Traveling out of the Country During COVID Pandemic
It has been 11 months since our last vacation. 2020 had been physically & emotionally overwhelming for everyone. My husband & I desperately needed to get away, Re-Group, Re-Charge & Re-Connect. Collectively we lost 14 people to COVID & do not take our ...
Traveling out of the Country During COVID Pandemic
It has been 11 months since our last vacation. 2020 had been physically & emotionally overwhelming for everyone. My husband & I desperately needed to get away, Re-Group, Re-Charge & Re-Connect. Collectively we lost 14 people to COVID & do not take our decision to travel lightly. After getting pass the idea of walking through an airport & sitting on a plane for over 4 hours, we were finally ready to take the plunge.
We researched various countries to visit & narrowed it down to Barbados. Barbados is rated as one of the safest place to travel in 2020 during the pandemic. Amazingly enough, we have vested interests in Barbados. It is the country where my father-in-law was born & it is the country that I am exploring for various Real Estate ventures.
Prior to traveling to Barbados, we were required to have a nasopharyngeal COVID test 3 days prior to our travels. A nasopharyngeal test is more invasive form of the nose swab. Surprisingly, there were not a lot of facilities that conducted the nasopharyngeal test. Our primary care physician helped us to locate a nearby facility.
It literally felt as if the examiner touched my brain with the swab. It was more uncomfortable than painful. A month prior I had a COVID antibody test. I hate needles and I preferred the needle regimen for a blood test vs. the nasopharyngeal test.
A part of our travel precautions was to choose an airline that blocked off the middle seat on the airplane unless you are traveling with family. Family members can sit together. JetBlue was rated high in this area and they did not disappoint. Certainly the flight was a bit costly; however, it was a small price to pay for safety & comfort.
Upon arrival to Barbados, we were greeted at the airport by sanitizer stations all over. Our luggage was sanitized right on the tarmac immediately after we exited the plane. Our hands were sanitized every 10 feet (I’m exaggerating but it was very frequent).
After our COVID medical records were reviewed by a Nurse and we were instructed on our daily temperature check reporting that is required by Barbados Ministry of Health, we finally were cleared to leave the airport. The entire airport process took about 2 hours. Again, a small price to pay for safety and comfort.
Although we didn’t arrange transportation from the airport to our hotel, transportation was waiting for us. It was arranged by the hotel & the driver had specific instructions to take us directly to our hotel. We requested that he make a stop so we could enjoy our traditional fresh coconut water on the side of the road, but our driver refused stating that he had strict orders to bring us directly to our hotel without stops.
Upon arrival to our hotel, we were greeted by yet another hand sanitizer station. We were instructed to sanitize before we checked in. Check in was an easy process. We were orientated on the COVID quarantine rules of the hotel. We could not enter into restaurants, the beach or the gym until we received our negative COVID test post arrival. We were able to schedule an on premises COVID test for the very next morning.
The hotel cleaning staff would not enter our rooms until we received our negative COVID tests. Upon entering into our beautiful beach front suite, we realized that our microwave wasn’t working. Prior to the hotel staff entering our room, we received a phone call that we must be masked & to report to our balcony until the microwave is replaced. The same routine was employed for room service. The level of safety precautions was reassuring. In addition, we were informed that our room would not be cleaned by staff until our negative COVID test came back. In the morning, clean linen and towels were placed outside of our door.
The same precautions were taken throughout our entire visit on the island. There were hand sanitizer stations everywhere we visited. For 7 days, we were required to submit daily temperature checks both for morning and evening and everyone wore a mask. It’s this level of safety precautions that made our vacation more relaxing and enjoyable.