We had to stay at home to do that. Literally stuck in our homes - and overseas travelling for pleasure was firmly off the menu.
It's fair to say our lives have been ruled by this virus.
Unsurprisingly, according to Tourism New Zealand, February 2020 saw more than 370,000 international visitors, plunging to fewer than 2000 just a few months later in April, essentially stopping tourism, both incoming and outgoing.
Not to mention migration, skilled and seasonal workers, affecting not just our tourism industry.
We're in a pretty privileged position at the moment. Our isolation has given us the benefit of observation from afar.
We can watch what's happening in other countries, adopt, adapt and my favourite buzzword from 2020 - pivot. In my view, we have been able to keep safe because of our sacrifices.
When lockdown lifted in 2020, we were asked to go local - support our tourism industry that was starved of its bread and butter, international visitors.
We did that, we supported the regions - we couldn't go anywhere else.
Now we have been given a light at the end of the tunnel - our local tourism operators who have been hanging on by a thread at least have a date they can plan for.
Managed isolation and quarantine is being phased out, with the Government requiring 10 days of self-isolation with that number dropping to seven.
With the limited number of spots available in MIQ and the heartbreak this has caused, this is a good thing, however we are relying heavily on the goodwill of people to stick to the rules and self-isolate when required.
But October 2022 is the magic date when we can finally air-kiss goodbye managed isolation and quarantine for vaccinated travellers, and say hello to the rest of the world.
It's time to restore the balance - as intrepid Kiwis head off overseas to reconnect with the world, those back home can welcome visitors here.
In the meantime, I'm dreaming about where in the world my itchy feet can take me.
