TRAVEL DURING COVID
Firstly, I knew it was going to be a little different traveling during a pandemic but I must confess I was not fully prepared for what was about to be the most rough start to a trip I’d ever had.
First thing I did was come to a decision on the destination. I went back and forth and back and forth. On my list were Zanzibar, Maldives, Fiji. Second, I looked up all the travel requirements for the country I had decided on. After that I looked up all the requirements to return to our country. Lastly, I watched the news everyday for two weeks to stay up to date on any changes in requirements, if any. I also checked the CDC website regularly. Search the country or city you’re traveling to here to monitor updates on your chosen destination.
Having felt like I had all the information I needed, I was confident about our trip. I booked our Covid testing 3 days before travel, I complied with the visiting countries requirements provided here if you’re interested in traveling to Male.
Once we got to the airport ticket counter at JFK, I was told that we had the wrong Covid test done. Mind you, I advised the techs that administered our Covid testing in Florida that it was for travel. The tech did an antigen test instead of a PCR test which is what is required for travel. So, here I am livid having wasted $125 per test and on top of that we could possibly not make our trip. Y’all, I felt so bad I wanted to cry. The agent at the counter was patient and calm as he knew I was upset when he advised all was not lost and there was one more option. However, we had to move quickly because they closed the ticket counter at 9:40am and it was already 8:53am. He directed us to the rapid PCR testing site in Terminal 1, while advising he wasn’t sure of the cost but the results would be ready in an 1hr or so. All I needed to hear was the “or so” lol. I was not prepared to give up, so we rushed over to Terminal 1, accessed by airtrain. We got to the testing site and thankfully there wasn’t a line… a few moments later I knew why. The test was $399 per person 🤯, Holy Hell! Anyway, we took the test because again, I was determined to make this trip. I chatted with the technician who was nice enough to put a “rush rush” on our test and he had it done in 30 mins…Thank the Gawds! So here we are flying through the airport trying our hardest to make it back to Terminal 4 before the ticket counter closed down. We made it with 3 minutes to spare!!!
Whew! That was close and now I’m tired. So, wine it is 😆. Check my upcoming blog post soon and see why, against all odds, we just had to make this trip. Until next time. Later readers.
Ronda