My husband and I quit our jobs, sold our house, and had just started traveling the world when the coronavirus pandemic struck. Here's how I'm rebuilding my life under quarantine.

We bought a one-way ticket to Paris arriving Feb. 16. The idea was to spend six weeks in southern France, taking things slow. We had all summer to tour the continent, there was no rush.

In those early days, the coronavirus was barely on my radar. I heard something about the outbreak in Italy, but we weren't planning to go to Italy. I didn't panic.

As March unraveled, the gravity of the situation broke over us. We decided to cut our trip short, first to early May, then April. When Italy went into lockdown, we bought a flight to the US leaving March 28, the last day of our first (and only) Airbnb rental.

But life still seemed normal in France. Cafes were bustling. The garden we walked to daily was filled with groups lounging in the sunshine. On Saturday, March 14, we visited Avignon, wandering the busy streets and castle walls of the famous provincial town. I feel guilty saying it now, but I had a wonderful day.

Apparently, France's prime minister had been out that day, too. He noticed how everyone was crowding the parks and markets with characteristic joie de vivre, as though a virus killing thousands of people wasn't running rampant. That night, he announced a lockdown. In minutes, I had an email from our airline. They had canceled our flight.

Things suddenly looked dire. Should we stay for an indefinite period with border closures imminent, or leave while we still could? We decided to leave.

At 11 p.m., we started packing and booking transportation for the journey home. It took 23 hours and three trains, two planes, a bus, and a shuttle before we crashed at our Orlando hotel early Monday morning.

Back in the States, we got another Airbnb; you have to live somewhere. I brushed up my LinkedIn profile and started applying to jobs — turns out, a lot of people are unemployed right now. I dearly regretted everything I'd gotten rid of and began restocking as frugally as I could.

I know this pandemic has destroyed a lot more than my travel dream. In many ways, I'm one of the lucky ones.

But I still think those Instagram quotes and travel-the-world tales need an asterisk. If you're daydreaming about ditching it all to travel, there's a chance it won't work out.

I worried about a lot of things while planning for our trip: that it would be too expensive, that there would be a gap on my resume, and that the airline would reject my luggage (which was six pounds overweight). I didn't worry about a global pandemic. In hindsight, my actual fears seem silly.

The truth is, the future was and is always uncertain. To hedge against risk, we stay flexible and build safety nets. And when that doesn't work, we adapt.

Now I have a new plan, not nearly as glamorous as my old one, but still worthwhile, I think — build a life in a new city, find meaningful work where I can contribute, and maybe buy another banana tree after all this blows over.

For now, I'll be keeping my bananas on the counter.