London Calling: My Much-Needed Escape..
Doris here and I Just Got Back!! haha…Well, I took a much-needed vacation to London and I’m back to work reenergised and ready to continue kicking it. Many wonder why one would choose to travel in these COVID times and especially to the United Kingdom which has one of the most stringent covid regulations, but with London being one of my favourite cities in the world, I was ready to literally pay the price for this escape.
So what has changed since the last time I traveled internationally? Not everything but quite a lot. The impact of covid on the travel industry means flights are considerably more expensive due to reduced demand and airlines trying to recover their losses of 2020. Also, passengers are required to wear masks all through the flight as well as other safety precautions on board. Luckily, in-flight dining is still provided, important to mention this as I once went on a local flight in Nigeria where refreshment was not provided because of covid; please make it make sense! Anyway, the long flight was pretty the same asides the glances and mean stares fellow passengers gave anyone if they coughed or sneezed.
We can probably agree that the most discouraging part of traveling right now, is the myriad of covid testing one has to undergo. There usually is a pre-departure test and depending on your destination, a post-arrival test and a period of quarantine. For the UK, all visitors from Nigeria have to quarantine for 10 days and take a test on Day 2, Day 8 and an optional test on Day 5 to shorten the quarantine period if that result is negative. This implies that at the very least, you lose the first 6 days of your holiday which definitely impacts on your total vacation period. But after all of the hassle, when you eventually go “outside”, the city is pretty much the same and you could go into some places and there wouldn’t be a mask in sight. I know people are supposed to keep their masks on inside public transportation and some places, but that is rarely adhered to and to be fair, it’s difficult to preach social distancing in the underground trains during rush hour, so make of that what you may.
However, I am quite thankful for the quarantine period as I used it to attend an online certification course and also get some much-needed rest. But once that was over, I went into the city to enjoy what was left of my vacation. I went to the West End to enjoy some of the new musicals and theatrical productions because the return of the theatre after lockdown meant there were many new shows. I recommend seeing Anything Goes at the Barbican Center and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium if vacationing there this summer. I also got a chance to catch up with friends and schoolmates in the city, one of whom was our former colleague Osasumwen, who’s currently studying in the UK. As an avid art lover, I visited museums/galleries to see the new exhibitions and also enjoyed exploring Shoreditch and Camden with all the street art and quirkiness.
In this Post-covid world, restaurants and venues require and enforce reservations before entry to their premises. This is to enable them maintain occupancy at certain levels and track and trace guests if need be. For this reason, you may have to reserve in advance to get into some places, and I advise you make those reservations quickly since your holiday may be shorter than usual. Nevertheless, inside these places, things are pretty relaxed and you can party and enjoy yourself without needing to social distance or wear masks all the time.
As always, shopping can be done online or in store but as someone who prefers in-person shopping, I had to resort to shopping online due shortness of my holiday and the relative convenience. But if you do go into the shops, there are longer queues at the fitting rooms and the tills — this I have no explanation for, so as usual let’s just blame Covid.
Well, holidays eventually come to an end and having to take another test before my departure from London and another after arrival into Lagos, meant I took six tests in total for my trip. Important to mention that you are required to book and pay for your post-arrival test and show evidence of payment before you can board any flights into Nigeria. I advise that you have that sorted before getting to the airport to avoid “Murphy’s law”. The payment portal may be unavailable or some other inexplicable issue may arise, so do not leave it till the last minute to avoid missing your flight.
All things considered, my holiday went pretty much as planned and London is just as I remember it to be — beautiful, bubbly and vibrant. I am glad I took some time to relax, clear my head and record episodes of my podcast in a different environment. Everyone deserves a holiday, and it’s always a great idea to look after number one.
