8 Advice from My Personal COVID-19 Experience while Traveling

I went to visit a European country during COVID-19’s second wave for a few days. Two days before my trip back to my country of residence, I did a Corona nasopharyngeal swab testing knowing that my country asks for a 72 hours negative test before entering. Before and during my stay, I was very healthy, I didn’t have any symptoms, and my temperature was 36,6°C. After 12 hours of the test, I opened my email and I found the result. With total confidence to have a negative test result, I read the following sentence: “POSITIVE FINDINGS, there is a relevant risk of infection for contact persons”. I was shocked and I couldn’t believe how could I have a coronavirus and I wasn’t sick. I was in a foreign country and I didn’t know where to go and what to do, and I didn’t have enough money to isolate myself in a hotel. It was a total panic for me, I didn’t know what to tell my mother when she calls me, I was thinking very hard of her and I didn’t want her to know about it.

After checking with my doctor, I understood that the viral load of the virus in my body is very very low, and I am not considering a high risk to infect other people. So I called a person from my family who is living there, and she was very happy to host me during my quarantine. We took all our precautions and our distance (I took a floor in her house), and she was a great host. In the meantime, I was thinking about what to do with my Schengen visa that will expire in a few days. I called the responsible and authorities and my embassy, and no one responded to my phone calls, the emails were not clear at all and no one gave me a solution to my situation in case the result will stay positive and my visa expires. The panic came back to me, and I didn’t want to stay illegally in that country. My mother kept asking me about the reason why I didn’t come back home yet, and I was lying to her every time she asks.

On my 16th day, I did my third test and it is FINALLY negative. I was so happy and I booked the first ticket to go back home, and hopefully, all went well and I went home without facing any problem. The only thing I missed after going back home is my family host who took care of me.

I had the chance to find someone from my family there, some close friends, and my amazing sister who supported me a lot, who asked daily about my health, and who asked to support me financially. I am grateful to have such amazing people in my life.

What I want to share is, travel is not as easy as before. You have to think very well before packing your luggage and It is important to take with you enough money in case your test is positive so you can be safe. Here is some advice from my personal experience before traveling:

1. Do some research: a) You have to be very well informed about the health sector of that country, where to go, and who to ask. Note all the numbers of the health centers and their addresses. Learn about how much does the test or the medical intervention cost (there are some countries where the tests are free for tourists). b) Learn about the country’s administration (if they are responsive by phone or emails, or you have to go there and knock on their doors), and learn about your embassy/consulate in the country that you will visit and know how to connect with them in any case (in my case, the only way to connect with my consulate was Facebook!). c) Ask about the requirements to enter back to your country of residence (if your country needs a negative corona test if you need to spend the quarantine in a hotel, etc.). d) Follow the news of airports, flights of your country and the country that you will travel to, and any other news. This is an unusual situation and you will need to be well informed.
2. Keep in touch with your doctor on WhatsApp so you can directly ask him/her if you have any symptoms or if you have any health questions.
3. Put always in mind that you can be tested positive or negative with coronavirus and have a plan for the two scenarios. You can say “I am healthy, I don’t have Coronavirus” but put in mind that you can be like me and like more than 50% of the asymptomatic people. Don’t say “ I took all the precautions, nothing will happen”, because I was very careful and I took all the precautions, but I’ve got it.
4. Take enough money with you, even more than enough.
5. Join Facebook groups of the travelers’ community to the country that you will visit or a community of people who lives there. So you can always post and ask if you have any questions.
6. Don’t Panic if the result is “Positive”. We will all get the coronavirus. It is important to keep positive energy and a good mood and be surrounded by your beloved people and talk daily with them.
7. If you need a visa to enter any country, count at least 1 month before it expires when you travel.
8. If you will be hosted by a friend, family, your boyfriend, or girlfriend, take all the precautions and distance and try to clean always after you with disinfectant. You have to protect your beloved ones.

This article is for people that can be in the same situation that I. The 16 days weren’t easy for me, but It was an experience of life and full of adventures.

Stay safe, and this pandemic will soon or later pass and we will be back to our normal and beautiful life. Soon we will meet our beloved one who lives far from us and we will be together and hug each other and share a lot of stories.