To travel or not to travel that is the question!

by Connie ann denise Pritchard (Australia)

I didn't expect to find Australia

Airfares and accommodation were reduced to prices so low I couldn’t resist. The world seemed to be at the grip of COVID-19 flu epidemic. To travel or not to travel that was the question! I finished nightshift proceeded straight to the international airport that’s right I didn’t even pack, I booked a package deal and took the plunge along with my well traveled passport. Excited by the thought of 7 days accommodation at the Novotel resort benoa bali, I had almost completely forgot about the mass panic of coronavirus. Landing at Ngurah international airport Denpasar I became nervous I had finished nightshift boarded a plane and in total been awake for 27 hours. Given a small yellow piece of paper I was asked to stand in line for thermal imaging to detect a presence of fever, I worried that I had begun to look tired, fatigue or even unwell. All was good my piece of paper was stamped and I was on my way in a bluebird taxi to the Novotel resort. Picture perfect paradise. The grand gesture of a private pool villa situated in the popular Watersport destination of Tanjung Benoa . Traditional Balinese architecture and luscious tropical garden’s provided a majestic atmosphere. I lay down on the deck chair dozing of into the sunset I wake up and sure enough it’s time to leave. It had all seemed like a dream seven days of Morning buffet breakfast, daily room delivery of fresh fruit and afternoon tea. I had practice good hygiene and travel abroad in the grip of an epidemic. I felt good refreshed and healthy but I didn’t expect to be treated like leper upon returning to work in Australia, I had seen the bizarre and selfish act of panic buying of toilet paper and felt ashamed to be called Aussie. However no one wanted to sit next to me because I had left the country, I had not been affected and clearly was no sick. My eyes welled up and tears fell down my cheek I could not hide them I was hurt.