Where were we?

For those not familiar with the gem that is Puerto Vallarta, it’s in the Southwest portion of Mexico in the Jalisco state. Many folks are familiar with Cabo San Lucas, on the extreme southern point of the Baja Peninsula off the West Coast of Mexico; Puerto Vallarta is even further South (and somehow still in the Central time zone). More folks are probably familiar with Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula on Mexico’s Southeastern seaboard; Puerto Vallarta is essentially the same latitude as Tulum, just off the West coast rather than the East.

To get to the resort, we took a 2-hour flight from Springfield to Houston, a 3 ½ hour layover in Houston (hello airport lounges!), and a 2-hour flight from Houston to Puerto Vallarta. From there we took a roughly 45-minute cab ride through the heart of Puerto Vallarta to get to the more secluded area where our resort was along the riviera. So, all-in-all, not too bad of a journey each way.

How’d we pay for it?

We’d been looking for an all-inclusive resort to spend a week just relaxing somewhere in the Caribbean region, but the eye-watering prices were well beyond what we were wanting to spend on ourselves. On a whim we looked at Hilton since we have a pile of points with them and, low and behold, discovered they have a handful of all-inclusive resorts, including the Hilton Vallarta Riviera where we stayed, accepting points.

The nice thing about this being a Hilton property is that we got to enjoy many of the same benefits as with their other hotels. Specifically, because we have diamond status, we’re eligible for complimentary room upgrades (if available), access to the club lounge (better drinks and snacks, and unbeatable views of the coastline), and discounts when they run specials.

For us, we were able to book our regular room completely with points and no resort fees. Also, because they were running a special, our 5^th night was free; we only had to pay (again, with points) for the other 4 nights. Nice. When we got to the resort, we asked about room upgrades and were happy to find out they did have better rooms available. While we did have to pay a slight fee for the better room, it was discounted due to our diamond status. Beyond that, we paid for the upgrade using our Hilton Aspire American Express card, meaning we earned 12x points for each dollar we spent in addition to the other benefits our status earns us. Not too shabby, eh?

About the resort.

The resort itself was nice and we enjoyed our stay. If you’ve stayed at other all-inclusive properties, this isn’t that. In other words, this definitely has the look and feel of a Hilton property, just in a much better location than we normally find ourselves. This isn’t to say anything bad about the property, but many of the other all-inclusive resorts have over-the-top luxury everywhere you look; this resort didn’t, but we were still plenty happy with our stay. It is family friendly, so there were a lot of kids running around, but for the most part, they had their own areas (pool and kids club) and it wasn’t too distracting. However, they sure did love to scream as they ran into the ocean in the middle of every night. We slept with the balcony door open to listen to the waves, so this was rather disruptive. Are we old? We might be old.

The entire resort, or at least the part where the rooms are, is only a single room deep. This means that all of the rooms face the ocean and none face inward to the jungle at the back of the hotel. Our room had a comfy king-size bed, small couch and dining area (table and 2 chairs), a dresser and closet, and a spacious bathroom with a rainfall shower that we nearly tried to bring home with us. Oh, and we had a full balcony with two chairs and a small table; perfect for morning coffees and evening glasses of wine. Our dresser also had the minibar, which was stocked daily with beer, water, sodas, juice, coffee, and a few snacks – included in our stay. I’m also fairly certain there was a large TV on the wall, but that’s not usually something we touch on vacation, so we didn’t take note.

Food and Drinks

Though the resort was all-inclusive, the dining and drinks were a little tricky at first. True enough, all of the restaurants and room service were included in the all-inclusive package; however, most of the restaurants had a small portion of their menus that cost extra. Anything costing more was marked, both noting that it cost more and the price you’d later find on your checkout bill. If you’re like us and didn’t want to spend more on things we’d already paid for, we just avoided those items and picked from the plenty of other options on the menus.

We found the food tasty, though in some restaurants the portions were a little on the smaller side (relative to American-sized portions, that is). This is me giving you permission to order two appetizers, an entree, and a dessert. The first morning we ordered room service breakfast and it was WAY too much food – we had overordered after the previous night’s dinner portions were too small. Oops. Drinks were similar; most of them were free, but at some of the restaurants you could pay for either a top-shelf beverage or if you wanted an entire bottle of wine. Again, we weren’t interested in spending more, so we opted for a glass of wine (at a time), rather than buying the whole bottle. And if we wanted better quality spirits we’d head to the Club Lounge for our drinks. That said, we found most of the bars throughout the resort were serving spirits that were at least as good as what we’d buy at home, if not better.

