When Lorne and I left Canada, we registered with “Canadians Abroad”. This free service keeps us connected to Canada and allows the government to contact us with important information in preparation for an emergency, instructions during an emergency, and important changes or updates to travel advisories for both Canada and the country for which we registered (Mexico).
In the spring of 2021 we received a notification from Canadians Abroad strongly recommending that we obtain a COVID-19 vaccination in the country in which we currently live. They indicated that whatever vaccine was readily available where we were, we should get.
In Mexico, the roll-out of vaccinations had been a bit slow, as Mexico had to source vaccine supplies from many other countries around the world. When our age group was called, the only vaccine available was Sinovac. We had our two doses, the first in June and the second in July. We were all set (or at least thought we were).
In August 2021, Canada opened their border again to allowed fully vaccinated visitors to enter the country. However, the only vaccines Canada accepted at that time to be considered fully vaccinated were Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson). Unfortunately, our Sinovac was not included in this list. This was a big problem now for us as it meant we could still travel back to Canada (as Canadian citizens) but would be deemed unvaccinated and would need to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. We were quite surprised by this as the Canadian government made it very clear that those Canadians living abroad should obtain whatever vaccine was available in the country where they were living, but later advised that they only accept a specific list of vaccines as proof of being fully vaccinated, many of which were not even available in some countries.
The second problem for us came about a month later when the government announced that effective November 30 all travellers departing from Canadian airports would need to be fully vaccinated to leave. This meant that if we had to rush back to Canada for any kind of family emergency, we would first need to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival but then we could not leave Canada as we would still be considered unvaccinated. Since we still have family in Canada, we had to find a way to fix this.
We spent a few days searching for options and finally found that our Sinovac vaccine was accepted to enter (and leave) the USA. We also found that almost every pharmacy in the USA had Pfizer, Moderna and the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccines available, even for foreigners. With countries starting to roll out the booster shots, we decided this was what we needed to do. We needed to fly into the USA and get the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) single dose vaccine as our booster, which would then allow us to fly in and out of Canada if necessary.
We were still quite hesitant about travelling anywhere, especially with the arrival of Omicron early in December but knew this was our only option, so we booked our flight for Las Vegas. We knew we could get discounted hotel rates there (thanks to our loyalty cards) which would offset the expensive airfare (airfares to anywhere seem extra expensive now). We decided we would go Dec 24 – Dec 30 as Lorne had some time off work during the holiday season. We started to look forward to our little vacation, to have a chance to do some shopping for things we cannot find here, be able to enjoy some of our favourite restaurants, and of course get the vaccine we so desperately needed.
We quickly found that travelling during COVID is not a simple thing. To fly from Cabo to Las Vegas, we required the following paperwork:
- Passport – usually the only document you need to fly anywhere
- Mexico Health Questionnaire – to confirm we are well enough to leave Mexico
- Proof of Vaccination – to confirm we are fully vaccinated to enter the USA
- Negative COVID Test – requirement for the USA taken one day prior to departure
- CDC Attestation – to attest that we are fully vaccinated and tested negative for COVID
- CDC Contact Tracing – our contact info in case we were in an area with a COVID outbreak
- Los Angeles Health Form – acknowledging we understand the CDC travel guidelines (required as we had a connection through LAX)
It took quite a while for us to sort through all the required paperwork and to establish a timeline as to when each one needed to be completed. Some needed to be submitted three days before travel, some one day before, some 12 hours before, and so on.
We also had to dig out and then sort through all our old winter clothes to find something to wear in Las Vegas. The December temperatures in Cabo had been 24C/75F in the daytime and 20C/68F at night. This was very different from Las Vegas which was forecast to be 10C/50F in the daytime and 2C/35F at night. I cannot remember a time we ever went on a vacation to a place colder than where we were living. Long pants, long sleeved shirts, sweaters, and warm coats were definitely required for this trip!
December 23, we arranged for our COVID test to be done. The USA required a negative antigen test completed one day prior to boarding the flight. This was the most nerve-wracking part of the whole trip, because if for some reason one or both of us tested positive, we would need to quickly cancel our flight, hotel, rental car etc. We heard about many tourists here testing positive the day before they were leaving and had to instead stay for two more weeks in quarantine until they were fit to fly again. This of course made us quite nervous, but later that afternoon we were both so excited to receive our test results with a great big “Negativo” written on them which meant we were good to go!
December 24, we were up at 5am and found it strange to be up while it was still so dark outside. We normally get up just after 7am when the sun is up and ready to greet us for the day. We got ready, packed our luggage into the car and headed to the airport to drop our car at the new Park & Fly near the Los Cabos airport. They shuttled us to the airport and even though we did the early online check-in the day before, we still needed to see the agent for them to review all the necessary documentation. The line ups for this are quite long and takes a while to get through as a lot of people are not totally aware of all the paperwork that is required to travel. When this happens, they are given the missing forms by the agent and told to go off to the side to fill them out. There were a LOT of people off to the side filling out paperwork!
