At no point did I believe that I’d be going to the Caribbean in 2020. There were months at the start of the year when I didn’t venture further than the grocery store around the corner from my house.
The idea of travel right now is such a polarizing topic.
Is it safe to travel? Are you doing more harm than good? Are you going to get sick? Aren’t you being selfish by visiting an island and exposing everyone to your germs?
Believe me, all of these thoughts and so many more crossed my mind.
But when a deal popped up for a recently-opened St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity and clicked “book.”
Before I get ahead of myself, let me back up from the beginning and explain how this all came about.
When it all began…
Back in the spring when lockdown began, I was one of the fortunate people who managed to retain my job. After working every day without a break, I could feel myself getting burned out.
I found myself getting irritable, apathetic, jaded and craving adventure. I lived with a roommate who never left her room and was anti-social, so it was pretty much like living alone with a little mouse that would appear at random to get food from the kitchen and then scurry away.
Like many people, I was feeling the effects of lockdown and looking for new ways to spark a fire within my life again.
During the summer, I managed to take a few day trip adventures to satisfy my desire for adventure and keep me sane.
But it wasn’t enough.
Some people recharge when they spend time alone. Others recharge when they are able to be creative in a variety of ways.
Me?
I recharge when I travel.
So without the ability to travel, my internal batteries were running dangerously low on power.
I felt like a machine going through the motions of everyday life: get up, get ready, work, make dinner (or order out from a local restaurant that I wanted to survive 2020), try to read/craft/blog/work on photography, sleep…and then repeat.
My days and weeks started to blend together and I found myself almost envious of everyone that suddenly found themselves with an excess of free time.
Then during one of my mindless searches online, I found a flight deal with the Instagram account Flights From Home (@flightsfromhome) for a round trip ticket to St. Thomas.
I always wanted to return to St. Thomas, but I never dreamed that it would happen.
The thought of going to the Caribbean in 2020…or anywhere else for that matter…seemed like a pipe dream.
But there I was, staring at my computer screen with a flight that cost half of what my flight was back in 2016.
I quickly researched what types of travel requirements or restrictions were in place for St. Thomas, and booked my flight before I could talk myself out of it.
I couldn’t believe it. I was sitting at my desk, almost refusing to believe that I had flights booked to the Caribbean in 2020.
Even though my flight was purchased, there were still a few more hurtles to get through before I could allow myself to get excited.
Why I didn’t tell everyone I was going to the Caribbean in 2020
Different countries and islands have varying requirements for traveling during 2020, and failure to comply would result in a not-so-fun experience.
When I was preparing for my flight, I didn’t really tell anyone that I was leaving until a day or two beforehand.
(Well, that’s a lie. I told my boss that I bought tickets and was planning on going, but it wasn’t confirmed.)
I’ve never kept a trip a secret before, and this was a new concept for me. But traveling to the Caribbean in 2020…or any other kind of travel…requires a little more discretion.
Like I mentioned before, travel is such a polarizing topic right now. It seems like everyone has an opinion on the matter, and it’s unsettling nowadays how freely people express their opinions…and not always in a constructive way.
Internet trolls abound, jealously savage “friends” come out of the woodwork, and second guessing overwhelms all those involved. As a whole, I try to make my own decisions, do my own research for everything, and live my life the way I want to live it without regards to other people’s opinions on what they think I should do.
I didn’t want any additional grey clouds to darken my excitement and upcoming trip (aside from those that 2020 already brought to the party), so the general populous remained ignorant of my travel plans.
Getting tested to visit the Caribbean in 2020
With the state of the world and the pandemic that has been sweeping control over daily life, it was extremely difficult to properly plan for my trip to St. Thomas.
Aside from having my flight booked, the only thing that I took care of immediately was securing a place to stay. I didn’t want to book a car, excursions, think about packing, or plan anything ahead of time. With regards to travel, one of the worst things that could happen would be to book and plan my whole trip…only to have it get canceled, and then in turn cancel all the fun I was going to have.
