Learning to Live Differently in Lockdown

I developed a novel approach, a form of ‘impressionistic research’, during the Covid-19 pandemic to enable non-contact data collection and its ethical dissemination. During daily lengthy walks, I added material observed and overheard to that gleaned from personal contacts, practising a form of rural flâneurie. To ensure anonymity for my direct, but limited, sources, I then created composite fictionalised stories that demonstrate human adaptation and resourcefulness throughout the life course. Incidental learning is evident in these stories imagined but also in my researcher narrative as I was finding a new way of working when social distancing proscribed biographical interviews. Thus, this article describes a methodological innovation alongside the snapshots of life in lockdown in England.