During the past year/year and a half travelling has changed a lot due to the arrival of the corona virus. Some countries do not allow to travel to certain countries or to travel at all, others just advise their habitants to not travel to certain area’s or countries. Also many countries have set new rules for tourists entering the countries, such as a PCR test upon arrival or quarantine at arrival. I managed to still travel quite a bit. In this blog I will share my experiences with travelling and taking PCR tests.
So many people think you cannot have a nice holiday if you have to follow the measurements of the countries and fill in forms. Personally, I have not found this a reason to not travel, for example if you go to Greece, you have to fill in a PLC form. A PLC form is easier than trying to get a visa for a foreign country. The trickier part is the PCR test, which needs to be taken in a certain period before departure. Often it needs to be taken 72 or 48 hours before departure.
PCR test
My tips when you need to take a pcr test :
1. Research the companies that do this, do they have good reviews ? When will they give you the result ? Some are more expensive than others 95 vs 125. Last time to Curacao I took the more expensive one as I would have the result within the same day as the test was taken. So I took it on a Friday morning (50h before departure, 72 was allowed) and I received my result on Friday afternoon, while my flight would depart on Sunday morning 11.30 am. Which was amazing for my own peace of mind. Even if the test would be invalid or if it would have a delay we would have it on time.
2. Do not plan the test at the edge of the amount of hours it can be old or young. Try takin git somewhere in the middle so you have a bit of clearance
The first time I took my test at the travel clinic in Rotterdam, we received our test the next day. However, it is in the middle of the city so it is a bit more complex when parking and the client service does not work, so IF something is wrong with your test it is harder to reach them.
The second time I took a test was last March when we were about to go to Curacao. I then took my test at Corona Sneltestcentrum Barendrecht. If you took a PCR test before 12pm, you would receive the result the same day. I really liked this for my own peace of mind. And as said earlier, I took my test at 50h before departure on a Friday. And thus if Friday afternoon I heard that the test was invalid, I could test again on Saturday.
Measurements at location
I have not been bothered by the measurements on location. Within this covid period i visited France, Santorini (Greece) and Curacao. All the countries demanded to wear a mouth mask inside. In France outdoor events were allowed (such as concerts) and at Santorini and Curacao everything was possible except parties. On Curacao we had a curfew that started at 21pm. First we were bummed, but we did so much during the day that it did not bother us, we even had dinner a couple of times and we did not have to rush.
I hope this blog has helped you with the measurements for travelling with corona. If you are still looking for additional tips or have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask!