A family adventure around the world on Zoom

Every now and then a Zoom experience can give you even more than what you might have achieved in real life, writes Holly Baxter

I recently bought my mum tickets to an Airbnb virtual experience travelling through the Everglades in Florida with a seasoned guide (Getty/iStock)

In early 2020, two of my friends moved out of New York to live in Bahrain. Having only recently made the jump across the pond myself, I was sad to see them go, but reasoned with myself that they’d be back soon. Sure, living on a desert island in a large villa with a pool sounded luxurious, but they’d be pining for NYC after a couple of months, with its amazing culture, its diversity of restaurants and bars, and its “centre-of-the-whole-world” feel. I nodded to myself as I thought this very foolish thought in January 2020, as I signed for a small studio apartment in a nice area of Brooklyn. Yes, I thought, they’d be begging to return. We’d probably see them home by Christmas.

Needless to say, my predictions didn’t come true. Today, I did a Zoom call with them as the last of the New York snow melted outside. They were bronzed and happy, laid out on a sofa the size of my apartment with their brand new pandemic baby. I searched for the regret in their eyes but reader, there was none.

One of the strangest parts of being in New York throughout the entire pandemic has been watching all of my friends and family’s lives change from afar. Some have gone through entire pregnancies and now have full-on crawling, gurgling babies now. Some have moved across the world with little fanfare, disappearing into the night on a half-empty plane to chase new jobs in Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Hong Kong or Singapore. Some have taken on huge DIY projects, buying homes out in the sticks and slowly redecorating them while they can work remotely; where once their Zoom background were small apartments or scattered wood and debris, now they are glorious converted warehouses or multi-storey cabins with lake views. Watching everything play out through a screen has made me feel both hyper-involved and like I’m watching a TV programme they’ll step out of any moment and yell, “I fooled you!”

Every now and then, though, a Zoom experience can give you even more than what you might have achieved in real life. Instead of flowers or chocolates for Mother’s Day, I recently bought my mum tickets to an Airbnb virtual experience travelling through the Everglades in Florida with a seasoned guide. What began with a couple of minor technological hitches soon became a classic family experience. My mother, an always-enthusiastic participant of any group activity, is infamous for having interrupted a well-known guide on a trip through India who was pointing out flora and fauna with, “I know this one! Is it a… Brazil nut?!” to which the guide would reply every five minutes, in a smiling but long-suffering way, “No, ma’am. This is a banana,” or, “No, ma’am. This is a baby elephant.”

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After getting herself settled on the Everglades Zoom call, Mum very quickly learned that she could participate in exactly the same way over her computer and across the ocean. As a biologist in Florida presented us videos of manatees, dolphins, alligators and pelicans, Mum would pipe up, “Is that a duck-billed platypus?” or, “Is that a slow worm?”

“No, ma’am,” the biologist replied, so American and so polite. “That’s an eel.” Or, “No, ma’am. That’s a palm tree.” My sister and I watched on, entranced by the confidence of the woman who gave us life to identify marine animals in a place she has never been. And all of a sudden, we were back in India 20 years ago, a family on an adventure filled with optimism and very little else. Sometimes, the pandemic gives you an unexpected gift.