Away from the numbers

Italian corona-virus deaths rise by a record 475 in a single day. Not the best headline to read on my news feed the moment I start putting pen to paper for my next blog. It is said that in Italy, 7% of those that contract the virus will unfortunately make up those daily death figures. The highest ratio anywhere in the world. This figure comes exactly 7 days after Prime Minister Conte announced a country wide lockdown until at least 25 March. At the time, it was thought that the storm had hit and that the lockdown measures would allow the country to ride the bad weather until it passed by in time for a long hot Italian summer. The figure has jumped from 368 the previous day, and 250 for the day before that. One week into the lockdown measures and we are not seeing an improvement in the situation. It hasn't peaked yet in Italy, and the hospitals are feeling the full force.

It is easy to get bogged down in the numbers. It is a serious situation, filled with uncertainty and fear of the unknown. I'm not intent on spreading that fear, rather to comment on the situation as I have seen it. Away from the numbers, we are able to make the most of the situation that has affected us all.

My lockdown experience has largely been filled with positive vibes and creativity. I have created a new podcast named 'What's the worry', aimed to get first hand insights from friends around the globe, and to share some inspirational stories. The first episode features Sean Loughney, an Irish teacher who was in lockdown in China upon the outbreak of the first cases. Sean shared a fascinating story of his efforts to get out of the frying pan, and offered some valuable insight into the wet markets in Asia. Since the first episode, I have had a wealth of positive comments from friends, family and strangers. Many have appreciated the honest and raw experiences from the people that I have interviewed, in a world where we can never really trust what we are reading or hearing from the media.

I mentioned there that the episodes have been raw. You could use the same word to describe my tech setup. The podcasts have come directly from my Huawei phone. I use an app called Anchor, which allows me to connect directly with my guests, add in interludes and music, and to edit the audio where necessary. My first test run was recorded in my wardrobe to avoid unwanted sounds. Having identified that the makeshift audio room made me sound too robotic, I dropped the idea of calling the podcast 'Ryan, the witch and the wardrobe' and turned my attention to alternative recording studio spaces. The first episode with Sean was recorded under my bed sheets - to clarify, Sean wasn't with me but in his own house in Dublin! If I wasn't hot enough towards the end of the podcast, I was left red-faced when the live audio recording cut off forty-eight minutes in. Thankfully the app had auto-saved the insightful discussion.

Since then, the podcast has gone from strength to strength, with daily interviews conducted or scheduled with Italians, Spaniards, and Brits locked down in China, Costa Rica, Vietnam and back home. I have recycled my two king-sized mattresses to use as sounding boards when recording the audio (don't ask why I have two on the go).

If blogs and podcasts weren't enough, on Monday I was interviewed by a journalist from my hometown in Lincoln, which resulted in my mug being amongst headline news on the online website 'The Lincolnite'. My story was slightly dramatised, but at least it got my podcast some cheeky free advertising, as I had agreed with the journalist for my story to be shared so long as he provided a link to my podcast on Spotify. You gotta know how to play the game sometimes.

What the lockdown period does provide, is an opportunity to do those things that you often put off for being too busy. We talk of not having enough time to do certain activities, well now you've been gifted it. I have been in close contact with many friends and family during this period, all supporting each other. My family WhatsApp group chat has never reached banter levels as high as they did over the weekend. There are so many hysterical memes surfacing around, mainly to do with supermarket brawls, staying hygienic and creative alternatives to wiping once arse with bog roll.

Closer to home, I celebrated St Patricks Day with the girls in my apartment. Hayley made a fantastic Sunday Roast, and we have been catching up with some of our friends that left us last week. In true war-time spirit, I saved the carcass from the Sunday Roast chicken to make a juicy broth for my favourite Italian dish - tortellini in brodo. A perfect post run meal; carb loading on pasta, and re-hydrating with a meaty broth. The lockdown measures in my town are strict, but not as hard as in some areas of Italy. I am still able to run, and have covered around 75km in the last four days. Amazing really given that we cannot leave our own town area. I have had to settle for similar routes for every run, tactically avoiding the police checkpoints in case they fancied handing out one of their 200 euro fines for unjustified travel.

As the UK tightens its measures, and more friends and family go into self-isolation, I leave you with the inspiration to get creative - write that book, record that song, refurbish that shed roof. Oh and Dad, get that bloody hallway done!

[You can find my daily podcast on Spotify: What's the worry?

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