Monday, January 3, 2022

Traveling Amidst Omicron

We planned and booked our December holiday pre-omicron. Even up until a couple days before we were supposed to leave we still weren't even sure if we would be going. All of my time was spent researching rules, restrictions, etc. as we were planning to go to Switzerland, drive to Germany, and then fly to Turkey. That's why when it came to actually going I was a bit deer-in-the-headlights on what to do as I hadn't had a chance to research that hahaha.  





We had everything sorted for the trip - the Swiss covid pass, which was then converted to the European covid pass, PCR tests for all of us even though under 12 didn't need them. In hindsight we were so so fortunate. The only hiccup we had in all of our travels was Christmas Eve checking into the airport hotel. The girls needed an antigen test. I pushed where that policy was as I had not come across anything in all of the research I did and they apologized and said it was only in German on their local commune website. 🙄 Thankfully there was a place open in the airport that we could get it done quickly and get checked in for the evening before flying out on Christmas Day to Turkey (mostly because we know everything shuts down in Europe between Christmas and New Years). 





We did PCR tests before leaving Turkey (despite it being considered a Green country for Qatar) since it was unclear if we'd have needed to be there for a minimum amount of time (and both Switzerland and Germany were considered Red countries). No one asked us for it haha. We did another PCR upon arrival in Qatar and I was thankful we'd been smart enough to pre-book that at Sidra. 



Overall, I am so thankful that we went ahead with our trip as it was absolutely amazing and unbelievable wonderful! We took some precautions regarding covid, but overall just enjoyed our time without stress or worry. We had many friends who were not as fortunate (being stuck outside of Qatar or having to separate as a family) so we do not take it for granted.