The global shutdown has affected Switzerland in a major way: all land-locked borders are closed, so my trips have been on my bicycle, inline skates, and via zoom/whereby and other channels in a virtual sense. I did drive to Schaffhausen once (30 minutes away) and did some hikes in nearby hills as well.
Working Remotely
I still have been working remotely for several clients, thankful that revenue is still coming in. Should that change, the Swiss government has umbrella programs to buffer any shortage. And thankfully I have enough savings to ride out the storm.
A particularly enjoyable experience was giving a presentation remotely during the senior management meeting of Hitio, a Norwegian box club franchise now active in four countries and growing rapidly.
Over 40 webinars I have listened to, and shared the experiences of friends and colleagues around the globe. One of my favorites was the Fit Summit from Singapore, with over 1000 attendees
I conducted a survey of clubs in Germany and Austria on health clubs affected by the Corona lockdown, supported a great Club Intel global Covid19 club survey, have contributed to several articles in trade magazines (see my column in Health Club Management) and done some videos shared on some portals such as gymfactory.net .
Staying active in these times.
My daily walks along the Eulach tributary which runs next to the house, going past horses, goats and chickens, is a daily ritual, getting me to my 10.000 step target most days. The tennis season thankfully begins on May 11th, the same day health clubs will reopen here. I have been practicing against the tennis backboard to get ready. Sprucing up the garden is another task that kept me active.
Highlights of my day including eating delicious food. The asparagus season is going on now, both white and green varieties are in plentiful supply, we get them directly from a nearby farmer.
Connecting with family and friends from around the world by phone, Skype or other channels has been an adequate, short term replacement for physical travel. I am hopeful that travel restrictions will be lifted later in May, so that I can again venture outside of Winterthur, this paradise that has been my home for over six years – a town of 120.000 people 20 minutes from Zurich (but only 12 minutes by train to the airport).
A shout out to all medical staff helping Covid19 patients. Yes, I know some people who have tested positive, even one death of a friend’s mother to the virus. This helps put things in perspective for me – health is wealth. May you all be taking appropriate precautions, see/hear from you again soon as economies slowly open and hopefully return to normal as fast as possible.
Till next time!
Hans