Harrowing return home
Stress-filled journey from Thailand felt like a reality show, Randy Sportak writes.
As if another reminder was necessary, the departures board in Bangkok put an emphatic stamp on the decision to return home.
Two-dozen international flights in a two-hour window were scheduled to depart Suvarnabhumi Airport Thursday morning, with destinations in Cambodia, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, India, Vietnam and China.
Of them, only two — YES, TWO — weren’t cancelled.
Thankfully, one was ours, the first leg of a now-completed journey from halfway around the world back to Canada in light of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It wasn’t a full episode of The Amazing Race, but it felt at times we were part of the reality show while going to Tokyo, then Vancouver and finally Calgary.
Heck, it felt that way even before the journey began.
The night before we were to depart, ending after eight weeks what was supposed to be an eight-month (or more) trip through Southeast Asia and then Europe, the Thailand government announced an emergency decree. Mainly, the move was to limit domestic travel because so many people had fled the major cities for the villages, resulting in rising cases throughout the country. However, it also gave the prime minister dictator-level powers, such as the ability to impose curfews, shutter any form of travel and control of the media. The decree, which came one day after Thailand closed its borders to foreigners, could mean everything could change in an instant. Plus, if airlines weren’t allowed to bring people into the country, they very well could halt flights to and from Thailand.
Admittedly, sleep was hard to come by that night in anticipation of our 7 a.m. flight, and not just due to the fear of not awaking for the alarm.
The day before, we met a couple from the U.S. who decided to stay in Thailand for another month after their flight home through Hong Kong was cancelled, with the hopes of eventually returning to Bali. It was a game plan we had considered before making the call to return to Canada, and it was now Plan B if we couldn’t fly out this week. After all, more and more airlines were cutting routes in the coming days while more and more countries were closing borders.
Thankfully our flight to Tokyo went off without a hitch. The flight to Vancouver also departed without problem, although the arrival wasn’t a welcome home moment. Just before landing, the captain announced we all must stay in our seats until a passenger who became ill during the eight-hour flight was collected by a medical team. It got worse. In the end, three passengers were evacuated but only to the jetway while they were assessed, resulting an 80-minute wait before the rest of us could deplane. Imagine the impact on the psyche of a plane full of tired and stressed passengers. I’m a fairly calm traveller, but the mind races in those instances, wondering what would happen if they can confirm any or all of those passengers have the virus. Would that mean we’re all immediately placed in quarantine? Thankfully, that wasn’t the case but we will be watching Air Canada’s future announcements of flights that had virus-carrying passengers.
Fortunately, after grabbing a double-double at the airport one more leg brought us to Calgary, and our awaiting vehicle brought by our children, who also supplied our place with groceries and other necessities for our two-week self-quarantine.
In the meantime, we’ll make the most of living in what seems to be a ghost town. Already, we’ve started doing a virtual tour of the Van Gogh Museum, while discussing future travel plans.
This isn’t the end of our dream trip, just a necessary pause. Former Calgary Flames beat reporter Randy Sportak and his wife, Michelle, were in the middle of a year-long world holiday that the COVID-19 pandemic cut short. They have been documenting their trip at www.theboozybackpackers.com