Hard Travelling:Adventure in the Covid Era

 

My bags are packed, my flight is booked and yet I am still not sure that I am going to be able to set off tomorrow in search of adventure.... Welcome to travel... COVID style!

Most people have chosen to staycate (is that a word?) and perhaps that is the most sensible option... but the crowds are not for me and therefore I am risking... say it quietly.. travel abroad. Now fraught with extra hazards and obstacles.. and that's all before my feet have even touched the airport!

So because of that, I am sitting on my sofa with all my bags ready to go, waiting for my PCR test to be confirmed as negative, fingers crossed.

To travel at the moment requires a degree of flexibility that many people find difficult when booking a holiday, but fortunately for me, I'm used to being flexible when it comes to travel. I book my hotels on the fly, I wild camp or turn up to campsites in the hope they will take pity on the bedraggled cyclist and squeeze me in. I book my flight and possibly my first night hotel, but thats it. And it works... especially in Covid era travel, where plans can change, swabs can be positive and suddenly rather than going on holiday, you now have to self isolate.

So I haven't had to invest that much money up front and both the flight and the hotel can be refunded or changed to a different date.

Picking where to go also has to be done sensibly.. it's a case of 'where CAN I go' not 'where do I WANT to go'.

Fortunately for me in this case, the 2 collided. Iceland is a green country and accepting fully vaccinated tourists with a negative PCR without quarantine either there or when I get back. Navigating the swabs, which swabs, when, how long before flying... was a complete nightmare especially when transiting through an amber country... does transit count as being IN that country... in normal times the answer would be no... in Covid times... errr I'm still not sure as it's hard to find info about transit. Either way, because I have had both vaccines, the rules are the same (at the moment).

I risk the designation of Iceland as a green country changing suddenly but having watched the numbers carefully, I think it's pretty safe.

Another reason why Iceland could be an excellent place to go is the fact that it won't be hot and sunny! Most people who have braved swabbing and the extra cost are chasing beach and summer sun... so there should be far less tourists than normal.

I have to ensure that I have all the relevant paperwork (or online QR codes) to prove I am vaccinated and Covid free, I have to ensure that I can take the correct test in Iceland before flying back, I have to book a day 2 test for when I come back and I have to ensure that I know how to do this before I leave. ... that is Covid travelling at its most complicated.

So is it worth the risk and the hassle??

For starters if I wasn't travelling by myself, the cost of just the swabs would start to make this a bad idea, but a couple of hundred extra to get away for 2.5 weeks isnt actually too bad.. annoying but doable especially as I am saving money by camping most nights in Iceland.

The hassle... well yes it's bad, but not insurmountable...

and the risk... well that's just life!

So hit subscribe at the top of this page and keep your fingers crossed that I swab negative and board the plane tomorrow evening. If I do get to go, I will be writing a blog daily as usual so that you can all follow along and experience the highs and lows of Going With the CraZy!