A Long Journey to Back to Taiwan

Pre-Covid19, it took me about 13 hours to fly back to Taiwan from New Zealand. But it became a much longer trip after Covid-19.

I think my journey back home should be counted from 8th April because the Taiwanese Government required the passengers to have a PCR test and get a negative result 48 hours before departure. In order to avoid being infected, I decided to do isolation at home from 8th April, even though I was going to leave New Zealand on 3ird May.

Unfortunately, I got Covid-19 on the day I started isolation.

I told the receptionist that I must have a PCR test 48hours before departure and the nurse checked my flight when I had a PCR test. But I was unable to get the report before I left Nelson at 5a.m. on 3ird May. I had worried about my PCR report until I got it at Auckland International Airport at 8:20 a.m..

To my surprise, no one checked my PCR report on my fly back to Taiwan.

After arrived Taipei International Airport, the passengers would get a message from Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Command Center. My sim card had expired, but my clever son sent a new one to my niece who was going to offer her place to let me do quarantine. My niece transferred the message to me when she got it, so that I could fill in the form and finished Quarantine Application Process using the International Airport internet.

Although I had finished the process faster than the other passengers, I waited for my luggage for nearly 2 hours, had the saliva test ,then took a so-called epidemic prevention taxi.

When I arrived in Taichung, it was 11p.m. and I was exhausted. It seemed I have had a long fight.

Despite the fact that I stayed in Taiwan, I have to do ten days quarantine before I could go home. My niece’s house was very spacious and elegant, but I had a dream about packing my luggage to go home every night, so I left my beautiful jail at 6 a.m. as soon as my quarantine was over and I didn’t even care it was raining cats and dogs.