As for food options, there were plenty of restaurants included in your resort fees. These included Asian, Sushi, Mexican, Italian, seafood, a steakhouse, and more casual beach-type restaurants. The steakhouse did require reservations, but otherwise, you could eat at any of the restaurants whenever you liked for dinner (5.30 – 10.30 pm). Breakfast was from 7 am–noon in two different restaurants and was buffet-style with tons of options; lunch was available in the open-air beach-type restaurant just off the main pool, a couple of food trucks near the pool deck, and at a grab-n-go shop near the lobby. Room service was available 24 hours each day, with 3 different menus (breakfast/lunch, dinner, and late night).

If you deal with food allergies, you will be happy to know there were plenty of options. In each restaurant we walked into we were asked about food allergies by the host, however, I don’t think those were transferred to the kitchen. We had to patrol the menu and ask a lot of our own questions. Only the Asian restaurant sent the waiter back to tell us when something contained an allergen. The gluten-free options were quite tasty and while the dairy-free options were a bit hard to find in the dessert department (I hope you like sorbet) and at the Italian Restaurant (hello creamy cheese!), there was still plenty of regular food to be had. Vegetarian, doable. Vegan? You may struggle a bit. I hope you really like salad greens and chips and guac. Pescatarian, you’re set. There’s so much seafood! Yum!

Beyond the food options, there were various bar options – the Mojito Lounge and the Martini Lounge, as well as the Sky Bar (adults only) that sits atop the middle building of the hotel. Sky Bar offered amazing ocean views, two hot tubs, and a bar staffed with their most talented mixologists. We spent most of our time there relaxing and creating drinks with the very talented mixologist, Gerardo. There were also bars in the lobby and a swim-up bar at the adults-only pool on the ground floor. All that’s to say, we never found ourselves hungry or thirsty during our stay. We tried every option, except the Steakhouse – we ran out of days!

Excursions and Things to Do

The resort has a handy app you can download from a link you’ll receive via e-mail as soon as you check in or from the QR-code on your handy microchipped resort bracelet (we loved the bracelet because your key was always with you and was wood – no skin reactions to sweaty plastic). The app gives you information about all the restaurants, a resort map, and a host of other kinds of information, including information about the different excursions you can book. There were an impressive amount of things to do, from food tours to swimming with dolphins and diving, ATV tours of the beach and surrounding areas, and zip lines over the jungle canopy. All were at an additional cost, and usually between $100 and $250 per person, depending on what you wanted to do and how long you’d be gone. Plenty of great options, but we opted to relax at the Sky Bar soaking in the hot tub or reading a book, walking on the beach, whale watching from our balcony, and just hanging out at the resort, so we can’t give any reviews of the excursions.

The resort also boasts the Eforea Spa, which you can book in the app as well. Plenty of the usual treatments (massages and facials, for example) that will run you about as much as the excursions. There were plenty of times we thought about scheduling a massage, but relaxing at the bar/pool just takes up so much time that we never got around to it. Maybe next time.

Oh, and speaking of the beach, the one the hotel sits on is nice, though it’s a bit small. It takes about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. On the one end, you’re prevented from going much further than the hotel property line, as it ends in a rock cliff. The other end of the beach is pretty rocky and difficult to navigate, and so you’d need good shoes to be sure of your footing. Beyond that, the huge waves that constantly crash on that end of the beach make the rocks look awfully slippery, so be careful if you tempt the fates. But, the section of the beach immediately in front of the hotel, while small, was very nice. They’ve placed a few sections of rock not far from the shoreline that create 2 different beach lagoons that most people swam in. Start getting too close to the rock piles though and the lifeguards jump into action and start whistling at you (not compliments). Those waves were dangerous and could slam you into the rocks before you knew what was happening. During our stay the beach wasn’t overly crowded, so whether you wanted to go for a swim (the water was cold at first, but you quickly got used to the temperature) or a walk around the beach, there was plenty of space to do so. The high tide did completely cover the beach up to the wall for the pool deck, so you need to time your walk accordingly to find the sand at low tide.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, we enjoyed our time here and would go back again. As we said at the start of this post, it’s important to keep your expectations in check when going to new places. If you compare this to other Hilton hotels, it’s a great experience. If you compare it to other all-inclusive 5-star properties you might have been to in the past, this resort likely won’t quite live up to that expectation. Still, the location is great, the views are spectacular, the food and drinks were plentiful and tasty, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. All-in-all, a pretty great place to spend a few days before getting back to the grind and returning to winter.

