Year off, phase two, step one: Chile

 

This week we booked one way tickets to Santiago, Chile, leaving next weekend!  We had needed some time to recover from the administrative effort of leaving France, travelling to England, and then on to Canada. It was a two-week period in December of shape shifting regulations, as governments desperately tried to make sense of the Omicron sized wrench in the works.  

As we emerged from the festive season, we began perusing the map of the world, and, rather than putting a pin in, we scoured the rules and regulations, looking for somewhere with the right mix of accesibility, covid safety, healthcare robustness, and, oh yes, desirability!  Our attention turned to Costa Rica, the gem of Central America, home of ocean coastlines, rainforests, volcanoes and mountains.  

But, as we did, our eyes also drifted south and memories of dreams of South America re-emerged.  Costa Rica is a year round destination, close as it is to the equator.  Southern Chile needs to be visited in their summer and rarely will we have that opportunity.  Added to its extraordinarily diverse natural wonder, Chile has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, a well developed economy, good healthcare and infrastructure, and is more political stable than many of its South American neighbours. 

For the historical record (feel free to skip this para if you have no interest in admin minutiae), here is how I spent the Tuesday after booking the flights.  We had already studied the covid requirements for Chile and we knew that PCR tests were going to be necessary before departure.  This was something we had wanted to avoid, mainly because of the very significant cost of getting them done in Canada.  But not reason enough to skip an entire country if all else is right.  Because we are connecting through the States we also need a negative test for that portion of the journey.  So, the rule for Chile is no more than 72 hrs before departure of our final flight (from Houston) to Santiago, and PCR only.  For the US it is one calendar day before departure from Ottawa and it can be a PCR or rapid antigen.  It really only makes sense to get one test and we think we have found a provider in Ottawa who will do a same day PCR as long as we get in before 10am.  Fingers crossed.  We also need to fill out the clunky US Attestation form as well as the Chile travellers affidavit (no more than 48hrs before that Houston departure).  But the first priority was to get our identity confirmed by the Chilean authorities who would then also certify our foreign vaccination record, and issue us the fabled Mobility Pass.  A lot of uploading, downloading and form filling later, we are now waiting only on Felicity's vaccines to be certified after several rejections to do with the file not being legible (even though it's in the exact same format as the other three!).  We will also need an onward ticket from Chile, and proof of our travel insurance on entry.  I really want to plan our trip, but these conditions are non negotiable and sadly will take as long as they take.

In more exciting news, we have booked an apartment in Santiago, next to a park and complete with a pool.  Should help with getting over the 24 hour journey.  After a week in Santiago we rent a car, drive two hours to the Pacific coast for a week, then fly to Puerto Natales in Patagonia for 10 days in the wild, back up to the Lake District and a car and ferry tour of Chiloe and northern Patagonia, before settling in Pucon, the outdoor activities hub of the region, for a few weeks. 

Beyond that we have nothing set in stone until June 29th when we take back our house.  The loose plan is the northern coast and the Atacama desert.  That will Chile, maybe 6-8 weeks total. Then perhaps Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, some or all of.  Or not.  We have a long list of things to do in Chile and we don't need to be in a rush.  This seems like an adventurous next phase, far from home, in a land where we don't speak the language.  Europe last year was a kind of soft landing, travelling for the first time since the pandemic struck, but within the comfort of familiar lands.  In many ways that gave us confidence to venture further afield, but lots of uncertainty remains.

We've been out of our house nearly seven months, with five to go.  We are halfway through our 14 months off work.  Midway reflections: I'm not resentful about covid. I think this is because almost everyone in the world has had their life affected by the disease.  Some have benefited, saving money, cutting out their hours-long commute, spending more time at home, exercising more.  These people, like us, are a priviliged minority.  Many have lost their jobs or been forced to work in dangerous conditions, bringing disease home to their families and vulnerable relatives. Healthcare workers have been thrown into something they never signed up for.  People have seen their life's work decimated as their businesses have collapsed.  And millions have lost their lives and their loved ones.  

All that does not mean that I don't sometimes wonder what a year of travelling would have been like pre-pandemic.  Of course we would never have appreciated the ease of movement.  You rarely notice the absence of a negative.  Imagine a world where you could just choose to go to Australia, buy a flight, show up.  

Nevertheless, this has undoubtedly been an adventure.  An adventure is a journey and journey is not a trip.  It's not linear or one dimensional.  It has difficulty and challenge and novelty, and you never can predict what you will love, what will frustrate you, and where you will end up.  Our adventure has been "travelling during a pandemic".  How we have navigated this new world has been the challenge and the novelty, and the things we have been able to do can be savoured all the more, appreciating that we still have these extraordinary opportunites despite everything.

Enough musing... we have bags to pack, places to move, admin to do.