Traveling During Omicron
My daughter and her boyfriend just spent the past twenty-four hours on an odyssey trying to get home to Canada to see me for the first time in two years. To say this was challenging during the raging Omicron outbreak is an understatement.
First, they had to spend $520 US to purchase six test kits, two at the airport the day before they left and four box kits to get back, in case they needed a spare because of flight delays. Then they got their negative results and headed to the airport.
Their first flight was delayed by an hour, which meant that they would miss their connecting flight to Vancouver. So began our panicked online quest to find alternate flights. With so many flights being canceled due sick staff, we knew it would be risky to have any more connections before entering Canada. Within that same day, the availability was minimal. They didn’t want their test results to expire before they got to the border, so they decided to fly to Seattle and rent a car to drive across the border.
They got to Seattle close to midnight and drove into the night, with light snow showers threatening. They found out that they could not leave the rental car at Vancouver airport; it had to be left in the US. So, they left it in Bellingham and took an expensive Lyft ride to the border and walk across in the snow. Thankfully they got no hassles as they walked across because all their paperwork had been correctly loaded into the ArriveCan app. They are young so technology is their friend. Then they had to get another expensive taxi from the border to the ferry terminal.
They boarded the ferry to Vancouver Island and got themselves the best cup of coffee and chocolate croissant and tried and stay awake after twenty-four hours of traveling. She showed her American boyfriend the sunrise from the deck and the Gulf Islands passing by. Then they dozed off for the rest of the sailing.
So, if you’re thinking of traveling right now, please be advised that it is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared for plan B and plan C. Allow yourself extra time and extra testing kits. Plan to spend extra money that you didn’t budget for. I am crossing my fingers hard that they make their flights back home without any hassles. Now I can begin trying to process the refund and/or credit vouchers for the flights that they missed. Oh, what fun!