The post An Easy Escape to Mexico at an All-Inclusive Resort first appeared on The DeBode Way.

Whenever possible, we fly out of our small airport in Springfield, Missouri (see prior post for reasons why). Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to find flights, the least expensive options, by far, left out of Kansas City. At 6.30. In the morning. Keeping in mind it’s about 3 hours from our house to the airport, that meant we’d need to leave home between 1.30 and 2.30 in the morning, to make our flight. Does that even count as morning?! Rather than start our trip on an exhausted note, we opted to stay at an airport hotel instead. Because we’re fans of Hilton hotels, we stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn that was roughly 5 minutes from the airport, on points. Win #1. We left the afternoon before, making the 3-hour drive to the hotel without hitting traffic. Win #2. That meant we could enjoy dinner and head to bed early for a good night’s sleep. Win #3. At least that was the goal. Unfortunately, neither of us slept well (not because of the hotel), but we at least were able to stay in bed longer, not needing to catch the shuttle to the airport until about 4.30am. Win #4. Oh, and if you ever go this route, make sure you ask the hotel if they have a Park-and-Fly rate. Our hotel did, so rather than spend $20-$30 per day, we paid $5 per day, and the hotel shuttle picked us up when we arrived back in Kansas City and brought us straight to our car. Win #5.

We got to the airport with plenty of time before we took off and, after a very quick turnaround in Houston (sadly, not enough time to visit the Centurion Lounge), we were off to Cancun!

We should point out that we weren’t technically in Cancun. We did fly into Cancun and, like Cabo, it was an experience. We filled out the familiar Immigration paperwork (one page form for each person; make sure you keep the bottom portion they give back to you at the desk – stick it in your handy dandy passport holder! – and, having nothing to declare to Customs, we exited the airport after a quick stop at the facilities. This is where you must prepare and brace yourself for battle. Upon leaving the Customs area we were inundated with a deluge of very nice folks trying to sell us things, mostly timeshares or egregiously priced transportation to whatever hotel or resort we were heading to. Different people have different tools in their arsenals to deal with the onslaught. Some, like Jason’s dad, just ignore the chaos and repeated requests, instead keeping a laser-focus on the exit. Others, like Jason, repeatedly say No gracias in an increasingly firm manner. It’s helpful to keep in mind that, while it might be irritating, these are just regular folks doing what they’re paid to do. It just so happens what they’re paid to do isn’t something I appreciate. Still, no need to be hostile or mean, just say no thanks and keep walking.

But this underscores an important point: make sure you’ve arranged transportation from the airport to your hotel/resort before you leave the US. Once you do, they’ll all tell you the same thing: plunge through the throng of salespeople and then keep going until you see your arranged transportation (they’re in different, brightly-colored uniforms outside). This happened in both Cabo and Cancun, so be prepared.

Okay, you’ve broken through the mosh pit that is the people trying to sell you things, now you’re all set, right? Wrong. Now you get to wade your way through the Mexican Flea Market (their words, not ours). Curious? It’s exactly what you’d imagine it to be: a bunch of stalls setup immediately outside the airport with folks trying to sell you all manner of trinkets and souvenirs. There are also a few bars scattered among the stalls, but beware: you may need to cash in your 401k to buy a drink. Seriously, margaritas were something like $45 – and yes, that’s US dollars. Push thorough this and your reward is the never-ending line of pre-arranged transportation. This, at last, is where you’ll find your hotel/resort shuttles or other privately arranged transports. Now, sit back and relax as your driver takes you on a leisurely drive to your destination. Oh, and if you’re thirsty (for water or an adult beverage), feel free to ask your driver to make a pit stop; it’s completely fine for passengers to have open containers. And don’t worry; if you forget to ask, your driver will likely ask you.

Like we said earlier, we weren’t technically in Cancun for our trip. Yes, we flew into the Cancun airport, but after that, we headed South. Specifically, about an hour South of the airport you’ll arrive at the ever-popular destination of Playa del Carmen, home of many picturesque resorts and where we honeymooned eons ago. Go another hour South and you’ll find yourself in Tulum, also home to plenty of resorts we’d all like to stay at. Almost right in the middle of Playa del Carmen and Tulum is Akumal, which is where we called home for three glorious days at Secrets Akumal, an adults-only, all-inclusive resort. We had a junior suite, tropical view, which is essentially a regular room (king-size bed, sitting area, bathroom, etc.) and a covered balcony that looked out at what appeared to be jungle, but was really planted trees and plants that separated the rooms from the rest of the resort. We’ll include a link to the resort so you can peruse at your leisure, but know it was everything we hoped it would be and we highly recommend it, even at the lowest tier. The only thing we weren’t happy about was only being there for 3 days. Otherwise, it was paradise. Drinks were free flowing, plenty of restaurants with different kinds of food and dress requirements, and of course pools and lounge chairs on the beach. How can you go wrong?

