A Day In The Life Of A Traveler During COVID
I keep making travel vlogs around the world but I thought it would be useful to talk you through a real day in my life during COVID times.
Travel is the one thing that I love the most about life. I’ve done it for a very long time and I do believe is the best way to understand cultures, speak languages and open your eyes. I’d like to think that money will return but time won’t, so I travel.
Before I forget, this is the video in case you prefer to watch a more complete version:
PART I: TRAVEL DURING COVID
Travel like any activity that involves coming into contact with other people from different households, is not risk-free even after full vaccination.
While no situation is risk free, there are actions we can take to protect ourselves and others around us when travelling and there’s plenty of documentation that we can read in the official government websites and health organisations.
Luckily in the UK and Europe we can travel again so all the recent videos you’ve watched here are because of it.
By the way, when I travel a post a lot of stories here, in case you want to connect.
PART II: ENGLAND
To leave the UK originally we needed to show a certificate of full vaccination, complete the passenger locator form in the destination country (Lithuania in this case) and few details here and there. No self-isolation was required for us when we originally travelled at the end of July 2021.
The requirements are not complicated but it’s really important to check the official government websites before you even decide to purchase your flight tickets.
The way back to the UK is a bit trickier. As Lithuania was an Amber country based on the UK’s traffic system and that meant we needed to do a COVID test (Antigen is enough and cheaper actually) to show at the airport in Lithuania and book a Day 2 COVID test in the UK (Homekit in our case), share the code in the Passenger Locator Form and so on.
In our case we paid £55 for each Day 2 PCR (if you’re not fully vaccinated you also need a Day 8 test) and then before heading back in Lithuania we paid €35 each for the Antigen test, although worth noting that if you want a PCR in Lithuania, you’d pay around €75-85 per person. That means that if you need 2 PCRs per person in the origin and destination, you’ll be paying €140-150 ($165-180).
Once again, it’s not complicated but COVID tests are required on the way back even though you might be fully vaccinated. This means not just more time but also more money. If you’re a couple, then you should think of an extra €300 for the tests… and if you have kids, over aged 10 then they’d still need the tests, at least in the UK as the time I write this article.
PART III: LITHUANIA
Once we were approaching 72 hours before heading back to England, we needed to book an appointment for the Antigen test. The UK government website would advice on COVID test but the reality is that it’s not mandatory in all locations, so the Antigen test is faster, cheaper and approved in many European countries.
We booked the appointment a bit of a last minute as at that point in time we were not sure it was actually required if fully vaccinated but it was. This is something required to board any flight back to the UK, so it doesn’t matter how many vaccines you have. The number of vaccines will drive the self-isolation as well as the “colour” of the country in the traffic system.
So our earliest appointment was at 6.00 am a day before heading back to London at Kaunas Airport. You can see the journey and what actually happened in this video.
After that we drove to Kaunas centre, we parked and then I worked all day pretty much on editing a video and filming as well. We had dinner at Arrivée Restaurant in Kaunas, Lithuania. A truly very special experience with the Chef Evaldas Juška, finalist of the Bake Off: The Professionals in 2019 in the UK for those who watch TV.
Kristina interviewed Evaldas a month earlier in London. You can see the video and the behind the scenes on her channel. At the time we speak, Kristina has almost 9,000 subscribers on YouTube, so definitely a star in the making.
There’s a lot more to cover about this Day in the Life of a Traveler during COVID but hopefully the video can complement it.
