COVID Craziness!

February 15, 2020 - Book trip back home from France for 27th March, 2020 for 1 month.

March 15, 2020 - Schengen Area announces border closures and lockdowns, France included.

March 15 - Book flight with KLM and Singapore Airlines only to find out travellers who have been in Europe, namely France, during the past 2 weeks were not permitted entry to Changi airport.

March 15 - Cancel flight via Singapore.

March 15, 2020 - Book flight back from France to Australia via Amsterdam.

March 16, 2020 - Leave France for Australia. Read on to find out more about my hectic trip!

March 19, 2020 - Arrive home

March 19 - April 3 - Self Isolation for 2 weeks :(

Well, well, well. What a timeline. Who could have predicted that 2020 would have gone like this. Definitely not me. As Bill Gates said a few years back during his TED Talk, if there is one thing that will disrupt this world, it would be a global pandemic which we would not be ready for. And, really, I cannot even begin to fathom how right he was.

After almost one month of looking forward to going home for a holiday, a very crazy 24 hours was spent booking and cancelling a number of flights in an attempt to get home to Australia. Like many other travellers booking and rebooking flights and constantly checking flight boards (ok, maybe more than others due to the aviation geek in me), was an arduous process. By no means was it a quick process, nor was it an easy one by any stretch.

I thought I had found the perfect flight. From Bordeaux to Amsterdam, and then on to Perth via Singapore with KLM and Qantas. 'Twas the evening before departure when I suddenly saw an article outlining that passengers who had been in the Schengen Area for 2 weeks prior to arrival were not allowed to enter Singapore Changi Airport, even if it was just for transit purposes. This one was somewhat on me as I should have researched before booking...but I digress. What to do? Well, the only option was to spend more dough and search for an airport I could transit through AND leaving within the next 24 hours.

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Luckily I found one, albeit on the higher scale price-wise, that would get me out of Europe within 24 hours, and home shortly after that. I had to book these flights separately, however I went from Bordeaux to Amsterdam with KLM, a night stop at the Sheraton Schiphol Airport, and then on to Perth via Dubai with Emirates. My first flight was with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, leaving Bordeaux at 6:00pm on the 16th March, 2020.

Let's backtrack a bit to 08:30am on the 16th, the morning of my rather rushed and impromptu trip back home. As I was up late the previous night organising flights, there was no chance to pack. My morning consisted of shoving whatever could fit in to my suitcase and cleaning our apartment spotless. We were due at the airport at 4:00pm so the clock was ticking. It seemed like time was flying by, although you wouldn't know it by looking out on to the streets...you could hear a pin drop. At 3:30pm we hopped in an Uber and headed for the airport. As we arrived at the baron airport, we quickly realised it was nothing like we had ever seen before. It was a ghost-town, but at least security was a quicker process than normal! After about 90 minutes of waiting around, our flight to Amsterdam was called to board.

It was crazy to think that just 24 hours ago we had no idea what was going to happen; whether we had to remain in France and experience a lengthy and unknown timeframe of full-lockdown, or would we be able to go home? Well, I can tell you right now that we didn't rest on our laurels. We took one flight at a time until we were on board and in our seats for the final leg.