-Day of departure Kelowna to Amsterdam arrival March
10, 2020 Tuesday.
-Day of departure from Amsterdam to Kelowna
March 15 Sunday.
Myrna (Mom, wife)
I am a glass half empty
leaning person. My husband is the exact opposite. I’m not sure where one’s
perspective comes from, nature or nurture. It doesn't really matter. Most of
the time we balance out each other if we can come to middle ground. It’s been
even more apparent as we move through this global pandemic situation. I plan
for as many risks as I can so I can have a sense of peace – although I never
saw this one coming, I did purchase 16 roles of toilet paper, rubbing
alcohol and cleaning products before we left for a family vacation in Europe on
March 9.
We debated going since
China was already closing down borders. We even talked with the airline to see
if they would refund our flights if we didn’t go – which they wouldn’t have to
the extent the tickets were worth.
So, we packed up, hand sanitizer in hand, and were off to Amsterdam, although my gut was telling me it didn't feel quite right. I have strong intuition. Heading on this trip seemed less exciting than it should be. I
couldn’t put my finger on it exactly but there was a feeling.
The day before we left,
my son’s small German University, where he was on exchange from Jan 1 until
April 30, cancelled class for a week because a student had tested positive for
Corona, now Covid. It heightened my risk aversion metre, but he wasn’t in contact with the
student and it meant he could spend some extra time with my husband, daughter
and myself. I was happy about that.
We had an uneventful
trip and landed in Amsterdam, with our son arriving later the same day by
train.
The first days were
lovely as we explored the city and determined what to see, shopped for
groceries and got our bearings. Amsterdam is a lovely place with so much to see
and since it was my husband and daughter’s first time in Europe, we mostly
walked around taking it all in and learning the awesome public transit system.
At night, however, I was
online following world events and listening to comments from friends and family
in Canada and across the globe. We had plans later in the three-week vacation
to meet up with friends from Barcelona in Germany for a weekend visit. (We originally met
them in Kelowna when they lived in the same rental unit as us after we moved here.) This visit was
going to be a trip highlight. It also meant we were in touch with them and
they were letting me know things were getting worse in that city and country
very quickly.
Being a former
journalist and now freelance writer, I’m very lucky to be connected through
social media with many journalists – agricultural, news, and travel writers. I
was also seeing their updates – news from credible sources.
By day three, we determined we needed to get home earlier. Our
original plan was to leave Amsterdam, tour south through West Germany and head home from Paris, which my daughter has long wanted to visit. It was the
Leader's first European family vacation. Although we hadn’t cancelled the trip,
the day before we left home, we’d altered that plan to avoid a
higher risk area in Germany and instead see Luxembourg before heading to France.
Back in Amsterdam we
waited on hold for our airline to see about rebooking flights back to Canada at
no charge, the day that was announced. When we learned that getting out the
following day, since we had to get from Amsterdam to Paris first, was going to
be about $10,000, we opted for a rebook leaving Paris on March 21. Our son had
also altered plans to return about the same time from Munich where he planned
to see a friend before coming back to Canada.
In the hotel and around
Amsterdam, many people were already social distancing and hand washing and
sanitizer were part of our routine. We did a lot of walking, a walking tour and
two museums before they all were closed. On the final day, we headed to a
lovely beach community about 30 minutes by train outside Amsterdam. The air was
cool and there was a brisk wind, but it was sunny and the fresh air was a
welcome respite. We also weren’t the only people on the beach – with people
already practicing social distancing.
But that sense of
“everything is not so bad" quickly faded back at the hotel. Tensions mounted. I asked
for advice from my friend in Spain as well as my friend who is a travel writer
and is very familiar with being all over the world. What was their honest
opinion of what we should do? Both confirmed, things were getting worse and
their best advice was to get back to Canada as quickly as possible.
Advice that was much
easier said than done. First, job was convincing my optimistic husband that
this was critical. Pressure was mounting in my brain, not only concern for our
health, but what if we got stuck in Europe where we didn’t know anyone and
hotels were closing, and restaurants? Although the grocery stores had food in
Amsterdam, there was already evidence that it wasn’t a normal time. No toilet
paper. Limited fruit and veggies. Shelves weren’t bare, but they didn’t look
full either. A few people in our excursions were wearing masks but not many.
