May 16, 2020
Just the name Bermuda conjures up wonderful images of pink, sun soaked beaches, people milling about in Bermuda shorts, laying on warm sand and slinging back tropical drinks with exotic names like Lava Flow and Paradise. Bermuda is also a much coveted destination for expats. On the latest podcast chronicles, I interview Glenda Jack about life on the island, and what the current pandemic lockdown has been like from an expat in Bermuda point of view.
Expat In Bermuda Lockdown Life With Glenda
Where is Bermuda?
Bermuda is located in the North Atlantic ocean. Despite being a British territory, American influence can be found on this gorgeous island as well. Bermuda is not huge by any means, but did you know it actually consists of 181 islands, with the largest one being called the “Main Island”?. Most people probably know of the Bermuda Triangle, the place where planes, ships and people have supposedly disappeared into the vortex.
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Having been to Bermuda a few times, thanks to my best friend, a Bermudian citizen, I know what a wonderful place it is and it did not surprise me in the least that Glenda favours this tropical paradise to live and work in. This interview brought back some very nice memories for me, and reminds me that l am due for a another visit :-). It was interesting to find out that this was Glenda’s second stint as an expat in Bermuda, goes to show you how much she likes the island.
Some of the Bermuda expat podcast interview highlights:
- Weather in Bermuda (not always sunny as one would think), including the chilly season and being in the hurricane belt.
- What island she hails from originally.
- What other place she has been an expat in, and why she chose to return to Bermuda.
- How life is like on the island.
- Cost of Living in Bermuda, and booming organic farming industry.
- Her favourite of the three islands she has lived in.
- Life during the lockdown in Bermuda and how the government is trying to contain the coronavirus.
- What industries are popular for expats still working.
- Advice for wannabe expats in Bermuda.
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Listen to podcast Episode 7 with Glenda Jack, an expat in Bermuda:
You can find Glenda on her travel blog come with G and on the following platforms:
Other podcasts that might be of interest:
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Life in Valencia Lockdown Update:
Yeah! We had some good news yesterday. The entire region of Valencia is advancing to Phase 1 of the lockdown containment. We are leaving Barcelona and Madrid in the dust. Suck on that!!! :-). We move on, along with Malaga and Granada. Some of the things that will be allowed as of May 18 include:
- The ability to travel within the province, people who live together can now travel in the same vehicle, up to 9 people.
- Smaller shops can open at 30% capacity. Federico and l actually are looking forward to this. You may not know this, but most of us depend on the Chinese bazaars for common, everyday items, especially on Sundays. Things like stationery, measuring cups and tape etc. are just a hop and a skip away because there are so many of them.
- Street markets will return, at 25% surface area limit to begin with. The flea markets are very popular with locals. Think bedding, knick-knacks and jewelry.
- Bars and restaurants can open the terrace at 50% capacity. We’ve been watching policemen come to mark boundaries in front of little cafes on our street the past few days in preparation.
- Hotels can reopen, but common areas are still to be closed.
- Gyms can be opened by appointment only for training, and locker rooms closed for now. We likely won’t go back to the gym for a while, even after it is fully open. We’ll stick to our bikes and walking for the now.
You can find the rest of Phase 1 allowances on this page.
Air travel post coronavirus:
No one seems to know when air travel will resume in Spain. Guesses are anywhere from June to December. One thing that seems certain is a 14 day quarantine for anyone coming from countries outside the E.U. I’m not sure why anyone would want to put themselves through that considering how short vacation times are usually. Perhaps for residents and citizens currently away and coming back home.
Wizz Air, a low cost airline will be one of the first ones to resume flying between London, Spain and Portugal. Valencia airport is supposedly open for a minute number of daily flights (no flights show up though when l check online, so l assume they all get cancelled). International flights can only come through Barcelona or Madrid still. We don’t plan on going anywhere soon, so l have not been following that to be honest.
This new normal has been eye opening for me and the rest of the world. It’s like when you call the help desk and they tell you to reboot your computer as a last resort for fixing what ails it. The world is rebooting. I honestly can’t say it depresses me or makes me feel deprived. What it has curiously made me miss are the good old nights in Nigeria as a kid. The electricity would be off as usual, and all the kids would sit around telling stories while my mother would laugh her head off as it always centred on her, and how tough she was on us. Fun times.
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How is life in lockdown going in your part of the world? Are you enjoying the reboot, or are you definitely over it and long for the old normal?
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I really enjoyed this podcast. I’ve never been to Bermuda, but I’m open to going. I always thought I’d take a cruise there and get to visit NYC before and after, but that’s off the table now! When you live on the West Coast and want to visit an expensive island – that would be Hawaii! I’m looking forward to reading Glenda’s blog. She has more Covid-19 updates on her posts.
