Quarantine & Boredom – Brisbane, Australia

Here’s the story of what my last few days have been like. Because of it being the only topic in the media & apparently the only thing people are capable of speaking about these days, I wanted this blog to have as little mention of the virus that shall not be named as possible. However, all of what I’ve experienced in the last few days has been thanks to Covid-19.

At the moment, if you are allowed to enter a country, you will most probably be required to go through a 14 day quarantine period & coronavirus test. Some countries allow home quarantine, but many are using hotels as quarantine facilities. You can imagine that this is taken very seriously.

I entered Australia through Brisbane Airport & it happened to be on the day the country had reported their highest number of new cases within 24 hours to date. From the time we left the aircraft, border security officers were around to make sure everyone was observing social distancing practices. Going through immigration was similar to an interrogation & although this can be normal, it was so much more serious. After clearing immigration, there was another checkpoint & this one was more of a health & quarantine check. The people working here were making sure all our quarantine arrangements were finalized & also getting a history from us – where we had been & who we had been in contact with over the last little while. This ended with each person being read a statement of what the consequences of breaching quarantine requirements would be & in all honesty, it felt like I was being read my rights & being arrested.

Australia & New Zealand Customs are infamously strict & every time I enter these countries, I feel like I’ve done something wrong simply by being. I believe the pandemic has made customs officers a lot more thorough in their jobs. So going through customs was far more intimidating than I have experienced in the past.

We left the airport & went straight to the hotel where we were to be quarantining (is that even a word?). You aren’t allowed to leave your hotel room. Yes, I know what the word quarantine means & most of the world’s population did experience a lockdown, but I don’t think you understand what staying in a single room is like. The windows don’t open so that means no fresh air. We are allowed to have things delivered & to order room service, but the things get brought to your door, the person knocks on your door & runs away. Trying to keep my mind occupied is challenging & the level of boredom I’ve hit is crazy.

Like I said, I didn’t want to mention the virus, but quarantine is a result of it & a reality for many people traveling now.

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Keep traveling, keep safe.

DanVenture Travels