Uncertainty always creates doubt, and doubt creates fear. Oscar Munoz
How the pandemic has challenged us! All of us will have stories to tell, many of strife, some of happiness. For travellers, it has been a frustration as we stay rooted at home. There have been many stories about international travel during the pandemic with dos and don'ts. I thought I would share mine as a Canadian travelling abroad. What I realized, however, was that the pandemic was not the real deterrent to travelling... the uncertainty that it brought was.
Once I understood the process, and it took three of us holding hands for encouragement and support, it didn't seem that complicated. Here are some tips and tricks that I learned along the way.
Hire a travel agent for your trip. Our tour in Peru was already organized by Sowing Fire, but we had to book our flights to get there. With fewer routes and greater restrictions, it wasn't easy making our way there. Steve Lough at CWT Travel did a great job in ensuring a safe travel route with plenty of time for connections (Montreal-NYC-Lima-Cusco). As it was, on our way home, we were on Air Canada's first flight out of La Guardia, New York, since November 2020!
Make sure the names match on all your documentation. This seems like an obvious one, but it includes your covid test too. We had more than one identity crisis on this trip!
Make sure you fill out all the paperwork for both your destination and home country. Peru required an on-line form, as did Canada, detailing quarantine requirements. Luckily we had some help from our organizers to have everything ready before arriving at customs and we were able to fly through without any delays.
Book your international covid tests well in advance. In Canada, this was an easy process: there was an on-line request, followed by a phone call for booking the test. In Peru, we made it just in time considering labs closed at noon on Saturday for the rest of the weekend... and we travelled on a Monday. North American business hours are not necessarily the same elsewhere!
Read the fine-print carefully for airline requirements. LATAM (Peruvian Airline) required that we wear a 3-ply surgical mask and a face shield. These rules were enforced, and I was glad when a friend brought me a light-weight shield which was easy to wear during the 6-hour trip between NYC and Lima!
When arriving in Canada, choose a quarantine hotel that will only charge you your stay. Most charge 3 nights even though we are only required to stay until we get our results. We got tested at 5 pm and received all three tests by noon (I got mine by 2:00 am). Since I checked out the next morning of my arrival, Hilton Doubletree in Montreal only charged me the night which meant a considerable saving of over $800.
Smile. The people enforcing the rules were just as jostled as we were. It's easy to blame "government" or "corporations". Behind these faceless entities are people trying to do the best job they can. The receptionist at the quarantine hotel just about cried when I told her how welcomed I had felt in my big, fancy, clean room and how well I had eaten with my door-delivered meals. She had become used to criticisms, passive-aggressive comments and complaints - I know: I heard them in the lobby as I waited for my ride home with my friends.
The extra cost of the pandemic:
covid test in Canada: $200
covid test in Peru: $150
quarantine hotel (one night; three meals): $400
cab fare in the US: $200 - I'm counting this because without the pandemic, we could have travelled Montreal-Lima direct without transiting through the USA and changing airports in NYC.
wine, gummies and extra stress-relievers: an unnecessary amount
In case you're wondering: my stay at the quarantine hotel was great. With a king-sized bed, a big marble bathroom and three copious meals delivered at my door (there was a menu to choose from too), I was able to wash away the long hours of the trip and get an excellent night's sleep before leaving Montreal back to Ottawa.
