Jeepney Press / Geraldine Limpo

Travel In The Time of Covid

Time was when a three-day weekend provided enough stimulus for us, Singaporeans, to book discounted travel tickets during the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) fairs. Our passport allowed entry into almost every country in the world without the requirement of visas. Scoring good deals for accommodations were a cinch given online platforms such as booking.com that allowed a traveler to select a place to stay within one’s budget and needs. Besides hotels, there were bed & breakfast venues, rooms for rent, apartments to co-share (and couch surfing for the real adventurers).

Checking-in took mere seconds online, and baggage drop at the check-in counters in Changi Airport was often quick because one could print out boarding passes and luggage tags at home. This left plenty of time to gleefully wade through the Duty-Free shops or enjoy a meal or snack in the various cafes after clearing immigrations and customs check. At the boarding gates, I simply ashed the passport photo page and boarding card.

Once I located my seat on the plane, I propped my cabin bag into the overhead luggage compartment, put on my earphones to listen to music previously saved on my playlist, switched my handphone to airplane mode, and closed my eyes.

No thanks to COVID-19, my travel rituals have changed. In November 2020 and April 2022, I could travel to Japan only with a single-entry business visa. This required my husband’s and Japanese business partner’s support and cooperation in preparing documents that were led at the Japan Embassy along Nassim Hill. Unlike travels made before the pandemic, our Japanese business partner had to rst apply for eligibility to invite a foreign guest. Written proof of this eligibility was one item in a dossier of documents submitted; another complicated paper itemized how each day is to be spent in meetings, trainings and what-not (the rules in November 2020 required the sponsoring Japanese company to always accompany their foreign visitor). Naturally, there were papers pertaining to each business entity too. Furthermore, there were notarized vaccination certi cates, application form for a single-entry visa, round trip air tickets to print out. And of course, a processing fee to pay. Furthermore, there was a PCR test to take 48 hours before departure date. This had to be booked online, paid for, taken with results picked up the next day. To make sure, I took a rapid antigen test hours before reporting to the clinic that administered the PCR test. There was no way that I was going to pay for a $136 test that I was going to fail!

Online check-in was no longer sufficient. I had to queue with all the other travelers at Changi on counters that demanded to see the government-notarized certificate of mRNA vaccinations and boosters. The Duty-Free shopping experience is no longer as fun now that most stores have closed, and those fragrance and skincare shops that remained opened no longer offered product testing before purchase. I also lost count of how many times I sanitized my hands upon entering each outlet. Because of this, a new must-have is a tube of a good hand cream to counter the drying effects of alcohol-based sanitizing liquids and gels.

After locating my seat on the plane, I wiped spaces around me that include arm rests, tray table and tv screen. Dining in economy class was never fun (it was, at best, decent on SQ); it is even less fun now. I’ve taken to packing my bag of snacks.

Arriving at KIX took at least an hour longer than pre-COVID times. There were apps to download for contact tracing, tables that checked my vaccination records and travel documents (many of these were staffed by non-English speaking personnel), a saliva test to queue up for (and a vial to fill up). Passengers had to wait for results before finally lining up for immigrations, picking up bags from the carousel and clearing customs. By the time I reached home in Kashihara, it was well over midnight.

All these precautionary measures are naturally understandable. Certainly, no one wants to contract the virus and be ill, or desire to spread the virus and feel burdened by one’s conscience. Nevertheless, travel budgets and rituals are changed. There are tests and visas to pay for, time set aside to understand travel demands for each destination (as rules for entry are different per country), beliefs to change (especially as vaccinations are now a prerequisite to travel).

Thankfully, there are a few perks about traveling that come with the pandemic. One is social distancing. The other is better hygiene from almost everyone. The third: half - or nearly empty flights (which mean anyone flying economy class can possibly have a full row to himself). The fourth: quick access to tourist sites and restaurants. Fifth: significantly better cleanliness in public facilities and a quiet, more enjoyable pace in tourist sites due to fewer visitors.

Singapore, like many other countries including the US and the UK, has opened her borders months ago for foreign travelers who are fully vaccinated. In addition, Singapore has lifted many regulations such as optional mask-wearing when outdoors unless in crowds and contact tracing. Some Japanese colleagues have mentioned that Japan will be easing travel regulations month-end. Do I see myself traveling as often as I did pre-COVID? Perhaps so but with a few changes.

First, I will select travel destinations based on medical preparedness. There are related websites and articles written for each country in the world. This selection also will involve the relative ease or complicatedness of travel. I refer to the list of requirements demanded for each country I wish to visit. Do I Second, I will accept that travel preparations need a heck of a lot more time. Just checking and re-checking travel documents cause a degree of anxiety. Printing our vaccine certificates and flight itineraries is reassuring in case there is no wi- connection when these documents are demanded.

Third, I must prepare for contingencies. Case in point: which local clinic do I go to in case I contract the virus? While travel insurance with medical coverage is de rigueur, locating a clinic that accommodates the medical concerns of a gaijin is quite challenging in Kashihara (Nara-ken) for example.

Fourth: I should remember that different people react differently to pandemic environments. Not all my friends will be comfortable to meet in large groups, or be with a foreign traveler, or take the public transport, or be in certain erstwhile popular venues. Note to self: inquire about how people feel about catching up, and not feel offended when they prefer a virtual meeting. Related to this point is observing how commercial establishments are coping with the challenging situation; this includes sanitizing hands when entering a shop (albeit applying hand cream right away) and putting on plastic gloves and wearing masks when taking food from bu et counters. In a nutshell, travel during the time of COVID inspires consideration for other people.

Will the travel situation return to how it was pre-COVID? We all wish so, don’t we?

Geraldine Limpo

Jeepney Press