I wish to share my story with hopes to provide Canadians a bit more information on what some of us are experiencing abroad while trying to get home to Canada. This might clear up some of the negative perceptions many Canadians have about us. I currently live in Vancouver, but grew up in Jasper.
My trip to Bali started on February 12, 2020. I had just spent most of 2019 taking care of my dying father who unfortunately passed away on January 20, 2020 from cancer.
I had experienced the hardest few months of my life. After I had planned his funeral I needed a break from reality to grieve and give myself a mental break.
So, I decided what better place to do that than Bali, the Island of Gods and healing.
I had planned to go alone for five weeks and had a return trip to Vancouver on March 17. Everything was going great and I was finding peace and acceptance with many things, including my father’s death.
At the time I left Canada COVID-19 had started but there was no immediate warning for travel. The booking process and getting travel medical insurance was simple and nobody brought up that it might become a global pandemic and I didn’t think much of it.
To be honest, I was not paying much attention to the news leading up to or during my trip. I was too consumed in taking care of my father and found the news to be very depressing.
My trip was a chance for me to escape negativity, which meant distancing myself from social media and disconnecting.
However, as the days leading up to my departure came closer, I did begin to inform myself more of the travel advisories. My return flight from Bali through Hong Kong was initially changed, resulting in a 16 hour layover in Hong Kong.
After doing some research that did not sit right with me.
I had read that Hong Kong airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, had started to become stricter on who they were letting in.
My airline did book me a hotel for free near the airport, but as more and more stories broke and cases were identified, that worried me a lot.
What if I contracted the virus during my layover in Hong Kong? What if I were to be quarantined in Hong Kong and forced to stay there?
A couple of days before my flight was to depart, I was notified it was canceled.
At first I did not mind it too much, there could be worse places to be stranded, right?
Shortly after my flight was canceled I began looking at other flights. The thing that most worried me was my travel medical insurance, which I had only booked for the duration of my trip and was set to expire on March 17.
Once I realized this, I frantically tried to get a hold of my travel insurance company through email, phone calls, and their app. Their advertised 24/7 emergency line was obviously not in effect.
The phone line has specific hours and with the time change here in Bali, I was up in the middle of the night trying to get a hold of someone to ask for an extension or figure out what to do.
I spent almost eight hours waiting on hold, then getting disconnected, just to call back and remain on hold for another few hours.
When I finally got through to someone, around 4 a.m. my time, I was advised they would only extend my insurance until March 31 and told me I needed to just find a way back to Canada ASAP.
I asked, ‘What if I am unable to find a flight back?’, and they said I would not be covered for anything, despite me booking my insurance and trip prior to any advisories.
With that, I continued my search for flights home and joined some online Facebook groups to keep up with the current changes and travel advisories around the world.
Booking a flight home ASAP was not as easy as the travel insurance company made it seem. For those of you who haven’t been to this side of the world, there are no direct flights to Canada from Bali or really any country in Southeast Asia.
Usually, one will have to switch plans in at least one major airport on the way home. These connections are usually more than eight hours, which generally helps break up the trip and you can get some sleep.
However, in this case it was not ideal. The majority of the flights I were trying to book had connections where there was a high chance or on-site quarantine, regardless of if you were showing symptoms or not.
In addition, the airports started closing off any international arrivals or departures from several countries, including Indonesia. Flights were changing every day and restrictions were increasing every day.
I did end up booking one flight through Taiwan, which I was pretty confident about. However, shortly after I booked, it was announced that Taiwan was not allowing connecting passengers to enter.
I quickly went on Google Flights and searched for another flight, this one through Hong Kong. It allowed me to book it, but then a few hours after, I received an email from the Ambassador to Indonesia that several airports are closing off access to any passengers, Hong Kong included.
Airline websites and third party websites (Google Flights, Expedia) are not updating their flights regularly because it is simply impossible to keep up with the changes, so people are booking unbookable flights, or even worse, showing up to the airport and denied boarding.
Some travelers are even making it halfway home, but being forced into quarantine for 14 days at airports (with or without symptoms), obviously missing their connecting flight back to Canada. It is hard to know what to book and what not to book. It is so confusing and impossible to keep up with.
Currently, the only option to get back to Canada is through Tokyo, for now. However getting there from Bali right now is difficult and expensive. Most flights include two layovers, both eight and more hours, and flights are upwards of $6,000.
There have also been a lot of negative comments for those of us abroad and not coming home. I want to share this story so people can lay off our backs.
It is not as easy as you think to get across the world. Some places are a bit easier, but some are not. Many of us are trying our best to find a way home, but it is nearly impossible to keep up with the news.
There have been so many people who have up at the airport only to be denied boarding or are getting to one stop and being denied getting on their connecting flight.
I can speak for many of us that we are doing our best, while also keeping in mind our physical and mental health, as well as that of others. It is also hard to see some of my friends return to Canada from overseas and be treated like criminals and being shamed.
There is a lot of hate and remarks going around about Canadians returning from International destinations, "If they were stupid enough to travel in the first place, they shouldn't be getting any help from our government.” Rumours are being spread and it just seems like this whole pandemic is also affecting people’s judgment and mental health.
Any decision is risky for not only myself, but for others who are vulnerable. Taking care of my father for the past year, really opened my eyes to how fragile many are and how there is a constant pressure to free up acute beds in hospital. The last thing I want to do is put someone else at risk.
On the bright side, Indonesia is offering free automatic extensions on all foreign visas and the hotel I am staying at is offering me the Indonesian resident rate, which is about 60 per cent off the already reduced rate. The staff here are taking good care of me and I am still healthy and safe.
There are social distancing measures in place at my resort, and temperature checks are being done for anyone who enters or leaves the properly. The people here have been truly amazing and are going above and beyond to help those who are having trouble getting home. There is no sense of panic, but people are properly following protocol.
I feel safe and healthy where I am and keep telling my friends and family not to worry. For now, I am taking it day by day and trying not to worry or stress about the things I can not control.
I have worked so hard on myself during this trip for that to be thrown away. My mental state and health are better than ever and I would like to keep it that way. I just look forward to going home and cuddling my dog.
Keep safe and smart everyone!
Jeff Perham
Jasper, AB
