Travellers in a pandemic in Uruguay – Where are they now? (Part 1)

The coronavirus pandemic trapped them in a country they did not know, yet they adopted it as their refuge. Where are these travellers a year later?

By Karen A Higgs

El País Pandemic Series

Last updated on March 26, 2021

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Chris Roe: “I know in my bones, I’ll be back…”

When actor Chris Roe locked the door of his New York City apartment in December 2019 he never imagined that he would never see it again. Nor that his around-the-world trip would come to an abrupt halt in Uruguay where he would launch a new international career and make new life-long friendships.

Chris flew into Punta del Este on March 1 2020, after globetrotting to Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Australia and Rio for carnival. In Punta he launched a new business—coaching entrepreneurs for pitches and presentations in English—and then the pandemic broke.

Chris spent the first few months entirely alone. His only contact in Uruguay was a friend of a family friend in Montevideo who became his surrogate family over WhatsApp. That friend sent Chris a link to my pandemic piece. Chris felt the same gratitude and appreciation and he reached out to me.

After I interviewed Chris for El Pais he was contacted by entrepreneurs primarily in tech and became an ‘entrepreneur in residence’ at the LATU. His business has flourished and he’s met many people, and made some strong friendships. In his time in Uruguay he’s stayed in fifteen different apartments and on March 1 to mark his arrival exactly a year ago, he returned to the exact same Punta apartment to celebrate the full circle of his year in a pandemic in Uruguay.

After a year, Chris has decided to move on to warmer climes next month. As he can work anywhere in the world, he’s considering Mexico or Spain. However his friends are already counting on his return for a summer 2022 fiesta. “I’ve lived my Uruguayan fantasy that I didn’t know existed,” he laughed. “And I know in my bones, I’ll be back.”

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