Last year, 2022, was well and truly a return of travel for me. The year featured both domestic and international trips. It was the first time in three years, that I’ve been overseas. Going on each of these trips, were a very different experience to what it used to be like pre-pandemic.

I haven’t yet had a dose of COVID. This is true at the time of writing this blog, and in New Zealand, airplanes, and travel were relatively super spreaders. Over the course of lockdowns, restrictions, and everything in between, there were always regions and areas that were heavily affected, and travelling to those regions meant, you’d be returning with the gift of COVID. Somehow, I managed to escape this each time.

Each time I embarked on these journeys, there was a voice in my head that kept questioning, whether after every sneeze, every cough or muscle ache, I had COVID, or if it just was an innocent coincidence. Local travel was more relaxed, despite restrictions. However, international travel, till about July came with some nooks and crannies, that added to the stress of travel.

At the time of my travels to Sydney in June 2022, Australia had an online arrival form that each passenger had to fill. This was separate to the ones you get on the plane. This was specific to COVID, and that you had to confirm that you’d test immediately after arriving into the country, and that if you did test positive you’d isolate. Before I returned to New Zealand, I had to do a test, no more than 24 hours before flying. By this point in time, the only place to get tested was the airport. As all of the pharmacies, had stopped testing for those travelling. Even though you have no symptoms, it can be stressful getting a test. Mainly because, your mind starts to calculate and look for responses, just in case luck isn’t on your side, and there are two lines on the test.  

Moving beyond COVID, the world has been facing a staffing shortage over the last couple of years. Whilst airlines are trying to get back on their feet, and bring back the same amount of flights to destinations there once was, a lot of it is becoming a hit and a miss. Delays, with missing connecting flights, baggage lost, not enough cabin crew to service a flight. On my trip to India, in December 2022, almost every single flight I was on, was delayed. This is not me complaining about delays, but rather shedding a light on reality. I know all airlines are fighting hard to go back to normal, and some are almost there.

Travelling in a post pandemic world, means, travelling during times of inflation. Flights are almost twice the cost. A single ticket, for us to fly to India and back was priced at $4k for economy. My trip to America in August 2022, would have cost me a total of $5000 including flights, had I had made it in pre COVID. Post COVID, it’s cost me nearly $11,000 for everything.

I don’t know what normal travel will be like in the coming months, but I hope we do achieve that. My feet are itchy, to leave footprints in other parts of the world.

Until next time,

MiliG