How have you adapted to the
changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?
Today’s writing prompt feels not very timely at all, but it’s very valuable to consider. Everyone reading this was part of history only a few years ago, a grim history that saw 7 million deaths, it’s reckoned. It is therefore something important that we keep the history alive with our testimonial. Covid was one of the main issues that shaped our age, without question.
Today’s piece is my own addition to this history
Background
In March 2020, my wife and I were in London to see some friends. It was the first time we’d get to see some of them since our wedding two years prior. It was to be the last we’d see some of them for a good while longer as international travel was about to get a major shock.
Oh, fun fact, my wife was pregnant at the time.
We returned home just as the initial stages of the lockdown were getting started. Both of us were going to be due to go into work the next day.
It was completely terrifying. My wife had to reveal her pregnancy to work a little early to make sure she’d be free. My tour guide group chat was going mad. All us were talking about how little we wanted to do free walking tours in what was essentially, in our mind, a new plague.
There we were, gripped with the idea with one or both of us, or the nascent life within her, could be in danger.
The limits of self-employment
I’ve written about my recent switch to marketing my own tours, but at that point in March 2020 I worked tours for a different marketing manager. He was based in Spain, and they were less impacted at that time. His stance was there was bookings so the person who was supposed to work them should work them.
That was me.
This was a very anxious time. We believed, as we had been told, that masks were ineffective. The virus was spread by contact, according to the health authorities. So no handshakes, avoid pressing buttons, wash your hands. Use hand sanitiser. Wash your hands a second time.
Later the authorities revised this to say it was all about masks and distance. Which is a shame because I miss the handshakes but they’ve never really come back.
Anyway, I was about to go in for my shift. It was the night before when someone in the group chat had the bright idea of emailing the official trade representative for our sector (the details escape me here), and the upshot is I was free.
No longer to work for a couple weeks.
What provisions were in place for guides during Covid?
As self-employed we were eligible for support. The government was supposed to take our taxable income from two years and average it out to figure out quarterly payments. As I had only been self-employed for the year I was ineligible at first.
This was profoundly distressing as my wife’s earnings were just enough to make me ineligible for unemployment support. So I was basically living on air.
But on the plus side I had no where to go. For a year essentially.
What did we do for fun?
Mostly we stayed in streaming an endless stream of content. I remember some adverts were trying to create some sort of mood for the moment but I never could quite figure out what they were going for. I don’t know if anything captured the moment well, though Bo Burnham’s Inside comedy special was probably the best.
Walks were allowed, though discouraged in general because even after it became obvious it was airborne and wide open public spaces were not a problem, it seems the authorities had a taste for control. I can sort of see why the conspiratorial felt the way they did. I despised every second of lockdown.
Pubs were shut except those with outside areas, which was how I learned Boteco do Brasil had a surprisingly decent Guinness pour.
Working as a tour guide during covid
Doing free walking tours would be considered insanity in even great economic headwinds to many people. I’ve explained it best here, but it still boggles minds. How did it work when international travel was dead?
The truth is, it barely worked at all. The tour company I was with cut the guide numbers substantially as many left Edinburgh to be with their families. The few of us that remained were doing tours with a maximum of 5 people for a while.
To give you an idea for how that small is, most tour companies would cancel tours with fewer than 6 people. My current policy is not to cancel and this is something I developed at this time.
I was taking individuals even because the way I saw it, a booking is a booking. I did massively cut a tour short when they helpfully told me up front they were definitely not going to pay, but still did the bare minimum required. I will never have a shorter Potter tour.
The limit expanded
Gradually, we were permitted to have larger groups. 10 people. Almost enough to make touring economically viable but the marketing fee began to have an impact.
There were still some intense rules. 2 metres distance between household groups, the guide was supposed to wear a face mask. Personally I went with a visor as I figured it was fulfilling the same purpose and some folks have enough issue with Scottish accents, let alone Scottish accents with covered mouths.
I worked on my diction a bit to ensure I could be heard. It feels I might have softened my accent too much. Some people accuse me of not sounding sufficiently Scottish on occasion.
It was around this time that the crowd control aspect of the job became so important. Sometimes I’ve been asked how a tour guide can possibly be heard by 30 people at once but like an illusionist, it all depends where your crowd is standing.
Picking out places where everyone could be adequately spaced was definitely a skill. Fortunately, so few of us were working at the time. Entire companies went bust because they had too much debt to their assets. Tour guides during Covid struggled but tour operators during Covid often went bust.
Cash (flow) is king
The main thing I learnt during Covid is that cash flow is the most important part of business. If you haven’t got a regular source of income you go bust.
Tour guides during Covid were most robust than tour operators because the operators flow depends on the guides paying marketing fees. Those marketing fees don’t come in with small groups in sufficiently for top heavy organisations to survive. Guides meanwhile were nimble.
Working during Covid meant I could sustain almost enough cash flow. With later help from family, and consistent earnings from my wife, I survived the financial hit, but the thing I learned is that in the absence of cash flow, you need a pot. I’ve been accruing lots ever since and it definitely helps life to have savings here and there.
One final top tip, though. If you ever get into investing with your pots, absolutely do not invest in weed, helium, or lasers.
The writer of this piece totally did invest in weed, helium and lasers.
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