Coming Home During a Pandemic

When I moved to the UK in February 2019 I felt a mix of emotions. Nerves, excitement, but most of all lucky to get to experience this amazing opportunity. I had big plans for my year abroad. I was going to base myself in Edinburgh, from there I would jet off to cities like Amsterdam for the weekend or retreat into the Highlands to relax. But, like always, life has a way of getting in the way. I got caught up in work and my day to day routine. Before I knew it I was six months in and had barely left Edinburgh. A year just was not enough. I met my boyfriend around this time and staying the full duration of my working holiday just made sense. With me still stressing about not having travelled enough we quickly started making plans to travel Europe together. 

I do consider myself to be a fairly lucky person, especially in comparison to a lot of other people in my situation. I had had the opportunity to fly home and surprise my family for Christmas in 2019. I remember arriving back in Edinburgh in time to celebrate the world famous Hogmanay just as the first whispers of COVID were starting. As February rolled around I celebrated the end of my first year abroad and looked forward to what the next year would hold. We were going to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, and my sister was coming to visit in April. My boyfriend was going to graduate in June, finishing his Masters Degree, and to celebrate we were going to set out on a three week trip across Europe. COVID just seemed so far off. 

The Start of a Pandemic

At the beginning of March I was working as a manager at a bagel shop in Edinburgh’s West End. As COVID became more of a threat, businesses and offices around us slowly began to close and transition to working from home. We were still busy as ever though. The number of people coming in and telling us that they were meant to be at home in quarantine due to possible exposure was shocking. By mid March the UK went into their first lockdown. Many hospitality venues made the decision to close until the government was able to issue more information on who could stay open and at what capacity. My work was no exception to this. Panic began to spread through everyone in the hospitality sector. I looked at all my friends in the hospitality industry back in Vancouver who were being laid off due to reduced hours. We feared we’d go the same way. 

The Canadian government soon was telling Canadians abroad to make arrangements to come home. I called home, unsure of what to do. It’s not easy to just drop everything, pack up and leave. Yes my home is in Canada but for the last two years my life has been in Scotland. I’d just started my amazing new job as a manager a month prior, it paid decently and gave me great experience, I had the lease on my flat to worry about, and my boyfriend would need to stay in Scotland until he could get a visa to come to Canada. After a lot of thought and contemplation my family and I decided I would stay in Scotland. We felt the best option for me was to not add to the panic and rush of people coming home. We thought I could safely wait it out here until my visa was up. Or so we thought. 

It Takes a Community

A year ago I never thought we’d be where we are. I don’t think anyone really did. Everyone in my circle at least, felt confident that with pretty much the whole world on lockdown and if everyone followed the rules, within the year we could be heading back to normalcy. We ensured we followed the rules to a T. We looked forward to being able to see friends again and travel locally. For a bit it actually happened. Unfortunately though, as only one person my actions only go so far. I know I can keep those around me safe. When I make my weekly trip to the grocery store though, I know not everyone has the same mindset as me. This is evidenced by the people in line behind me at the grocery store literally breathing down my neck. And we see it all over the news. A wedding in London with 400 guests being broken up by police, people transforming their penthouses in Vancouver into nightclubs and right down to everyone who headed south seeking the sun in the winter despite governments telling them to stay home. We are taught in kindergarten that our actions have consequences for those around us, this really is the perfect example of that. 

Getting Home

I purchased my ticket home in December and began making my preparations to head home March 1. The first change came when the Canadian government announced all passengers arriving via air travel need to present a negative PCR test at the time of boarding. A decision that came far too late in my opinion; but, better late then never I suppose. It can’t be an easy time to be a leader of a nation right now. When it comes to introducing new COVID restrictions it’s really a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation. No matter what decision you make people aren’t going to be happy but I recognize that most leaders are trying their best. The National Health Services are not offering tests to anyone who isn’t presenting with symptoms so this meant I would need to seek testing from a private company. My initial Google search turned up results for two private companies in my area with each test coming in at 250£. Somewhere deep on the consulate website I managed to find a list of suggested private testing facilities where I learned that Boots pharmacies offer testing for 120£. A far more reasonable price and a price I’m willing to pay to get home. 

