They had been going to this island for years. 

He was only supposed to be there for a week. 

Senior Robert Moore and his dad have been stuck in the Caribbean on the island of Curaçao since the first week of spring break in March. What was supposed to be a weeklong vacation turned into months of quarantining away from home.

“I heard about the virus before spring break briefly, but I hadn’t heard much about until the school sent out the email that said we had an extra week of spring break,” Robert said. “Then, the following email [said] that school was online for the rest of the year, which I received a few days before the island closed down.”

The Caribbean islands shut down because of the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases with all the tourism. With the island closing down before Robert and his father, Lynn Moore, could travel back home, they had to set up a temporary home to continue everyday lives such as work and school.

“My job opportunities have remained unchanged,” Lynn said. “I still run the same company I ran before COVID-19. The only thing that changed is the location I do it from and the amount of travel I do. This is the longest I have stayed in one place since I started my company 20 years ago, staying 3,219 nights in Marriotts in the last 14 years.”

With tourism at a virtual standstill, Moore has been able to experience Curaçao without having to explore around vacationers.

“I get to go Scuba Diving on the weekends,” Robert said. “One of the coolest things [about] being here was some of the experiences that we have had. For example, we went to Klein Curaçao, a small island off the coast of this island, where we went diving, and we were the only people on the island because there is no tourism here.”

Although Robert and Lynn are on the island, his mother, Michelle Moore, and younger brother are back home in Texas.

“My job has moved from full time in the office to full time at my home, since Robert is on an island I have taken over his room as my extra office space, much to his chagrin,”  Michelle said. “I [wish I] would have spent a little longer traveling with Robert during Christmas break, prior to covid, before he went to Curaçao where he would end up staying with his Father for nine months while I am in Texas.”

Along with school, work and exploring their current home, Robert and Lynn acquainted new people who live on the island to spend their free time with.

“At the beginning, I didn’t have a lot of friends my age, so I was slightly lonely, but the most unexpected thing for me to come out of this is the people I met and friends I made here,” sRobert  said. “I came here and I had a very small group of friends and I never expected to make this many friends here.”

With the islands reopening, Robert and Lynn have yet to decide what their next move will be when considering going back to Texas.

“Overall, the experience has been very positive for me,” Robert said. “I am very happy where I am and I am not in a big hurry to come home. There are certain things and luxuries I miss about being home, but [when] I consider it, many of these things I miss about being back home I would not be able to do anyways because of covid.”