Before COVID days, traveling was so easy. If you have the money and the travel visa, you can go wherever you want to go. When the pandemic hits, your money and the travel visa are still important but not at the top of the list anymore.

Last August 2020, I had the chance to travel amid the pandemic and go back to Singapore from Canada. Again, end of July 2021, I am set to travel back to Canada from Singapore. Still, in the middle of the pandemic. Many people may not be so “lucky” to travel these days so let me share with you what is the new norm on preparing to travel.

1. Make an informed decision whether you want to be vaccinated. And if you decided to do it, complete the doses at least 3 weeks in advance before your planned departure.

Yes, unfortunately, vaccination is crawling up at the top of the list of requirements before we can travel nowadays. I even put this as my first point because the next items on my list will just be dependent on whether you are completely vaccinated or not.

2. Research, research, and more research on immigration requirements using reliable sources.

I cannot stress it enough –use credible sources for your research on immigration requirements. Referring to bogus sites and fake news will be very costly for your travel nowadays! The first thing you need to check is whether your country of destination has its border open and whether they are allowing entry for whatever visa or status of residence that you have for that country.

Of course, the most reliable reference nowadays is their main government website. Please note the “as of date” of the content you are referring to. Some government websites do not manage their content very well. From the government website, you will know about the country’s pre-entry and pre-flight, during the flight and post-flight, or the quarantine requirements. Make sure you follow the requirements carefully so as not to cause costly travel delays but do note that you cannot do your research and prepare so early. Gone are the days when we plan for our travel months or even more than a year in advance! I suggest you do your research at least a month before your targeted departure and keep on refreshing your research weekly up to days prior to your flight. Immigration policies are so dynamic these days that it changes even without substantial notice!

3. Book a flexible, refundable, or cancellable flight.

Gone are the days of cheap flights that are non-cancellable or refundable or something that you can book a year in advance! Nowadays, you pay for flights that are flexible which can be rescheduled or refunded in case any border closure happens before your flight. Also, it is not advisable to buy your ticket anymore way in advance as this follows the dynamic change to the immigration requirements. Plus, you may want to stay away from flights that require long hours of stopover, too. The fastest we can reach our destination, the less exposure we have to get the virus.

4. Shop for the “new flight essentials”

Depending on the length of your flight, you may want to bring extra snacks in your carry-on luggage. In-flight meal services these days are not as appealing and filling as before. My observation is they simplify and cut down the number of meal services to probably cut down operational costs and limit human interaction in the plane. So, pack your favorite snacks and do include to shop for 50 ml antiseptic sprays or liquids and wipes as well. Make sure you have a digital thermometer in your carry-on, too! Together with masks, these are now the “new flight essentials”.

5. Plan or better yet, rehearse your quarantine.

Normally, 14-day quarantine is required in a quarantine facility. It can go up or down depending on the number of cases in the country at the time of your arrival. I had experienced a 14-day quarantine last year and it was not easy. I am the type of person who can stay indoors for few days under normal circumstances. However, when I was put in a 14-day quarantine where I was alone in a hotel room and had no human interaction for 14 days except when they brought me downstairs for few minutes for my swab test, it hit me big time! Maybe not physically but psychologically. That is why you need to make sure that you can make yourself busy for the quarantine period especially if you need to do it alone. If you can, try to rehearse at home and see how you can cope up.

Epiphany de Leoni: Unsure until when, but gone are the days when travel was easy, predictable, and enjoyable. Despite that, the pandemic should not stop us from doing essential travels and most importantly, seeing our loved ones. However, we need to be responsible travelers and ultimately, embrace agility for fuss-free travel. We can create and follow a plan, but we need to be nimble to respond to changes as well. Travel but be safe!