The road trip with Salvador, my boyfriend, and Emmanuel, our friend, was perfect until this day, Emmanuel started to tell us about the arrival of a Pandemic that was going to lockdown our city, Brisbane.
Every day, he told us the news looking always his phone to get more informed about it and how is gonna be, we didn’t believe him the first time, we thought it was almost like a joke or it was just something they said just to scares us.
But on our coming back to the city, we realized that it was true.COMING BACK OF THE ROAD TRIP
The restaurants, the shops started to closed, Everyone on the street was wearing a mask.
The news advised us to wear one of them at the beginning. We just did it because we thought that was useful and less dangerous with this situation.
It was the first difficulty, to found just a simple mask, we needed to wait after a lot of people at the pharmacy. Then, it was the time of food, we used to bought pasta, rice, cheap food to eat and this was the first aisle empty the first week we came back to the city.
Another day was the toilet paper. I really didn't understand this necessity or fear to buy the maximum of toilet paper…
NEXT DESTINATION ?
Our first option was Sydney, but the city was already in Lockdown and we couldn't do the travel until there because the borders were closed by flight, bus, train.
We could rent a car from Brisbane to Sydney but the budget to go was really important and too expensive for us.
The next option was to go to Melbourne the city of street art and multiple nationalities and good restaurants, perfect to work as a Uber eat for Salvador and I.
My experience with at Uber eat:
I blocked my account. I asked to work as a driver at Uber Eats. I did everything they asked me to do. Unless one detail, I didn't know at this moment.
I did the mistake to capture an old picture instead of an instant picture and this reason blocked my account. FOREVER.
YES, it was blocked, at least in all states of Australia... I asked to fix the problem with the company, they did not help me and they said it was impossible to work as a driver at Uber eats.Even if I couldn’t work as a driver at Uber Eats anymore, I had hoped to found another work opportunity in Melbourne.
But then the government reported to us that every border started to be closed and we couldn't take any flight, train to join other states except the permanent residents.
WHERE TO GO ?
So clearly at this time we panicked, we still wanted to stay in Australia but the rent, the food, the transportation, and others expend started to be complicated to pay and it was taking too much of our economies. I didn't want to spend all just on this without working and have an income.
FRANCE ?
After a big reflection, we wanted to go to France to spend our time during the pandemic and see what could happen next.
I was happy about this idea, to bring Salvador with me and show him my country, my city, my family, my friends.
But then after a few research, we found out that it was so complicated to bring him with me and to get him a visa in a short time. It would be almost impossible.
And we also find out that the border of France was going to be closed at this moment.
Even for me, it was going to be a problem, found a new job in France, with all going to be closed.
We were just stressed, we wanted to stay together by hook or by crook.MEXICO ?
The next Option was the country of Salvador, in Mexico.
We took rapidly the decision. Unfortunately, our time in Australia was ended. These 7 months in Australia were a huge experience for both of us.
I grow up so much on this trip, I did my first trip alone, I learned and spoke English, I made friends, I discovered a new culture.
I accomplished more than I wished.
A new chapter was going to start, I promised myself to come back to Australia one day, and to remember all this crazy time.
This was one of my best memories.
But this time was not the end, I was just going to continue but in another country.
Before leaving France, my first goal was to travel and never stop
this.NEXT DESTINATION
Three days after our road trip, we decided to go to Mexico, then we booked our EXPENSIVE flights. And one week after we were on our way to our next destination.
We said goodbye to everyone at the last party.
The early next morning we were at the airport.
Salvador was hungover.
People started to look at us because he was looking sick, he lay down on me, he was just tired.
Thirty minutes, before entering the gate of the airplane, two security guards take us aside and asked us a few questions about ourselves and how we were feeling.
We found out that people thought we had the covid and they were scared of us to enter the airplane.
They asked to check us out, we confirmed and explained we were just tired but fine and we just wanted to take our flight to Mexico. We came back to the lounge, and everyone was looking at us.
At this moment, I realized that the beginning of a crazy year was going to start.
The pandemic was starting at this moment.
Then we took the airplane to Mexico.
We did a stop in Los Angeles, My first stop in the USA.
From Australia to the USA, as a french, I needed the authorization to enter the territory called ESTA.
Electronic System for Travel Authorization. ESTA is an automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).Look if you need one and how to apply to have one:
One hour spending the time at the airport, waiting and eating, then we took the next flight to Mexico City.
We arrive in the morning on the direction to our Airbnb for a quarantine.
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/johannaghem/?hl=fr .
Thank you
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