Originally, we planned to kick off the trip in Edinburgh, Scotland and continue through Europe, then Morocco, Southeast Asia, French Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Covid-19 had different plans for us.
Over the last few months of quarantine, we scoured headlines and travel sites daily seeking out which countries would open their borders to us as American Covid cases continued to skyrocket. It was a roller coaster of disappointment as the scales kept leaning heavily to 'No Entry" instead of rolling out a welcome mat (understandably, of course). Planning anything in advance was almost impossible for the rules were constantly changing. Then there were the constant voices in my head, "Is it wise to travel now? Is it safe to travel now? Is it safer there than at home?"
The day we rented out our house, we jumped onto the Alaska mileage site to see where we could fly. We had a lease signed with set move-out date of September 4th. There was no going back now—we'd be homeless after that. Croatia was open to tourism so we booked it.
Croatia has always been high on my list and Clint had been there for a weekend over 20 years ago and wanted to go back. All we needed to enter was proof of paid accommodations and negative Covid test results within 48 hours. Wait, did you say 48 hours from the moment the swab enters your nose until you are greeted at Croatian customs? Yes. This was a near impossible feat but with a top-notch UW Medicine drive-up clinic and a little luck, we did it just in the knick of time—48 hours to be exact! The kids thought the test was way less painful than what they feared. Our eyes all watered like crazy but we were in and out of the drive-up station in less than 4 minutes. Our results were delivered within 11 hours. We felt like we had won the lottery and I could now relax!
We held our breath as we walked up to the Immigration clerk at the Croatian airport after hearing the women at the counter next to us being interrogated about her proof of covid-testing. He didn't question a thing and said we were "good to go"!
All that planning, all the worrying, all the questioning slipped away and now we were free to enter. We have one week's accommodations and then not ONE plan on the books. Ahhhh, it feels so good!