Last Updated: March 25, 2020
I write this as the Covid-19 pandemic takes its toll across the world and we’ve arrived back in the UK putting our world travel adventure on hold. It was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever had to make as parents, deciding if it was the right choice to transit at this time through busy airports and planes.
With little known about exactly what’s going on at this point, we obviously had concerns for our children’s health, particularly with them having previous respiratory problems. Also with the added factor of social responsibility to consider, we really weren’t sure if it was the right thing to do.
But our alternative, to wait it out in Mexico, was becoming potentially problematic. Given the trending events around the world, with boarder closures, flight cancellations, accommodation lockdowns and health insurance barriers, we faced the very real prospect of having to remain in a country as non-citizens for a potentially indefinite period with added complications.
So, whilst we didn’t make it lightly, came to the decision to head home to the UK, being as responsible as possible whilst doing so. This of course is not the right decision for everyone, but we felt it was the right decision for us at the time.
What a difference a week makes
I think back to just a few days ago when we were happily enjoying life in Mexico and the beautiful surroundings and how things changed so dramatically in such a short space of time. We had been staying in a World Schooling Community in the tiny village of Ek Balam and whilst we had seen the evolving situation back home in the UK and across the world, Latin America was fairly untouched at this point and we still had no idea the kind of impact it was about to have.
We were due to fly to Costa Rica within the week, but had been offered flight changes for free, as a number of airlines did. So, whilst we were still fairly relaxed at this point, decided it was the right decision to move the flight back a month and see how the situation progressed.
We did this and booked an apartment for a month in Puerto Morelos. We felt this would be a good base whilst we watched the situation. Being a quiet, but not too remote fishing town and only being about a 20 minute drive from Cancun Airport should we have to get a flight at short notice. We were there less than a week…
The situation progressed incredibly quickly and countries started to change their approach in rapid succession without warning like falling dominoes. Countries started closing boarders and grounding flights within 24 hour periods, shutting hotels and accommodation and asking tourists to leave. Whilst Mexico itself was still open and functioning to a degree, we realised that we might potentially not have a choice soon as to if we wanted to leave or not. So we decided we would get back asap.
Booking a flight home was a challenge though. Most flights from Mexico to the UK transit through the U.S. and this would have potentially been problematic as most U.S airports don’t have transit areas and you have to go through customs and back in when moving across flights. This usually wouldn’t be a problem, as UK citizens can easily get visa waivers, but due to the pandemic, the U.S had suspended these.
We really didn’t want to get stuck in limbo in the U.S, so our only safe option was direct flights, but this was easier said than done. Lots of people were now rushing to get to their home countries and flights were in sparse supply. There is usually only a handful of direct flights to the UK from Cancun anyway, but as airlines were grounding flights for commercial reasons, the flights were even more restricted. But eventually we succeeded after much blood, sweat and tears and losing a lot of money in the process.
Flying Home in a Pandemic
The transit was not pleasant. We had to brief the kids on the situation and how it was going to work. Trying to stay away from people, trying not to touch surfaces, regular hand washing and showing them the masks that they would need to wear for the entire trip. Explaining this to our youngest was not easy, we explained about the ‘naughty germs’ that you can’t see, but he actually grasped this concept well and was very good at keeping his mask on.
Kids Quote: “So if the naughties go in my mouth they will make me sick?”
Aden, Age 3
The airport was a chaotic environment with lots of people trying to get home and some people clearly distressed and in difficult situations, with the board seeming to show more cancelled than running flights. We were still worried about our flight being cancelled and being back to square one. We got to the airport very early in case of any complications and so it was a long agonising wait. But we eventually boarded our plane.
Once the plane was in the air I breathed a small sigh of relief, although I still had a small niggle of doubt, so until we landed I couldn’t fully relax. The flight itself was quite stress free though. The kids were now pinned into the window seats, who watched films and slept until we landed. Now the big sigh of relief!
Being back in the UK lockdown
Whilst it is a difficult situation in the UK currently, we feel incredibly relieved to be back. There are so many people in very compromising situations all around the world at this moment. And even though we have had an extremely stressful few days, with huge financial implications and had to risk our children’s health, we still feel like one of the lucky ones at this moment.
Having made friends around the world on our travels, we have spoken to a number of these over the last few days and the situation varies by region, with some much worse than others, but one thing is clear, this is a world crisis effecting the entire span of the globe in a way we’ve not experienced previously.
What the future holds?
One thing we have learnt from travelling is how good and kind people are, no matter where you are in the world, and the current situation has only cemented this belief.
It’s easy to get sucked into the negativity of the media, as human nature tends to draw us to the more dramatic and adverse narratives, but when we speak to people directly and expand our connections, the reality is far from a pessimistic view. People are being creative and helping each other in so many ways currently.
Having said that, we must recognise the challenge at hand and the harm it is causing a large proportion of the world. Regularly people criticise governments for not looking after vulnerable people, but we now have far more power to help than any government has ever had.
There are people who must make, what may be seen as, controversial decisions to support themselves and their family and we should not criticise them for that. There are often underlying factors for people’s actions, and we need to take a pragmatic and holistic view. But we need to consider carefully every action we take currently.
We really hope that our family will be travelling once again in the future and will be more appreciative then ever, exploring the world and absorbing every moment we can. This is no longer just about a virus, but a change in the way we are functioning as a world community.