If you follow me on Instagram, you might know that I recently spent a week in the Dominican Republic. I love traveling and I knew I wanted to get out of the country as soon as Canada got rid of its mandatory quarantine rule. In this post, I’m sharing how I picked my destination and tips for planning your first post-covid trip!
Check For Covid Test Requirements
One of the biggest factors stopping people from traveling is the covid test requirements. It is relatively pricey in Vancouver (approximately $250) and really adds up on the travel cost. However, there are countries that do not require a covid test to enter and Dominican Republic is one of them.
Click “Entry Requirements” in Air Canada’s Travel Hub. You can then see countries based on different categories of covid testing and quarantine requirements. If you’re fully vaccinated, there are 51 countries right now that do not require COVID-19 testing or quarantine to get in! Next on my list is Costa Rica or Panama.
Check for Flight Schedules
The next thing before deciding on a destination is to check for flight schedules. There might have been direct flights to your destination before covid, but a lot of flights have been pulled. For example, there were definitely direct flights to Punta Cana from Vancouver before. But now, the shortest flight was connecting through Montreal and only operating a few times a week. I usually use Google Flights to look up flight options.
Look into Insurance Options
Normally, I never look into insurance options when I traveled. But with things changing on a dime, it may be worthwhile to purchase travel insurance and medical insurance. I purchased Careflexplus through AirCanada which allows you to cancel for full refund up to 25 days before departure or receive a travel credit.
Free PCR Tests at All Inclusive Resorts
A huge determining factor for us booking at the Excellence El Carmen was the Covid Test. The resort offered on site PCR testing AND it was free! The process was very convenient and their concierge team was extremely diligent on getting us tested and providing the results. I believe all of the Secrets resorts are offering this service which makes coming back into Canada painless!
Check Covid Cases in the Destination Country
Lastly, make sure to check the covid cases and trends in the destination country. After we decided on doing an all inclusive and looking up countries without covid test requirements, we had to take Mexico off the list as their covid cases were rising too high. However, things change all the time and now Mexico has dropped quite a bit. It’s important to pay attention as it’s not only for your safety but it’ll also affect the opening hours of restaurants and tourist attractions.
Hope this article helps in planning your first post covid trip out of country! Remember to stay safe and travel responsibly!
Read my travel guides to Curacao