While every winter since 2020 has brought waves of COVID, this winter was looking bright. So, speaking for many Indian travelers who stayed indoors, followed COVID appropriate rules, wore masks, took their booster doses- for some, almost a year back- went ahead to make plans for a short holiday. Abroad.
Days of planning, months in advance, saving and budgeting stays wherever possible, applying for leaves at work, rethinking plans seeing the flight costs, still booking with even more cost to allow flexibility, and to be able to apply for Visa, gathering paperwork for the Visa, Visa will get approved or not fears, are some of the few things that’ll ate one’s head till the date of the journey.
Then of course, COVID graphs HAD to start increasing across all places. News outlets made sure, what peaks weren’t looked at twice mid-August for a certain country (not China), were in the spotlight, along with Christmas and New Year news.
While the fearful feeling was mutual back in 2020, when folks were returning from various nations, and spreading the COVID in cities by just being careless, like when they got the seasonal flu, this time it wasn’t the same feeling.
Vaccines were either enough, or not, I can’t say, but many took the shots. Many gave up after 2nd, and didn’t bother with the third. Some got the COVID after getting the vaccinations, we say it wasn’t severe because the vaccine was present.
Whatever the case, COVID severity reduced over time, normal life resumed. Masks off, sneezing coughing as usual, etc. Even if COVID was in circulation, who would know, not all get tested for cold symptoms. And from experience, COVID RT PCR test doesn’t detect the viral load at the beginning of the infection. So negative RT PCR result is very much possible.
It could be normal cold. What’s wrong in spreading that right? School kids, folks in offices, any closed spaces- easily get some infected. It then spreads. Societies have many homes coughing. They recover. Life goes on.
So yes, coming back to travel plans and the feeling not being mutual.
This time it was us making the trip. And returning and scaring fellow Indians.
Since cases are clearly increasing across various countries, should the trip be cancelled? Even with flexible booking cost, IT IS NOT CHEAP TO CANCEL, monetary and mental health wise!
So while sticking to the original plan, our own country too stuck to the original plan- perform COVID RT-PCR test for people returning from high risk nations before the board the flight.
So, we know Aarogya Setu, COWIN, etc helped us get vaccine. Nearby hospital will come and take sample, and get the RT PCR report ready in a day. All this doesn’t happen outside India.
Different country, different rules. Different language. Not a touristy location. Where is the testing center? Anything in English is at a much much much higher cost. If you are a tourist especially and not a resident.
And if an itinerary is made already, to get a test done at one location, and to be in the same place may or may not have been in the original plan. Then there is also the gap between the test date and flight travel date, since only up to 72 hours prior RT PCR negative report is only going to be approved.
People will say, like they categorize all abroad travelers into super wealthy billionaires- it isn’t hard to get the test done, it must be cheap for you if you can afford a trip abroad, etc.
While more than a billion lives are at stake, thanks to international travelers, and since it cannot be stopped, owing to some of the hard hit sectors, and many other reasons, a provision to do the test on the returning passengers in India itself would cost so much less for the Indian travelers. And it would serve the purpose of containing the spread by knowing the test result ,for sure, in our own country itself.
Some countries it costs Rs. 16000-30000 /- for a single person’s RT-PCR test. Many travel as a family, it would cost so much more. Whereas in India it is ~Rs. 1000/-. We would get to be home. Isolate at home. We speak as folks who have listened to all advices given during pandemic.
Please don’t treat such a tourist as a monster for wanting to travel, something a million others are doing across the world, within our country, where the virus is already present, in which all mutations, we entirely cannot know.
Else, like the title of this topic says, International Holiday for Indians on Tight Budget Becomes Costly in 2023.
PS- It is an opinion. Please respect freedom of speech, and don’t use the excuse to retort with vile and foul language. Have a nice year ahead.