Seychelles to the Rescue

Almost two years after I returned from the US, the BBC asked me to go to Seychelles and I finally had the chance to travel internationally again. Somewhat suitably, my departure was delayed when I caught Covid. After so long trying to avoid the disease, I felt a perverse sense of relief to finally be one of the daily case numbers. It would add a whole new level of anxiety to those last days before departure – applications for authorisation to enter Seychelles, permissions to return to Australia and Victoria, for example. Worst of all was the Covid-19 PCR test that I had to do no more than 72 hours prior to my departure for Seychelles. Although I was fully recovered, there was still a real risk that I could test positive, throwing my plans into chaos. It was a strange way to prepare for a trip.

Fewer than 36 hours before I was due to leave, the test result came back negative. Only then did I believe that I was actually going.

After such a prolonged build-up, the trip itself was almost anti-climactic. There were perhaps fewer people in the airports through which I passed. And entering the Seychelles, there was from the local authorities a suspicion about my reasons for travel, something which I had never before encountered there. But, otherwise, it was – depressingly, reassuringly – familiar.

Because my trip was for less than a week, no sooner had I landed than I had to start planning my return. There were Covid tests that had to be reserved to coincide with a tight window before my departure. I had to arrange the necessary permissions so that Seychelles would let me leave and Australia would let me back in. I spent the best part of an afternoon filling out, and double-checking, the necessary paperwork. And, of course, there were the not-inconsiderable worries: What would happen if I tested positive on the day of my departure? Where would I stay? How long would it be before I could return home? What if my paperwork wasn’t in order? Unlike coming in the other direction, all of the documents were on my phone. What if I lost my phone or there was no wifi at the airport?

Everything ran smoothly. Of course it did: we’ve all become better at following government directives and negotiating bureaucracy over the past two years. But I arrived home more exhausted than refreshed.

Article source: https://article-realm.com/article/Health-Fitness/47173-Modified-pseudoUridine.html