Travel during COVID
Finally, the COVID 19 vaccine had come out and travel was opening up again. We had been traveling around the United States because domestic travel didn’t require COVID testing but my anxiety of COVID testing kept me from booking international travel. We had planned to go to a wedding in 2020 in Mexico and unfortunately, due to the pandemic the couple had pushed it back. Finally, it was rescheduled and borders were open. At the time Mexico had rules that you could enter without a swab but the United States still required a swab to get back in. I was still a little apprehensive about traveling but also excited to get back at it. We had a wonderful trip to San Miguel de Allende for our friends’ wedding. At the end of our trip, we got swabbed at the airport the evening before our morning departure and stayed at a hotel at the airport for ease. It was so nerve-wracking waiting for the results. They were negative and we were home free. But once we got home, I was determined to get back to more international travel.
Planning to travel during COVID
Every country had different COVID policies and regulations. I scoured all the protocols in order to pick a place where it would be easy to get into. For some reason, I had a big fear of not being able to get in or to get trapped into quarantine unable to enjoy my vacation time. Though I was a little worried about returning to the USA as they still required a swab before returning, I wasn’t as worried about that. Maybe I was not too scared of having more time off work. Still people were getting back into travel so the flight prices were really good. I found some great deals to a bunch of places I had been wanting to go. One was to Tahiti. I couldn’t get over how reasonable the flight was but they had a crazy COVID policy where you had to get swabbed before your flight and then again in the airport when you landed. Now I know it would be highly unlikely to test negative and then 24 hours later test positive but I am just not that much of a gambling person. If anyone is going to take a 16 hour flight and then get trapped in quarantine, it would be me. So after much back and forth with Thomas, we decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to book that. Another place that had been high on my list for a while was the Azores. I found a great direct flight deal and meticulously checked their COVID policies and confirmed testing was not required for entry. I was sold. We booked the flights! As always, I started looking up all the things to do and where to stay and was getting so excited.
Getting sick with COVID
Then causality struck when both Thomas and I got COVID-19 and the end of May about 2.5 weeks before our trip. Being a physician, I knew the quarantine time was now 5 days up to 10 days if your symptoms were persistent and for entry back into the USA you could get a letter from your doctor stating you were recovered. We messaged the doctor after the required days to get the travel letter. Phew, I thought. Then I started looking again at the travel requirements for the Azores. Well, the country changed their policy and now anyone from the United States had to get a COVID swab prior to entry. Plus, they would not accept a letter of recovery. I knew that lots of people stay positive for some time after having COVID even if they were symptom free. I started to sweat. We called the airline to see if we could switch our flight to anywhere else on their airline. At this point, I was willing to go anywhere that took the letter or didn’t require testing but they said they could only do that if we tested positive for COVID within the 24 hours of our flight. So we just had to wait and hope we both tested negative. Just for kicks, I looked up Tahiti who had completely dropped any requirements for entry. I really was beside myself and upset we didn’t book that instead. I was so upset looking at it because the Azores would let people from all over the world, various African and Asian countries enter without being tested but the US had to test. The COVID policies were literally driving me nuts. We held off on booking things because we literally didn’t know if we were going to be able to go until we got our negative COVID tests the night before. It was so unnecessarily stressful and the rules and regulations were just so ridiculous.
We beat COVID
In the end, we were very lucky that our swabs were negative and we were able to go. Fortunately, we had a great trip to the Azores and jumped around the island. We planned the whole trip as we went, so we really got to cater the trip to the weather and where we wanted to go. Comically, while we there the United States dropped its requirement for COVID testing on return. We didn’t even need our doctor’s note letter of recovery after all that. At least we didn’t have to stress about getting home. All I have to say is, I am so glad the days of COVID swabbing in and out of the country are gone. It was truly a debacle and just unnecessary stress for what was supposed to be a relaxing birthday getaway. Now I just look back and laugh at the irony and comedy of it all.