We arrived at the resort late Sunday afternoon and immediately had lunch; keep in mind we’d been going since about 4am and hadn’t really eaten anything yet. After lunch we explored the property a bit before heading to check out our room and getting ready for a late dinner (and drinks). Monday morning was pretty low-key; we slept in and had room service for breakfast (also included in your resort fees). In the afternoon we got ready for Jason’s cousin’s wedding (the reason we were there) and headed out for the festivities, more on this later. Tuesday was a day with no plans, as more than a few folks were sleeping off hangovers (not us, thankfully). So, much time was spent on the beach visiting with family. We also sat for the treacherous COVID test. Keep in mind the US currently requires a negative COVID test within 24 hours of your flight back home. Most of the resorts have facilities on-site and the test is covered in your other fees. Make sure you check out the hotel/resort’s quarantine policy just in case you get a positive result (but honestly, is quarantine in paradise really a bad thing?). While in Cabo we had to schedule our test via a QR code we scanned at the front desk; in Akumal we scheduled the test during the check-in process. Fortunately (unfortunately?) our brain pokes returned a negative result, so we were cleared to come home, to the snow.

The wedding we attended was at Blue Venado near Playa del Carmen, just a short 20 minute shuttle ride away from the resort. It. Was. Gorgeous. Let me just drop their link right here and you’ll see exactly what I mean. It was fabulous. Highly recommend, it almost makes us want to get married again, almost. A beautiful outdoor ceremony on the shaded beach followed by vegan appetizers and drinks, an amazing vegan dinner (Tasha was pumped about the vegan/GF menu – she could eat everything!!) and one heck of a dance party! We were exhausted but had so much fun dancing the night away to Imperial Band! Jason’s family knows how to throw a helluva swelluva party! We shut the party down and took the shuttle back to the resort where we promptly crashed for the night.

Checking in for our flight was a bit different than when we were in Cabo. For that trip we flew home on United Airlines, which has a new addition to their app called the Travel Ready Center. Basically, when it’s time to check in for your flight, the app will send you there first, where you answer COVID questions, upload your test results, and so on. Once done, it’ll automatically take you through the standard check in process. On the way home from Cancun we flew American, which has a different process. Rather than have everything in their usual app, American requires you to download and use the Verifly app. Once downloaded, you have to create a trip, which requires a little information about your flight home. Then you take care of all things COVID in that app, and, once complete, it syncs with the American app so you can check in like usual. When it works, like it did for us, it’s not much of a pain, though it would be nice for it to all be integrated in a single app. But when it doesn’t work, as was the case for some of our family members, you can’t do any of the check-in process until you get to the airport, including the COVID procedures, which means standing in line to check-in manually. Download the app before you leave, folks.

Other than this new step, the journey home was actually simpler than in Cabo. We didn’t have any additional forms like we did at the airport in Cabo; everything was in the app, which was nice. Because we flew with carry-on bags only, we went straight to security, which was pretty quiet. We read stories from other folks who had been in Cancun around Christmas that it took about 3 hours to check-in, get through security and to their gates. Our experience, by contrast, took about 15 minutes from the time we walked in the airport and through security. Again, we had carry-ons which usually speeds things up and we weren’t travelling at peak holiday season, so make sure you budget enough time if you do differently. So, after a thorough perusing through the Duty Free store, we headed for lunch with Jason’s parents and then onto our gate for our flight to Dallas. Customs in Dallas was equally low-key thanks to our Global Entry membership. If you don’t remember from our earlier post, while everyone else has to stand in lengthy lines, if you have Global Entry you go to a different area, which is almost always completely empty. Step up to the kiosk and have it snap your picture and it’ll spit out a receipt with your information. Walk around the kiosks to the Customs agent, hand them your receipt, and you’re on your way. It really is that easy. Yes, it’s also a little creepy how it knows your information from just your picture. Technology is amazing.

