Pack your bags! Here’s what it’s like to travel across borders in 2021
Lesson summary
Hi there, it’s Jeff and this is Plain English lesson number 404. JR is the producer and he has uploaded the full lesson to PlainEnglish.com/404. That’s where you’ll find the transcripts, how-to video, translations, and more.
Coming up today: I recently took a ten-day vacation to Europe, in which I visited three countries and passed through a fourth. And I got an up-close-and-personal lesson on the administrative nightmare that is cross-border travel in 2021. On today’s lesson, I’ll tell you about all the things you need to think about before heading on an overseas vacation. The English expression we’ll review today is “get back on your feet.” And we have a quote of the week.
Cross-border travel in 2021
Eighteen months after the COVID-19 pandemic shut borders and brought international travel to a standstill, the tourism industry is starting to get back on its feet. But that doesn’t mean travel is back to normal. Cross-border travel in 2021 is characterized by a thicket of fast-changing rules and regulations.
Some countries, such as Australia, China, and New Zealand, are still very cautious about allowing any type of cross-border travel. Other countries have few restrictions on incoming travel. However, it’s safe to say that most international travel happens within a region: Europeans can travel within Europe, for example, and Americans can easily vacation in Mexico, while Mexicans can easily come to America.
If you dare travel farther afield, though, you’ll need to take into account several things. First, can you even go? Second, what are the testing requirements? Next, will you have to quarantine? Do you need a vaccination? What documents will you have to show? What do you need to get back?
Let’s start with number one: Can you even go? Most countries operate on some kind of a traffic-light system, which is like a sliding scale of restrictions. Travelers from “red” locations face mandatory quarantines or may not be allowed in, whereas travelers from “green” locations may be allowed in without any restrictions at all. Unfortunately, every country has its own rules. So before you travel, you need to check whether you’re allowed in to each place.
If you have to quarantine, be prepared for that quarantine to be enforced. Some countries have special quarantine hotels attached to the airport. Australia and the UK are two examples. If you are in quarantine, expect to not leave your room. Meals will be delivered to you. You might be able to get out of quarantine early if you test negative once or twice within the first week.
However, assuming you’re exempt from quarantine, you still have to comply with a number of rules. One of the most common requirements is a PCR test. A PCR test is the most detailed and accurate type of test available. The at-home tests and the instant tests available in pharmacies and drive-through sites are typically antigen tests, which are less accurate. Those generally do not qualify for travel, though they do in some cases.
To get a PCR test, you need to make an appointment at a hospital or a testing center, you typically need to pay, and you need to wait for the results to be analyzed in a lab. Those can be done in a few hours or a few days: it’s the traveler’s responsibility to time it right. Most countries require the test to be done within three days of travel.
Britain, however, doesn’t stop there. If you travel to the UK, you not only need a PCR test to get in, but you also need a PCR test after a few days in the country. They won’t let you in the country unless you’ve made this appointment and paid for it.
So these are the testing requirements: as you may have guessed, they don’t just take your word for it. You need to bring documentation of the testing and that documentation must be in the correct language. You cannot show up in London with a PCR test done in Turkish. You can’t go to Austria with a PCR test in Italian. Each country publishes the testing requirements and the language requirements. You guessed it: the traveler is responsible for getting the tests in the right language.
That’s not all the documentation. Many countries require you to fill out an entry form before you present yourself at the airport or cross the border. Depending on where you’re going, you may also need to show proof of vaccination. We Americans like to show our vaccination proof by showing a picture of our vaccination cards on our phones: that doesn’t work everywhere. You may need that original document.
Direct flights are amazing, aren’t they? If you’ve got a direct flight, you’re in luck. But if you have to connect in a third country, then your testing and administrative requirements may have just gotten more complicated. The UK, which hosts a lot of transfer passengers at Heathrow Airport, has its own set of requirements for passengers simply passing through the airport. That’s right: even if you don’t leave the four walls of Heathrow Airport, you still have to follow some of the UK’s COVID requirements.
So let’s say you successfully cross the border and you’re in a new country and you’ve passed all the requirements. You now have to follow that country’s local rules containing the pandemic. That might mean masks, proof of vaccination, things like that. Austria and Germany, for example, require surgical masks, not the disposable paper masks or fashionable cloth masks that work almost everywhere else.
Got all that? Good because the fun doesn’t stop there. You now need to follow this whole process in reverse if you want to go home. And if you think your home country will take you back just because you’re a citizen…you might want to check that. America requires all travelers, vaccinated or not, citizen or not, to have a PCR test before coming home.
It’s confusing to keep this all straight. The official place to get information about travel restrictions is each government’s website; however, these are not always clear. The best source of information online, according to my research, is a website called Sherpa, at joinsherpa.com.
Fine for singles and couples…
I read an article a few weeks back saying that this thicket of regulations would pose a major barrier to tourism. And I didn’t really believe it. My feeling was, “So what? Fill out the forms. Get your test. How hard can it be?”
Having gone through this process, I can tell you that it’s a real burden and it adds stress to your trip. Hungary was changing entry requirements for Americans right up until a week or two before I left. I think a week before I went, the EU advised member countries to tighten restrictions on Americans. And what I didn’t realize is that PCR tests are expensive, especially if you want rapid results. They’re covered by insurance in America, but they can be expensive in Europe. I think I paid 85 euros for my test in Austria.
Imagine if I had a family of five, however, and imagine I needed two sets of tests—one before leaving and one coming home. That’s 850 euros right there, just on testing. And then if just one person gets COVID before the trip, then the whole holiday is ruined. If just one person gets COVID during the trip, then it can be a lot worse.
So my conclusion from all this is that I would not take a family on a trip. One person, a couple, okay. But I would not do a family trip at this time; there’s just too much that can go wrong.
On Thursday’s lesson, I’ll take you step by step through my travel and what I had to do to get to each place. I’ll tell you who checked what documents, how I got them, how I almost didn’t get a PCR test on time, all that stuff, so you know exactly how this worked in my case.
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