In 12 hours time I'll be setting off on my first trip abroad since covid hit the world. I'm beyond excited to be traveling again. Travel is a huge part of my life, and not having been able to get out of the country and explore the world has felt like a part of me has been missing over the past two years. Travel normally feels like second nature to me, but in a way this trip kind of feels like my first trip all over again. I've been packing, unpacking, then re-packing again. I'm second guessing my list, and feel like there are so many unknowns. I have all this anxiety, but for a whole new reason. Travel is no longer as straight forward as booking a flight, a hostel for the first night in country, then just showing up at the airport, winging it, and coming home whenever you feel like it. There are now so many restrictions and requirements that vary country-to-country, airline-to-airline, and they change on almost a daily basis. Travel now takes a freakin' doctorate and multiple pages of reference notes to navigate. Not to mention the fear of (God forbid) testing positive and either not being able to get on the flight out of Canada, or getting stuck in a far-away country until I test negative or 14 days have passed. It's been a nightmare to understand and coordinate all of these fears and obstacles. I've also had to change my dates and destination on multiple occasions. But despite the stress, everything is booked, the PCR results are in, and I'm packed and ready to go!
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The initial plan was to go to Greece, but then a hiking trip through Jordan seemed very appealing. Then due to a change in itinerary dates, another switch was made and a trek along the Quarry trail to Machu Picchu was on deck. But then the airlines reared their ugly head. Multiple booking attempts online, and through the app, failed. Finally, after numerous phone calls to at least three airline booking agents it became clear that Peru wasn't in the cards. Apparently, due to a falling out between sister airlines, there was now only one airline that flew into Cusco. And all of a sudden new restrictions that came into place "within the last few minutes" meant that they couldn't book flights until at least one week before the departure date. And on top of that, all the connecting flights went through the US, which meant a whole other time sensitive game around rapid tests and maintaining their validity long enough to make it through transit. I was on night shift while all of this was going down and my tired head was ready to explode. After a few more calls to move some things around and talking to a whole new batch of airlines, it was set.
We were Jordan bound!!
I've always wanted to go to Jordan. Ever since I saw the Jordan episode on "Departures" I've longed to explore the desert like Scott and Justin. I've always been captivated by the desert and the idea of walking through a sandstone maze to arrive at the elaborately hand-carved Treasury in Petra... or hiking through Wadi Rum... or floating in the Dead Sea. But my real-time inspiration came from seeing photos of my friend Erin who had just returned from her post-covid trip across the world. It stirred up all those long forgotten desires for the Middle East. Plus it looked incredible. After talking more to Erin, and Ruth (who used to live in Amman), it seemed like a no brainer. I mean, sure, it's winter there right now, and the desert heat isn't likely to be upon us, but it was sure to be a magical adventure... as long as we could get there.
The process of booking PCR tests was proving to be a challenge. I found it incredibly hard to navigate government websites. Most of the time the information was vague, at best, and definitely not helpful. So, more phone calls and hours spent searching online during my coffee breaks led us to the obvious: DynaLIFE and our actual airline. I guess that makes sense. When in doubt, go to the source. The airline is who knows what's up and ok's the tests and DynaLIFE is who actually processes the tests. So as long as you get the info right from the airline itself, and cut out the middle man by having the ones who actually process the tests be the ones that take them, things should be ok. We were feeling confident that this was the safest bet, so we booked our PCRs, timed within the exact 48 hour time frame, and could finally begin the countdown and start packing!
I dug my dusty backpack out of storage and got to work. Ok, well... maybe I didn't start packing right away, but I did make a packing list. Close enough. I had intended to start packing once my vacation started, but then decided to go on a last minute trip to Jasper instead. That's ok. First thing after that. But then I realized a night of wine and Emily in Paris was in order since it was one of the first nights in AGES that M had gone to bed and actually went to sleep before 9:00pm... even if it meant a night of no sleep. That's ok. First thing after our PCR tests.
To make sure we got our results back in time, well before we arrived at the airport, we scheduled our PCRs for 6:00am, nearly 48 hours before our first flight.
I was initially so confused about the timing of PCR tests. The 72 hour requirement seemed like I was being set up to fail. If your PCR is only valid for 72 hours, and you have to show your negative result to the airline to even get on the plane, that means that you need your result back before you get to the airport. And if that can take up to 48 hours, then that only leaves you with 24 hours to arrive at your destination country... but my flight was 26 hours! So really, it would have been impossible to achieve. But this is where airlines can actually be pretty helpful. WAY more helpful than government websites that don't even give you the link to the needed requirements. With just one phone call and a couple clicks, the needed requirements were laid out straight.
Here are the Cole's notes on timing for PCR tests: For Jordan, they have to be taken within 72 hours of your initial departure flight from Canada. So as long as you have a negative covid test that was taken within 72 hours from the time you first step on the plane in Edmonton, you're good to go! But for Canada, they require that your test was taken within 72 hours of your last direct flight in to Canada. It's a lot to keep straight, and that's just for two countries... who knows what the rest of the world does!! (Hence the pages of reference notes.)
After my early-morning testing was done, and a double shot cappuccino, I took advantage of M still being asleep to get started on my packing. But soon she was awake and next thing I knew, it somehow it took me 36 hours to finish packing. I definitely need to get back in to the swing of things... or maybe just get used to packing with a toddler flinging all my neatly laid out stuff around.
But even if it took me 36 hours to pack, and only 18 hours to get my PCR results back, at least my result was negative and I'm free to board that flight in 12 hours. Here I come world!! Can't wait to be living out of a backpack again, if only for 10 days....
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p.s.
My top advice to you regarding booking a trip in these crazy times:
The cost of a PCR test is pretty well the same, no matter where you go, or who you book through. Right now that costs sits around $150 CDN. There are no deals out there that I could find. So factor that in to your trip budget (and remember you'll have to do it on the way back as well).
I recommend booking your pre-departure PCR at the DynaLIFE Travel Clinic on Parson's Road. https://qme.dynalife.ca/travel/ We were told by multiple pharmacists that this is the best place to book, with some of the shortest turn-around times. Apparently it's the place where all the other tests funnel to for processing (ie. all the ones from Shopper's Drug Mart, etc), so it cuts out additional processing/travel time.
Government websites aren't super helpful. Call the airlines, or check out their websites. They seem to be loads more helpful, for testing requirements anyways. For example: https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-tr/announcements/coronavirus-outbreak/travel-restrictions/
"The Tinder Swindler" on Netflix is an excellent way to spend 2 hours procrastinating.
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