If you’ve ever travelled
to Europe, you know hotel rooms are small so discussions, phone calls all took
place with the entire family present. Our 13-year-old daughter broke down
crying because she was scared and so was I. I told my husband that he
could stay if he wanted but I was leaving from Amsterdam as soon as possible,
no matter the cost. We’d continually been searching for best options up until
this point – where else could we leave from? Could we rent a car and get
somewhere in Europe to leave from? London? Ireland? Could we get to Vancouver
and then rent a car home? Or what about Calgary? Realistically, there are only
a few carriers who make the overseas journey and we saw tickets selling out. We
were an ocean away from home and it felt like it.
After no success waiting
to book tickets with airlines, and having my credit card company call because
they blocked my card, seeing how there were all these attempted airline charges
that wouldn’t go through, I saw a lifeline.
After midnight Amsterdam
time, I saw a friend in Kelowna online. There is a nine hour time difference between Amsterdam and home. I sent a message asking for the biggest
favour. We have only known this family for a couple years since moving to
Kelowna so asking wasn’t easy, but necessary. After she confirmed it was me by
asking for some personal info about them only I would know, I asked, “Could they go to the airline website and book 3 of the
remaining 7 tickets that it showed available for us to fly that morning from Amsterdam to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Calgary and to Kelowna? We would transfer them the funds as soon as booking was
complete.
With the exception of
receiving good news after personal and family health scares, I’ve never
been so relieved when they said yes.
After sharing passport information and confirming the bookings through
photos back and forth, we were booked. $6500 for three round trip tickets,
round trip because it was cheaper than one-way tickets.
My
son also managed to book a new flight the following day with the same route to
Calgary where he'd left his vehicle.
At about 2:30 a.m. we shut off
the lights to get a few hours of sleep.
We cabbed it to the
airport, rather than the cheaper train route. My husband was busy cancelling
all further travel plans – hotels, a European rental car, air bnb’s, train
tickets – as much as he could. Some places provided a refund. Others did not.
The plane rides were uneventful. Some people in masks, including the air crew and no
one overtly sick or coughing. However, at that time, no one was taking
temperatures or even asking people if they felt well. In fact, after we were a
few hours into the overseas portion of the trip, my daughter asked if we could
travel premium economy all the time with its linen place mat service and extra
leg room, refreshments, etc. It helped me to smile.
We made it back and are
just finishing our 14-day isolation. Friends have been very kind, checking in
on us and getting us groceries. We are all feeling well, which is the most important. We have recovered some costs, but as I’ve said, here’s to the Leader’s most expensive 5-day European vacation ever!
Christian’s perspective
(21 year old)
Just as my parents were
leaving for Amsterdam, I learned through email that there was a student from my
German small University who was diagnosed with Covid and all classes were
suspended for a week. I had not been in contact with this student as I’d been
traveling the week before and only at school for a couple days. Even with the
case in my school, I thought it was a one off and everything was fine.
I knew Corona, as it was
called then, was in China but wasn’t following it that closely, because, well, it’s
China, quite a long way away from where I was.
I’d planned a trip to
Italy with a friend shortly after arriving in Germany the first week in January.
There were corona cases and no travel advisories in Italy so a friend and I
changed our plans. He went to Norway and I went to Belgium for a few days before my parents were to arrive.
When I learned school
was cancelled, I changed plans again and traveled from Belgium directly to
Amsterdam by train, happy to spend more time with my family.
Over the course of four
days, everything was fine, then everything was closed. On Friday March 13, the
whole world decided it was closed. My first thought was I’ll just do this last
trip to Munich to see a friend and then Austria. Then I shortened the plan to
just Munich. Then when everything in Austria and Munich was closed, I decided
I’ll just go home to Canada. By that time, school had let me know that classes
were cancelled and some of my international friends were going home.
I felt frustrated
because I had so many trips planned that I wanted to do in my last two months
of exchange, I had friends now in Europe, some of whom I’d met at U of A when
they were on exchange, that I really wanted to see -- people I’d taken on
adventures with me to the mountains and so on to show them our beautiful
country, They were going to do the same for me.
I didn't worry about
school because everyone was going through the exact same thing. I can adapt.
I was worried about my
parents getting home. I was sad they had to spend a lot of money. I was
frustrated with my mom….she was annoying. She kept flip flopping about her
decision to go home, just go already. I wasn’t scared of getting sick at all
but I did worry that flights would get cancelled and then it would be difficult
to get home from Europe.
I wanted to see the
beach near Amsterdam. So on our last day, we headed there by train. I had my
drone so took footage of that and the formula 1 race track that I lead the
family to.
I said goodbye to them
in the morning as they headed to the airport.
I took the three trains back to
Vallendar, packed up my stuff, cleaned and said goodbye to some friends.