Since we had everything in order, we managed to get through the line quickly. We then passed through security and waited at our gate for boarding. Our flight from Cabo to LAX was not full, so Lorne and I had a seat between us to spread all our stuff out on. Beverages and snacks were still limited (due to COVID), but it was only a 2.5-hour flight so wasn’t much of an issue.
We landed in LAX at 10:20am and needed to retrieve our checked baggage to clear customs and have our paperwork checked once again. Our connecting flight to Las Vegas wasn’t until 4:15pm, so we had a six hour wait until then. We could not re-check our baggage yet as they have a policy that baggage can only be checked within four hours of your flight, so we dragged our bags around with us as we went from terminal to terminal looking for a place to eat. Most food places were past the security checkpoint, but we could not go through security with our bags. We finally found a little food court in the Tom Bradley International Terminal, so we were able to grab some lunch and wait until it was time to check our bags in.
The six hours between flights went by surprisingly quick. We were able to check our baggage in after we finished lunch, passed through security, and then just waited at our gate. Our connecting flight left on time, and we arrived in Las Vegas at 5:30pm. We picked up our checked baggage, picked up our rental car and headed to Harrah’s to check into our room and go find some dinner.
The last time we were in Las Vegas was three years ago and of course, due to COVID, things were a bit different than the last time we were there. Masks were now mandatory inside all buildings, and I would have to say about 97% of the people complied with this requirement. There were bottles of hand sanitizer throughout the buildings, and even though it was quite busy (being the Christmas season), most people were still trying to keep some sort of social distancing happening.
While there, we ended up spending most of our time “off-strip” as we felt it would be better to be in less crowded areas than hanging out right on the busy strip. Still, we managed to have a good time enjoying some of our old favourite places to eat, along with trying some new ones. One thing we did notice with all the sit-down restaurants was there was typically at least a 45 – 60-minute wait to get a table no matter the time of day, and no matter if it was a fancy restaurant or simply something casual like Denny’s. We were always excited to walk into a place and see it was maybe only half full but disappointed when we were then told it was an hour wait for a table. This was due to the shortage of food service workers. And the ones that were working were run off their feet. Not only were there long waits to get a table, but it also often took a while to put your order in, get your food, and even pay your bill. We learned to accept this as part of the whole dining out experience, but there were many people not impressed and even became quite vocal about it to those workers who were simply trying to do their best.
We made sure to have a reservation in place for Christmas dinner well in advance so we would not have to wait hours to get in. After reading some recommendations, we decided on Osteria Fiorella, an Italian restaurant at the Red Rock Casino Resort. And it did not disappoint! Lorne had them serve our selections “family style” so we could both taste a little bit of everything. The whole meal and atmosphere were just perfect for the two of us celebrating Christmas away from home. (Check out the slideshow below to see which items we chose).
Right after Christmas, we headed out to get the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) single dose vaccine as our booster. The whole process was so easy. We simply went to the nearest Walmart and asked at the pharmacy if they had the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) single dose vaccine in stock. After confirming they did, they handed each of us a form to complete, they checked our ID, and within five minutes we each received the vaccination. Easy peasy, simply as that. There was no online registration, no appointment to wait for, and no cost to us. We were both so surprised (and grateful) as to how simple the whole process was.
December 30, we were up early so we could complete the required paperwork to fly home. The return paperwork included:
- Passport – mandatory for travel
- Mexico Health Questionnaire – to confirm we are well enough to enter Mexico
- Los Angeles Health Form – acknowledging we understand the CDC travel guidelines (required as we were connecting through LAX)
The two items NOT included on the list to return to Cabo were proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test. Mexico does not require anyone entering the country to be vaccinated or even to have a negative COVID test. So basically, flying from the USA to Mexico we were on a flight where we had no idea if people were vaccinated or if they were currently positive with COVID.
We had everything in order, so we finished packing and checked out of the hotel. We dropped the rental car at the airport and checked in for our flight. While waiting to board the flight, Lorne mentioned how weird it was that this was the first time we were leaving Las Vegas and not returning to Canada. He said it made him feel “weirdly disconnected” that this time we were flying to an entirely different country. We sat and discussed this for a while, how Canada still feels like home (even though we no longer live there) but yet we feel totally at home now living in Mexico.
The flight from Las Vegas to LAX was full and on time, leaving at 2:20pm. We arrived at LAX at 3:35pm and since this time our baggage was automatically checked right through to Cabo, we only had to find the gate for our next flight which was scheduled to leave at 5:35pm. However, 5:35pm came and went and the plane that we were supposed to be flying out on had not even arrived yet. We ended up being delayed over an hour and were so happy to finally board the plane and settle in for the last leg of our journey home.
The flight itself was uneventful, except for the guy sitting right behind me who kept removing his mask to talk to the girl sitting beside him. The flight attendants constantly came over to him to ask him to please put his mask back on. Each time he would apologize and put it back on, but within minutes, it was off again while he was talking. And apparently he had a LOT to talk about as he ended up talking for the entire flight, still with the flight attendants reminding him to put his mask back on.
