done. Maybe you want to start writing that essay that you’ve put off for a while? Or do business analysis or write an industry article? 

Having been away for a few months, I was completely out of touch with my industry. Luckily, agencies and industry leaders offered a variety of free content to catch up on developments:

– Work Trends
– Industry News
– Online Seminars & Boot Camps
– Webinars
– Panel Discussion (e.g. future of industry)
– Industry Reports
– Case Studies

I identified work opportunities and redefined my professional goals. LinkedIn helped me the most in spotting these opportunities and free offerings.  I even decided to study for a British diploma to have an official qualification in my industry. I did this all during my quarantine stay. You can do the same. Follow up on industry trends, work on a back-to-work plan or invest your time into studying. You’ll see your quarantine after your travels will be over in no time.  

Self-Improve

It became clear that my industry was heavily digitised and re-training and upskilling on my end was necessary. Skillshare, EDX, Coursera, and even Harvard offer excellent free courses. During my 14 day quarantine, I signed up for a brand strategy course on Skillshare and a brand management course on Coursera. 30h later I had finished both and was back up to speed. The new learnings were then applied in job interviews.   

Through these opportunities, I was able to get a well-rounded understanding of my industry and its developments during the pandemic. I’ve adjusted my CV, improved my work style, and even published two industry articles on LinkedIn. Again all products of my hotel quarantine stay.

Tip: If creativity is your thing and you’d like to keep your skills sharp, I can recommend joining the One Minute Brief community on Twitter. It’s a quick-thinking community with daily live briefs for mock ads, cash prizes to be won, and it’s a lot of fun. Plus by the end of your hotel quarantine, you may have a nice little mock ad portfolio.

Network

It’s important to keep in touch with the outside world during a quarantine stay, especially with family and friends. Once I caught up with everyone, I scheduled sessions with my mentor and spoke to a recruiter who offered a free LinkedIn consultation. Even though the catch-ups were via Zoom, this helped me to stay sane and socialise as best as I could in the given circumstances. 

Time For Your Hobby: Travel Blogging

When’s a better time to write up all your adventures if not during a quarantine after travel?

You could pour all your quarantine time and focus into your travel blog. Even if you haven’t brought a laptop/iPad along, you can draft content ideas, work on a posting schedule or edit videos/photos on your phone. Writing and researching also take up quite some time.  

You can also connect with other travel bloggers on Twitter and join travel chats. The most popular ones are #TRLT (Tuesday, 6pm UK time) and #Travchat (Wednesday, 10:30 am & 7pm UK time). Now that you have endless time to kill, why not invest in blog analysis (stats, GA), Tweet scheduling, or commenting? All strategies which are often neglected but necessary to grow your blog/business.  

Read A Good Book

Immersing yourself in a good book can kill some serious quarantine time. When I got back from Australia my suitcase was packed with books. I brought back a selection of Australian literature that is hard to get in Europe. Next to Aboriginal literature, I read Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe during my quarantine isolation. The story is based in Brisbane and following the story through the city with familiar place names and locations often made me feel like I was back there.

****** ******

Quarantining and self-isolation are annoying & stress-triggering. I believe with a bit of planning and knowing what to face, one can try to make this experience as pleasant as possible. After all, the time spent in quarantine shouldn’t be a waste or put you off from travelling. Often you don’t even notice that you need to slow down but it becomes apparent once you do stop. The time in quarantine after your travels can be used to recharge and doesn’t have to be boring either.

Maybe it can help clear your head or reshape your focus on certain aspects of your life. Maybe you just like to relax, hibernate and sleep the time away? Whatever you choose I hope your hotel quarantine after travelling will be a pleasant experience for you.

Thanks for reading and if you enjoyed this post, you can always support my research through Buy Me A Coffee.

Till next time,

Carolin

Let’s get back on the road, shall we?

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