Nook

Since the weekend I’ve been in this studio Airbnb, The Nook, which is a garage conversion. It’s warmer and brighter than you might think, and cleverly designed, but far too small to contemplate a prolonged period of isolation where cooking, sleeping, working, dressing, relaxing and panicking about the state of the world all take place in an area the size of a large car. Spending most of the week working here I quickly learnt the valuable lesson that when a national lockdown is looming, do not book somewhere based on its cutesiness, as you’ll climb the walls within hours.

I shipped out as my friend Heidi, who was a fellow trustee of the refugee support group when I lived in Cambridge, is marooned in her native Germany and needs a housesitter. The ability to spread into more than room is already a blessing. In this bizarre new world we’re getting very accustomed to appreciating simpler things. Space is the thing I am most grateful for today.