Everyone was going home. One of my German friends gave me a ride to the airport
in Frankfurt, about 40 minutes away.
The flight home was
uneventful. My cousin picked me up at the airport in Calgary and I headed
straight to my uncle's house where my 2007 van had been parked since Dec. 31, 2019. I
gave it a little pep talk before turning the key. It started. I pulled out of the snowy drive and headed out
on the 7-hour drive to Kelowna on a full tank of gas, stopping once for fast
food and an energy drink. The drive through the mountains was quiet as it was
evening and the roads were clear. My only issue was trying not to speed as
tunes played. I’d watched a race car movie in the airplane and
there are some songs that just make you want to drive fast.
I left the van full
because I thought, in the time I’m away, Alberta is going to get a carbon tax.
That’s funny as gas was $0.75 a litre when I got back! I also made it home to
parents on a full tank of gas…arriving at 11:30 p.m.
Tracy’s perspective
(Husband, father)
The experience started when
we left for Amsterdam, Netherlands on Mon. MAR 9/2019. I knew the Coronavirus
was around but at this time I felt little fear about it. Upon arriving in
Amsterdam, things seemed fairly normal. Beginning to tour Amsterdam, we noticed
people were out, but were told that normally the streets would be packed, which
they were not.
I never really felt that we
were in danger of catching the virus as we took all the precautions, but I
noticed things were changing.
I am the eternal optimist and
my wife less so, which in hindsight was probably a good thing. She began to
worry with everything she was hearing in the media and from her friends online.
She felt we needed to return back to Canada immediately.
We changed our flight to
return out of Paris on March 20/2020 which would have been 11 days earlier than
expected. At this point I felt we would still be ok, but everything was closing
in Paris, so what would we do there?
So, based on everything we
were hearing and being told, we escalated our departure procedures out of
Amsterdam. It became a very stressful and panicked situation. I still felt safe
and not too panicked, but I could see and feel how stressed the individual
members of my family were, so with the help of our friends in Canada, we
booked a flight out of Amsterdam, which wasn’t easy. Everyone was trying to do
the same thing. We returned March 15/2020 and began to self-isolate for 14
days. We were happy to be home where we felt safe. As of writing this, 14 days
out, we are all ok with no symptoms of the Coronavirus.
During this whole
adventure, one which ended way earlier than we imagined, I never felt
scared or endangered and continue to feel that way to this day. I follow the
precautions outlined and will continue to do so until this virus is contained.
I always feel that you cannot live with fear, and to challenge this obstacle
head on is what one needs to do while trying to continue living your everyday
life as normal as can be expected during these unprecedented times.
Marina (13)
The day before we left for Amsterdam, we
received a call from Christian(my brother), he gave us some insight on what was
happening in Germany. Things were getting exceedingly worse and case numbers
were going up. The area we were planning on visiting in Germany was the hub of
cases. Christian gave us his opinion, having our full trust in him, we took it.
Shortly after that brief call, we decided to
change some of our plans up, cancelling some hotels, Air BnB’s etc. At
that time, I was still excited to get to Europe. There was so much to see and I
didn’t want to give that up. I wasn’t scared or worried about the chance that
we could possibly get sick.
The first three days were good. I really enjoyed
them. I wasn’t worried, just a little tired with jet lag. We visited various
museums, landmarks, we even decided on a short walking tour to get some more
knowledge about the city and its past.
Then Saturday arrived. Saturday was full of
mixed emotions. During the day, everything was fine. I felt fine although I
began to get a little worried, we are ok, right? That evening, everything was a
mess. We’d been hearing news about the drastic measures that were being put in
place, news of more and more cases, everyone was worried about us. Many people
were sending mom email links, etc, about the increasing risks of staying any
longer. Other countries were shutting down, closing their borders.
Our biggest fear was getting stuck in Amsterdam.
We needed to get out. We tried booking various earlier flights but the
transactions wouldn’t seem to go through. At this point I was worried, scared
and anxious. I felt like everything was coming to an end.
I just wanted to get home, to be safe, to feel
the comfort of my cozy bed. I started crying, I was worried for myself but more
or less for mom, dad and Christian. After what felt like hours of failed
attempts, we got one of our good friends to book us a flight back on Sunday. I
was relieved and so unbelievably happy. I'm so glad they agreed to help
us. I don’t know what we would have done if not for their generosity.
If I could go back in time to when that call
from Christian happened, I would still have gone to Europe even through the
trauma. I'm so happy I got to see such a different perception of everyday life.
I wouldn’t want to stop us from going, I really enjoyed that trip. Amsterdam is
a beautiful city.