I soon realized that the price of tests was going to be the least of my concerns. As of right now, Canada is implementing the new mandatory hotel quarantine and one of my only routes home is via Amsterdam. The EU has temporarily banned all incoming travel from the UK. The ban is set to lift, if not extended, on February 22. I’ve been browsing potential alternatives in case the ban is extended but I’m starting to realize there is no point on trying to plan anything. It seems like as soon as I have something figured out everything changes and my plans are tossed upside down. I’m left with this feeling of having no control over anything in my life. It’s like I said earlier, I can follow all the rules but at the end of the day the actions of others are going to dictate how the government has to handle the virus. 

Travel Isn’t Always a Choice

I’m not saying I disagree with the government implementing the mandatory hotel quarantine, I do think it should have started a long time ago though. What I am having issues with is the price. The cost of hotel quarantine alone is twice as expensive as applying for my visa and all the costs that came with it. Now I’m definitely not going to sit here and ask for exemption from the rules because I left the country prior to these rules being implemented, heck, I wasn’t even in the country when this pandemic started. However, I am here to tell you that it’s just a little crazy. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair can lump all Canadians who are travelling right now into one big group all he wants but at the end of the day not everyone travelling right now has made the choice to travel. People are always quick to assume though that everyone coming back to Canada has been away on holiday. In my case, I tried to wait out the pandemic in the UK and I have now reached a point where my visa has expired and I have no choice but to return home. Others have needed to fly abroad for family emergencies, to care for ill family, or on compassionate grounds. 

I actually think Canada’s outline for the hotel quarantine is great. Three days in a hotel definitely beats two weeks in one. When you look at the cost of hotel isolation in other countries though you’d think it would make sense that it would be a fraction of the cost for Canadians since we are only there for three days. Instead, the cost is pretty much on par with countries like Australia where you need to stay in a hotel for the full fourteen days. Most of this cost is made up by the governments decision to hire private security companies to checkup on you while you are in the hotel and once you return home to finish your quarantine. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a required measure when there has already been high compliance from those who have had to quarantine after returning from abroad in the last year. At that point I just feel it is unfair to ask returning Canadians to foot that full bill especially where there are already so many other steps in place to ensure people are following the rules. 

Would I Do It Differently?

Looking back, if I knew what I did now, would I still have made the decision to stay in the UK? Absolutely. A lot of people will think I’m wrong for staying here but when I really sit and think about it staying here meant I was secure. The UK government introduced a scheme that ensured everyone in the hospitality industry would keep their jobs. Your wages would be paid up to 80% of your average wage, even if your work was closed or there were no hours for you. It has also given me an additional year to spend with my boyfriend. This has been far more valuable for us than anything else, especially knowing that once I return home we don’t know when we will be able to see each other next. Had I returned to Vancouver I would have been tasked with looking for a job. I would in the same boat as all my friends and a good chunk of the cities hospitality workers, trying to find work when there is minimal. Or, faced with what seems like endless frustration and waiting to apply for and receive any sort of relief benefit whether it be CERB or EI. 

I’ve spent the last six months taking the money I would have spent on travelling and saving it to go back to school. I have actually managed to save enough to almost pay for my first year. I will now need to put at least 2/3 of that towards paying for my quarantine hotel. With the rules constantly changing though, this was a risk that I took when I decided to not drop my life and return to Canada. I knew this, I was prepared for it and I accept it. It’s a fact for everyone who is abroad currently; but, 2000$ is a lot of money. I feel this is a lot to ask of the small fraction of Canadians returning home who are not exempt from quarantine, especially for those who have needed to travel due to circumstances out of their control.