Travel Anxiety

Ted. Yep, that is a real term! Per WebMD; “Travel anxiety is the fear of visiting an unfamiliar place. It can also involve the stress that comes with planning your travels.” Well, that second part certainly describes our last week. 

We had a blast in Olympia, Washington where our long time friends, Terry and Sue welcomed us into their new home. The weather couldn’t have been better – cool and sunny. We saw Mt Rainier every day. After explaining the details of the repositioning cruise we have planned for November, they decided to join us, so now we will able to continue our walks and chats in the middle of the Atlantic.

From Washington, we flew to Denver for a Colorado Rendezvous. Our kids and grandkids flew out and we have a few days of joyful laughter with my 91-year-old father, my two sisters, Kathy and Cindy, their husbands, niece, Jenny and her family. We even found time for a long overdue dinner with longtime friends Rick and Margot. 

Looming over our heads, though, were the last minute requirements for our flight to London, which was the jumping off point for our visit to Europe. 72 hours prior to departure, we had to pass a covid test. With variants raging across the US and lots of vaccinated folks getting asymptomatic cases, we were concerned that we might test positive, even though we felt fine. Judy cried when we got the news that we had passed. 

48 hours prior to departure, we also needed to complete a UK government passenger locator form. Sitting in our Denver hotel, I really thought I had blown it. The UK requires a quarantine period for vaccinated visitors with a retest after two days. We needed a confirmed appointment for that test to complete the form. However, we were only staying in the UK for 24 hours! After wading through the UK government documents for two hours, I finally found our loophole. We were “landside transiters” and thus exempt from the quarantine requirements. When I got our completed forms back with the magic QR code, I nearly cried myself! 

Of course, we still had the flight and immigration control in London. British Airways had complicated matters by cancelling our nonstop flight to Heathrow and rebooking us on an American Airlines flight to Chicago, from where they promised we would get London. I hate O’Hare airport and it didn’t disappoint, so we were relieved when we were finally airborne. On deplaning, the stress continued. Would we get stopped at the border for an illegal use of exemption status and slapped in a quarantine gulag? 

Alas, we sailed through thanks to the new passport scanners in place and couldn’t believe how fast we found ourselves in downtown London. We still need to get onto the Eurostar train to Paris and there are more borders to cross in the coming weeks but at least, after three years, we find ourselves back in Europe. Thanks to God and technology, our travel anxiety has subsided. It is 8:30 in the morning here in London and Judy is still sleeping like a baby.