I am travelling for work for the first time since February 2020 and flying for the first time since July 2019!
The cause of the trip goes way back to the beginning of the pandemic. At the time, I had a return ticket on WestJet to Palm Springs to attend the 2020 Esri Developer Summit. That got cancelled, of course. I had a credit on my WestJet account that got extended for an extra year, but it was going to expire this spring. My boss, Kjetil, suggested that the Western Canadian people on the Core Technology team could meet in Vancouver in late October, so I bought a ticket a long time ago. Now late October is here.
It’s just a short trip. I’m traveling there today and coming back tomorrow. I’ve only packed my backpack, no suitcase. Wish me luck. 🚫🦠😷
Updated Friday
I’m back and in one piece. Compared to the horror stories from YYZ (Toronto Pearson), this was likely the most relaxing travel I’ve experienced in decades. The overall number of people in the airports (YYC and YVR) was much less, and I sailed through security and could move around or find a place to sit without being close to others. I followed the recommendations to be at the airport extra early, and I had some long waits, but comfortable. I took the Canada Line Skytrain from YVR to Waterfront in both directions, and that was just fine, too.
The only interesting meals out were both at Preston’s, the restaurant in the same hotel that we were staying at (Coast Coal Harbour). Dinner was Wednesday night with the team (Kjetil, Harold, Chris M., Andrea, Jim C. and Steven) and breakfast was Thursday morning with Kjetil and Steven). I could feel Tammy watching over my shoulder when ordering, so I think I got the interesting dishes that she would have ordered.
The weather in Vancouver was rainy, so there wasn’t much of an opportunity to wander around and be a tourist.
I wore my N95 mask on the plane, so I hope that I won’t come down with anything.
Safe travel.