Always good to hear the updates where you’re living too on how Valencia and Spain are recovering from Covid-19. It sounds like you’re looking forward to some of those stores and markets reopening. I guess el rastro in Madrid is taking a big hit! That flea market had tens of thousands of visitors every Sunday.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Cheryl. I love Bermuda and l think you would definitely like it there. For sure you would get to ride horses as well as scooters so right up your alley. It was l think the first place l rode a scooter in before purchasing one of my own. My friend is also a scooter lady like you. Prefers it to cars.
Yes, I will be happy to shop at the bazaar again. It’s amazing how many little things you need during the day and of course, unlike the U.S, you can’t get most things at a pharmacy or grocery store. Oh yeah, Madrid without El Rastro is extremely different and l know the people are starting to protest not being allowed to go forward. They have the highest number of cases though, so l think the government will hold firm until things trend down consistently over there.
I’d ride a horse in Bermuda. Maybe even a scooter too! A few years ago Yahoo had a Travel section and their editors went to all these neat countries and wrote an article often accompanied with video. One editor went to Bermuda and crashed into a wall. I found a link to the crash but not to the actual Bermuda article. Just a fluff piece about riding your scooter safely. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/watch-i-crashed-my-moped-into-a-wall-rules-for-120612205814.html
Haha! I remember they only coached you for like five minutes before setting you on your way. Lots of chances to skid and crash, especially on wet roads :-).
Kemkem, thank you for another great Podcast and for introducing me to Glenda’s blog. Bermuda sounds gorgeous! I have visited Trinidad and Tobago a few times and love the Caribbean vibe, but I have never been to Bermuda, so it is now on the list. I am so glad Valencia has progressed so well on reducing the lockdown measures and you will be able to enjoy a lot more freedom of movement. Here we are also starting to move towards more freedom, but it is a slow and careful process. People are understandably, still very worried about the future.
You should definitely check out her blog. I had no idea it was her second time living on the island, definitely loves it, especially considering where she is from originally :-). I love Bermuda and the beaches really are incredible. Last time we stayed at my friend’s then empty rental unit that was steps away from a beach where the hotel had been closed so we had the whoooolllleeee stretch to ourselves. Incredible!
We will probably stay put for the first couple of days just to see how crazy people get. Hopefully it won’t be like the first day of being let out. I want to go to the Chinese grocery store to load up on things we can’t find at our supermarkets. I intend to keep up my cooking…haha. I hope the new freedom there still keeps people being responsible. Take care.
It looks like there’s no paradise when the virus strikes 🙂 And some “paradises” have worse weather than you picture it 🙂
Regarding the quarantine and self-isolation, it probably was the same all over the world: people were supposed to self-isolate, but they didn’t. It was the way it happened in Romania, with the government having to switch to setting up their own places for quarantine and I am sure it was the case of other countries. People are bad, haha!
Nope. No paradise whatsoever. Amazing how such a little thing can cause so much devastation. Hurricanes are no good when they come.
I guess you can’t blame the government for making decisions for people since they don’t do what they’re supposed to. I’m sure the centers are not half as comfortable as doing it at home. Then when idiots such as the guy in Hawaii decides to post his breaking the rules in Hawaii and get caught, then cries… you can definitely see why some people need this :-).
Bermuda has been on my list of places to visit for a long time and I enjoyed listening to Glenda talk about island life in her lovely paradise. (However, since I lived on Padre Island off the Texas coast for a decade, my enthusiasm for living on it during hurricane season was somewhat dampened!) I especially loved Glenda’s attitude towards life when she mentioned raising her hand and embracing opportunities as they come along. I had a good laugh when she talked about receiving so much zucchini from her friends as the summer joke in Montana and Idaho where I lived for several years was, “Roll up your car windows, it’s zucchini season!” So happy to hear that the stay-at-home orders in Valencia are being relaxed somewhat but I agree with you that moving slowly as our countries (Spain and Portugal) reopen and remaining cautious are the prudent way to go. Keep well and enjoy your bike rides and walks! P.S. I also had to visit our Chinese store when it reopened this week. YAY!!
Bermuda deserves to be on the bucket list for sure. It’s beautiful! I was not really surprised that she signed up to go back…haha! It is a bit of paradise. You had me laughing at the hurricane on Padre Island because sheesh… that hurricane Ike that we experienced shortly after moving to Houston is enough to last me a life time and l found it way scarier than the countless earthquakes in L.A. that l had experienced prior. Zucchini? I had no idea it grew that much in those two places, only potatoes :-).
I also think doing things slowly is the way to go. After all the staying at home for such a long time, I don’t want to repeat it. Haha! Amazing how many little things we need from the bazaar. Lightbulbs, nail clippers etc. etc.. the list goes on, and we are so happy to have them open up again. Yay indeed!!!