When we arrived back in Mexico, we got off the plane and headed to the immigration area. This was our first time being able to skip the tourist line and go through the fast lane as a resident. This is truly one of the great perks of being a resident now. Immigration was a breeze, we collected our bags, went through customs, called the Park & Fly guys to come pick us up, and within 30 minutes of getting off the plane we were back in our car and driving home.
We spent a very quiet New Year’s Eve at home, as we were both still tired from a very busy week of travelling. However, the next day, Lorne felt a cold coming on. Then Jan 2nd, Lorne felt worse, and I started to feel sick. The following day we decided we should get a COVID test just to know if this was a regular cold (that we often got just after travelling) or if it was more.
And just like that – we were “Positivo” for COVID. We could not believe it. After staying safe here in Cabo through all the various COVID waves, we ended up catching it on our flight back from Las Vegas.
COVID for us was quite mild, for which we are truly grateful. We both had a bit of a fever for the first few days as well as headache, runny nose, gastrointestinal symptoms, and overall fatigue. Lorne also experienced major nasal congestion and a dry cough. We both ended up losing our taste for a few days, and during this time everything we ate had no actual taste other than just tasting salty, which was just weird, and we were glad this part didn’t last long. Our symptoms seemed to come in waves, and there were parts of the day where we felt fine and other parts where we were completely exhausted and immobile. The headache and fatigue (and Lorne’s cough) seemed to last the longest, even after we were considered no longer contagious. It took almost three or four weeks before we were both feeling more like ourselves again.
In the end, even with all the hassles connected to travelling right now, and even with both of us ending up with COVID, we have no regrets. It was all totally worth it to be able to get that booster which allows us to now enter and leave Canada once again.
Below are some of the highlights of our trip (which, as usual, are mostly food pictures… LOL!!)
We had heard that Pinkbox Doughnuts were simply amazing so we had to try them. They actually were SO amazing that we had to go back a second time to try some more! The ones we tried were:
- Mr. Blueberry – vanilla frosted doughnut filled with blueberry cheesecake, topped with cookies, white chocolate and blueberry drizzle.
- Porky Face – maple frosted “doughcro” (half doughnut/half croissant) topped with bacon.
- Have a Snickers – chocolate frosted doughnut topped with peanuts and caramel drizzle
- Blue Face – blueberry frosted “doughcro” (half doughnut/half croissant) topped with whipped cream
They were all so delicious, we could not pick a single favourite out of the bunch!
Enjoyed dinner at Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que in the Red Rock Casino Resort. I had the brisket, and Lorne ordered the “Build your own BBQ Combo” and chose the smoked half chicken, beef ribs, macaroni & cheese, southern braised greens and a side of Alabama white barbeque sauce. Delicious!
Above is a little video clip of “The Globe” at the new Resort’s World Las Vegas. The Globe is 50 feet in diameter, stands 40 feet high and has 8,640 triangular LED panels which project interactive images, containing 20 million pixels.
Resort’s World opened June 24, 2021, and is a resort, mall, and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip, built where the former Stardust Resort & Casino was. The resort contains three Hilton Hotels – Las Vegas Hilton, Conrad Las Vegas and Crockfords Las Vegas for a total of 3,506 rooms. Resort’s World is the first new resort to be completed on the Las Vegas strip since the Cosmopolitan, which opened in 2010.
We found this cool place at the new Resort’s World. Aubi & Ramsa is a unique boozy ice cream shop that sells ice cream made with premium alcohol. There is a wide range of flavours to choose from that are made from a variety of spirits. Lorne chose the ‘ABC’ which contained Amaretto, Bailey’s and Remy Martin Cognac. I chose the ‘Old Fashioned’ made with Woodford Reserve Bourbon and Cointreau. They both tasted like creamy cold versions of the original cocktails and we really enjoyed them.
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Well summarized events and very informative, Lots to learn from and seeing new changes happening around the places and different ways of how governments trying to handle the situation
I am also glad that now you have that feeling of secure and acceptance and comfortable to call that your home. Home is where your heart is. (home sweet home)
Love
Owen
Thanks Owen!
What an adventure! Glad you got through your Covid-19 experience relatively unscathed.
Thanks! We are so lucky as it could have been much worse, for sure.
I do so miss your stories, with all their details and punchlines! That is crazy that you went to get your Covid Booster and also got Covid in the process! Glad it was mild! Despite Erik working at Save-On Foods, he has escaped Covid and we three are now all triple vaccinated and so will hopefully remain Covid free. I’m thinking of going to cycle in Northern Spain this fall but will need to see how things are with Covid. It’s so weird not travelling for 2 years. Probably not so weird for you guys though since you’re basically permanently on vacation!
Hugs,
Jennifer
Thanks Jen! I always loved sharing those long stories that had a great punchline…LOL!! Glad you are all staying safe.