We also discovered that, at least in Dallas, there are TSA Pre-check security lines after Customs! There were two options: go to the security line that Customs naturally ends at (no TSA Pre-check, which means unpacking everything and disrobing to scan) or follow the signs to the next regular security area with TSA Pre-check. In our case, it was about a 5-minute walk, which was well worth it. After clearing security, we were off to our gate for the flight back to Kansas City. Once there and with our bags (we had to check Jason’s bag in Dallas because he bought Scotch in the Duty Free store), we called the hotel and they sent the shuttle to come get us so we could pick up our car and make the 3-hour drive home. We rolled in the driveway at about 1 am and Tasha immediately asked when the next trip was. And so the planning process begins again.

Still dreaming of Mexico…

The post Our Big Secret: Midwest Chill to Luxurious Paradise in Mexico first appeared on The DeBode Way.

What’s it like travelling right now? This has to be one of the more common questions we’ve been getting recently, and so we wanted to share a recent travel experience to Mexico. To be sure, there are all kinds of people having all kinds of experiences right now, so we don’t suggest ours is the only version of the story. Still, we’ve found that, even with the added steps, travel is still entirely doable (and enjoyable!), so here goes.

Travelling to Mexico. Our recent travels took us South of the boarder to Mexico. Specifically, to Cabo San Lucas, down at the Southern tip of the Baja Peninsula. We flew out of the airport here in Springfield. We’re a bit spoiled, because our airport isn’t huge and so we can usually get through the various checkpoints a bit faster than folks travelling at larger hubs. We got to the airport about 90 minutes before our flight time (again, a perk of a small airport) and immediately went to the check-in counter so we could drop off our checked bags. We don’t typically check bags, but we were going to a condo and so took a bit more than if we’d gone to a hotel. In any case, our line wasn’t very long, with only a few folks ahead of us. Dropping our bags and getting our boarding passes didn’t take more than about 10 minutes and we were on our way to visit the fine folks in TSA Security. Because we have TSA Pre-check, we went left when others went right. To put this in perspective, there were probably 20 people in the non-Pre-check line while there was no one in the Pre-check line, so we said thanks and waved goodbye to TSA (always say thanks to them) in about 5 minutes.

Other than having to wear a mask in the airport and and on the plane, our flight from Springfield to Houston was pretty normal. Our ‘meal’ was the usual soda/juice/water/tea and pretzels/cookies and, like other places, we could drop our masks so long as we were actively eating or drinking and then put them back up between bites. We met up with Jason’s parents in Houston after spending some time in the AMEX Centurion Lounge (hello credit card perks!). Things in Houston were pretty similar to those in Springfield: compulsory masks but otherwise a fairly normal experience. We did end up having a roughly 3-hour delay after getting on the plane. They said it was due to a mechanical issue (something about a valve in one of the engines…seems reasonable to delay us to fix that), but several passengers around us noted the plane was a bit fuller after the delay, leading some to wonder whether another flight had been cancelled and United was trying to delay us long enough to get some of them in the open seats on our flight. In any case, we finally took off and had an uneventful flight to Cabo. The valve must have been working fine.

On the descent into Cabo, we received the usual entry paperwork to complete. With that in-hand and our passports at the ready, we made it through Customs and Immigration pretty quickly. In fact, there was almost no one in Customs at all other than our flight (perhaps because of our delay?), so we walked right up to the first officer, got our passports stamped, said thank you (again, always say thank you in Customs), and continued on our way. Getting out of Customs would have been just as fast, but there was a single officer taking the declaration forms for our entire flight, so the line got a little lengthy. Still, from the time we got off the plane to the time we were in our taxi couldn’t have been more than about 45 minutes. We handed over our declaration forms and got the bottom part back – don’t lose this, you need it to get back out of Mexico! Again, most of that time was spent waiting to get our bags (are we the only ones whose bags are always the last off the plane?!) and standing in line to leave Customs.

Being in Mexico. This was Tasha’s first time in Cabo; it had been about 15 years since Jason had been there. But, for all that, our time was pretty much as expected. The resort we stayed at did require masks to be worn in all public places, even outdoors, but it wasn’t exactly strictly enforced. We did need to wear our mask in the restaurant (a buffet), but only while we were at the buffet getting food. We did need to wear them in the taxis, but most of the taxi drivers’ masks didn’t cover their noses, so we’re not sure how strictly they would have enforced the mandate if pushed: we didn’t try (while we’re certain they’re nice folks, the Mexican Federales were not on our list of people to visit). Otherwise, things were pretty…normal. Jason’s grandparents (the reason we were in Cabo in the first place) have been wintering over in Cabo for the last 30 years and they said the cruise ship traffic off the cost was about back to pre-pandemic levels and that the resorts seemed to be at regular capacity and operations, except for the masks.

