A steady hum of suitcases rolling across tile floor, loud machinery moving heavy objects, and excited and hopeful travelers' voices fill my ears as a soft-tipped stick swirls around inside my nose and tears fill my eyes. My legs are already tired from walking from one end of the facility and back in search of a testing site, gawking at the inflated prices, and I can feel the exasperation building inside of me.
It's 2pm and we have 4 hours until our plane departs but already the trip is off to an inauspicious start. Upon arrival at our booked parking we had minutes to spare until the next shuttle arrived - or so we thought. We parked at the top of the garage per directions only to find out that no elevator existed to bring us back to the ground floor. I grabbed our luggage and we ran down the steps, around the dumpster, over the bridge and through the woods - toward the shuttle loading area where we awaited our chariot. We saved about $100 parking at a nearby hotel instead of at the airport, mind you, so this was all worth it.
After 15 minutes of waiting I went inside and asked the hotel concierge what time the shuttle would be here - the answer was that there had been a "bit of an accident" and they were working to get another arrangement. Thanks for the heads up. We called a Lyft.
After multiple drivers declined - I guess the ride was too short to lose their place in line for a bigger fare - we landed a driver and were on our way to the airport. Our vacation was under way!
I should start from the beginning, probably, to give you the bigger picture. Back in February, we were sitting around; it was winter - cold, dark, and we dreamt of warmer climates and days off of work. We were planning a wedding and the subsequent honeymoon. Due to the pandemic, flights were cheap. UK was high on our list and we decided that $400 non-stop round-trip tickets were extremely reasonable and also changeable if we couldn't go due to COVID.
Fast-forward six months. The UK is in sight; vacation time booked, hotels and rental cars secured, and bags packed. On a nightly basis we check each country's COVID requirements. We're "double-jabbed" and have recent negative tests as recently as two days prior to leaving which is plenty for all the countries we're going to.
Well, not quite.
Two days prior to our trip we went to CVS to get PCR tests which promised a 24-48 hour response. We went at 4pm on Tuesday. Our flight left at 6pm Thursday. We also took antigen tests the day of the trip as a backup. Meagan's PCR results came in at noon Thursday and her antigen test registered properly so she was good to go. My PCR test hadn't come in yet and my antigen test did NOT register properly. Sweet.
The twist - the monkey in the wrench - the jam in the traffic - is that we were supposed to fly to Dublin via New Jersey. Our original non-stop had a layover added. OK, fine. Then, at 4am the day of our flight the layover got changed from New Jersey to London. Which changed things because - even for a simple layover - London required testing while Dublin and New Jersey didn't.
Even though we had prepared and taken multiple tests when we didn't need to - we suddenly needed to - I didn't yet have official results.
So it's about 2pm after a tumultuous trip from the parking garage and learning that the airport testing site charged $250 for an instant result test. I truly believe the United Airlines customer service person could sense the desperation behind my N95. She asks, "What's goin' on?" with a bit of a southern charm that I was very familiar with being from the south. I responded, "I'm praying." A smile forms on her face behind her mask and she says "I like to pray. Come on, we'll do it together," and beckons me to her station.
She gets the full rundown of what has happened. She can see I have all of the paperwork filled, the requirements met, but I need a test result. I tell her I have one more testing kit in my bag but I don't want to use it unless necessary - but I can go over to the side and take it. She says that's what you'll have to do.
So there I am, in the middle of Dulles Airport - a massive rectangle hundreds of yards long, with thousands of people walking by, hauling their belongings, yammering into their phones, security officers walking by with drug-sniffing dogs and voices on the intercom directing people where to go, what to look for, and what to do. And I'm jamming a swab into my nose in the middle of a pandemic with wary eyes on me, setting a timer for 15 minutes, and hoping no one knocks my luggage over, rendering my test invalid.
Once the stick goes into the test kit it kind of looks like a lollipop. Finally,15 long minutes later I bring my lollipop back to my praying partner with one pink line indicating that I'm negative for COVID. I brought it a little too close and she moved backward, giving me a look that said "OK, OK, I get it."
She taps something into her computer.
She looks up and says, "Guess what?"
I said "What?"
She said, "You're going to London."
Two hours of exhaustion and exasperation flowed out of my body. I wanted to hug her but obviously I couldn't. So we excitedly thank our praying partner and head off through security and onward to our destination. And what a destination it was.
Travel can be exhausting, exasperating, and excruciating. But incredibly rewarding. We drove through the rolling hills of Ireland, counting sheep and stopping to see sights like staggering cliffs, centuries-old castles, and colorful cities alive with music and art.
In Scotland, we visited ancestral sites, hiked across meadows under misty rainbows, and awed at the starkness of the Highlands. We dined on fish and chips and tried new things like haggis (leftover sheep innards), black pudding, and developed a fondness for scotch and gin & tonics.
We went urban hiking in London, shopping at posh stores, visiting the Crown Jewels, meeting a massive Raven named Jubilee, riding the "Tube," sipping high tea with fancy finger foods, and seeing a show at Her Majesty's Theatre.
A huge thank-you goes out to those who are dealing with travelers and somehow putting a smile on your face behind your masks each day. I hope that they all have the opportunity to experience what we did on our trip. The opportunity to experience new cultures, ideas, and the beauty of the world is unforgettable.
Cheers!
Oh, and my CVS test results finally got texted to me at 4:52 pm on Thursday. Moral of the story: always have a backup plan!
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