During my research into how to safely travel to the Caribbean in 2020, I learned that each island and archipelago had their own requirements.
In order to travel to St. Thomas, I needed to bring proof of a negative test of the virus-that-shall-not-be-named, taken within 5 days of the last leg of my flight.
Did you get that?
The last leg of my flight was going to be on a Thursday, so the Saturday before I arrived in St. Thomas would be the absolute earliest I could take said test.
So how did I get tested to travel?
One of the hardest things I had to do prior to my trip was find a place to get tested for the virus-that-shall-not-be-named. I was a-symptomatic, meaning I hadn’t been exposed and wasn’t exhibiting any symptoms.
Although I work at a healthcare facility, I knew that I couldn’t just walk up to one of the floors to obtain the necessary test.
The first thing I did was contact my primary care physician to ask questions. After a few days of unnecessary messaging back and forth, I finally received the information that I was looking for and booked my appointment.
There are a few places in Utah that you can get tested for free, of which I took full advantage.
Since I was under a time crunch, I was extremely limited to when and where I could get tested and wound up driving 45 minutes south of my house.
The whole testing process was extremely easy, despite all of the horror stories that I’ve heard.
I arrived at 3:30 on a Saturday afternoon, had no wait, and got a swab up both nostrils for “1, 2, 3” in each.
Done. I was told I would receive an email in 72 hours with my results. Cool. After blowing my nose and massaging my brain, I headed home to isolate myself again and cross my fingers, toes, arms, anything I could.
Fast-forward to Tuesday morning – the day before the first leg of my journey – and I hadn’t received an email with my test results. I started to get nervous, as expected. I needed to know if I could start planning and booking the rest of my trip, or if I needed to cancel and go into quarantine at home.
Thankfully a friend reached out with information about a private clinic that could administer the same test and get me results within 10 minutes.
The catch? It cost about half of what my flight did.
But if it meant peace of mind and progress, I was willing to pay for it.
And so I did.
The irony of the whole situation was that I received the negative results from my free test while I was waiting for the results of my rapid test.
The benefit was having a second confirmation that I didn’t have the virus-that-shall-not-be-named and a personal go-ahead to finish planning out my trip.
Traveling smart to the Caribbean in 2020…and beyond
Once I initially purchased my flights to St. Thomas, I had a few moments of reflection. If I was going to travel to an island, I wanted to make sure that my money would go to as many local businesses as possible.
I booked a private room in an AirBnB, staying with the sweetest couple with a killer view.
I shopped at local grocery stores and found some new favorite food.
I ate at local restaurants and eateries.
I knew that, like Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands were still struggling in the aftermath of the 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria. Even though I was a solo traveler, I wanted to pump as much money back into their fragile economy as possible.
(This isn’t a new concept of travel for me, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that it was in the forefront of my mind every time I made a purchase or even thought about spending money. It’s always a good practice to #supportlocal.)
Future trips on the horizon
After returning from my trip to St. Thomas a few days before Thanksgiving, I noticed an immediate change in my well-being. I was happy. I was tan. I was smiling. I wasn’t irritable and found that my batteries had recharged to the max.
Having such a striking contrast in the before-and-after a trip so obvious, I made a decision. A decision that will be ironed out more when I sit down to write and plan out my New Year Resolutions later this month.
Obviously taking all the necessary precautions, I need to have more frequent, longer adventures.
I don’t need to go far away necessarily, but need to have longer adventures. When I embarked upon my adventures over the summer, they were super fun, but super short-lived. I didn’t allow myself enough of a recharge before diving back into reality.
I’ve got a few flights booked for 2021 that will hopefully come to fruition. There’s also a handful of local adventures on the docket as well.
I’m not going to announce the locations just yet, as I’m fully aware that travel restrictions can change quickly. But it’s safe to say that there will be lots of nasal swabbing in my future!
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