Travelling back to the US. This was where our travelling experience was the most different/new. Shortly before we left the resort, we had to scan a QR code at the front desk and fill out a form saying we didn’t have any COVID symptoms and hadn’t been around anyone with COVID symptoms. Once that was submitted, we received an e-mail confirmation (more on this later). In addition, we had to schedule COVID tests no more than 24 hours before we left the country. Because we’re both fully vaccinated, the US government used to require a COVID test no more than 3 days before returning home, but that had recently been updated to 24 hours, the same as for folks who had not been vaccinated. This was easy enough to do; another QR code and a few questions secured our appointments. The test itself wasn’t at all pleasant; being poked in the brain hurts! But, it was over fast enough and about an hour or so later we received e-mails indicating a negative test result (again, more on this later).

When checking in for our flight back to the US, there was a bit more information to include, but we were able to do everything through the United app on our phones via their Travel Ready Center. In addition to the regular check-in questions and information, we also included our passport, GlobalEntry information, and screenshots of the negative COVID test result (you could also take a picture of a printed test result). Once that was in, everything else was pretty normal.

When we got to the airport in Cabo, we had to use a self-check-in kiosk to check our bags. We even printed our own baggage tags and put them on our luggage! That’s a new one, check this off Jason’s bucket-list (don’t ask why, there’s no explanation). Once that was done, we waited in a reasonably-fast-moving line to weigh and drop our bags and receive our boarding passes. Before we could go through security, we had to fill out another COVID form and show our declaration form we filled out when we landed in Mexico (remember, don’t lose this!). We handed our COVID form to another airport employee on our way to security. As it turned out, this was the same form we had to fill out using the QR code at the hotel, so we aren’t sure if we could have shown them the confirmation e-mail rather than fill out the form again, but we also didn’t realize this until later. Our TSA Pre-check does not work outside the US, so we had to go through regular security and, while it certainly took longer than the Pre-check lines, it didn’t take that long, and before long we were on the other side heading to the Duty Free shop (yesssssss!). Jason has a love of Scotch (Talisker Dark Storm) that you can ONLY get in the Duty Free shops across the world and his supply had run out due to lack of travel. He was elated to find some!

The flight back to the US was uneventful, as was Customs in Houston. We have GlobalEntry, and so we had no forms to fill out to go through Customs. Instead, we walked up to the GlobalEntry kiosks (all of them were open), had it take our picture and spit out a receipt with our information (a little creepy that it just knows based on our pictures), and then headed to the desk to be cleared for entry back home. Keep in mind that after going through Customs, you have to go back through TSA security before you can enter the rest of the airport. (Note, no, this doesn’t make any sense at all, and we have yet to find someone that can explain this need) Unfortunately, even though we were back in the US, there isn’t a Pre-check line in TSA security on the other side of Customs, so once again the shoes came off, we assumed the position, and…well, you know the drill. Or well, we thought we did. Tasha forgot her Kindle in her purse and was held back to rescreen – oops. But, once you’re through that, everything was pretty normal. Again, there’s a masking requirement, but otherwise, it was a fairly normal airport experience and flight back to Springfield on our tiny regional jet (aka, the puddle jumper we always seem to fly on back to Springfield).

So, in the end, other than a few extra forms, masks all day, and the one COVID test, our travel experience was pretty normal. Other than the 3-hour delay in Houston (not directly COVID-related), we didn’t really experience any disruptions or longer waits than is usual. Also keep in mind this was the week before Christmas, so if you’re travelling in conjunction with major holidays, you might have longer waits, more delays, and so on. But again, at least based on our experience, that’s all normal stuff to deal with during holiday travel, and not necessarily a result of the pandemic.

We have another trip to Mexico coming up, but we’re leaving through a major airport and only taking carry-ons. Once we see what that’s like, we’ll report the experience here so you can compare the two. But, at least based on our recent experience to/from Cabo, travelling internationally is still totally doable and not that much more of a pain than it used to be, at least to Mexico where there are no additional entry requirements. We’ll hope that’s the same answer we give after coming home from our next trip!

The post Travelling in a Pandemic: New changes, but still manageable. first appeared on The DeBode Way.