Sunbolt
Jeremy
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2021
Hello all! We have made it to Portugal and have been on our Camino a few days now. It has been very stressful leading up to the trip, deciding whether or not to cancel, but we decided to go for it. TLDR: everything has been much easier than I was expecting. Here is the COVID travel detail:
We booked a pretty wonky flight using my work-earned Alaska Airlines miles. SEA -> LAX -> HEL -> OPO. Lots of time and transfers but cheap. Sorry. Lol.
We used Carbon Health (Alaska’s recommended partner) for PCR tests. I had a difficult time finding any better choice. All of the local drug stores either had no availability or no guaranteed turnaround time. The test needs to be within 72 hours of boarding for your actual Portugal flight as I understand it. So we paid the $170 each. They guarantee results by 2:00 pm the next day. The first flight was Thursday at 1:00 pm, we did our tests Tuesday at 5:00 pm, and got our results via email when we woke up Wednesday. I printed them and put a copy on our phones.
Because I overthink everything I had also booked a rapid PCR at Seatac airport at Xprescheck as a backup. Those are $250 each and will give you results in 1 hour while you wait. After we had done the Carbon ones though, I figured that was enough, so I tried to cancel the Xpres ones. They do not have an option to cancel over the internet - you have to call in. I called quite a few times and sat on hold forever and never got through to a human. So I basically walked up to the Xprescheck station the morning of the flight and canceled the tests like an hour before the appointment. They didn’t complain or try to charge me anything.
I brought with us six Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests. They cost $25 for 2 at Walgreens or CVS. I also brought our original CDC vacc cards in plastic sleeves. We signed up for the Clear health pass and the Washington state myIR system and generated our absolutely cheesy vaccination certificates. We did the Portugal visitor locator card online and it gave us a QR code. I took a screenshot of that. I made multiple printed copies of all of this, as well as digital copies on our phones. Did I mention I overthink things?
Even though we weren’t checking baggage, we had to go to a ticketing agent - the Alaska app wouldn’t give us our digital boarding passes. The agent asked us for our test results. The pdf we were given by Carbon was so cheesy. It was a simple document that I could have made myself in a minute in Word. There was no QR code or stamp or anything official looking. He glanced at it and we got our boarding passes.
Flying was normal (for COVID times). At LAX, we did not have to go through security again. We went up to the Finnair gate and the agent asked for our test results. No issues.
Flying Finnair was pretty nice. The food was fairly miserable but the plane was practically empty, and because it was a Finnish flight it was DEAD SILENT. Lol. Great for sleeping.
We landed in Helsinki and had to go through customs. The agent wanted just our passports, asked the basic “what is the purpose of your visit” and we were stamped and through. At the gate, the agent asked for the visitor locator card. He just glanced at the screenshot I had on the phone and said okay. Didn’t scan it. He also asked for proof of vacc. I think he was expecting we were EU citizens because he seemed a bit surprised when I pulled out the CDC cards, but he checked them over and said okay.
We landed in Porto and just walked right out of the airport. I thought there might be a second customs or a check of our tests or something but nope. Literally one minute after exiting the plane we were finding our taxi driver. He was wearing a mask and so were we, but he didn’t ask about tests or proof of vaccine.
I bought some MORE rapid antigen tests at the local pharmacy. They are super cheap, like €3 each or something. I was afraid the locals wouldn’t recognize the USA Abbott tests.
As far as lodging goes, so far:
Porto - private apartment off booking.com
Didn’t even ask about vacc/test.
Matosinhos - Fishtail sea house hostel
Entry was automated and no staff was present. We got a door code. Didn’t ask about vacc/test.
Vila do Conde - Venceslau Hotel
Front desk asked for proof of vacc or test - I gave him our original CDC cards and he looked at them and said okay.
Arcos - Quinta Sao Miguel de Arcos
Same as previous night.
As far as restaurants go, so far:
Outdoor dinner / lunch dining - none have asked for anything
Indoor seating at coffee places - none have asked for anything
Indoor dinner / lunch dining - one asked for proof of vacc. I pulled up the image on my phone of one of our CDC cards, he glanced at it quickly. I started pulling up the other one and he said okay, okay. It was clear that it was just a formality to him. Two others didn’t ask.
Walking around Porto, in the outside areas, people seemed very reasonable. If the area wasn’t too crowded, some people would be wearing a mask, others not. In any inside space, everyone wore a mask, period. The fashion seems to be to have the mask looped on your arm if you are outside and not around other people. It did seem that locals were masking more than tourists though. As we started the Camino and got out into the countryside, we would see most people masking even if there was none else around.
So in summary, I worried too much. As far as I can tell, if you can get here, things should be okay. We haven’t used any of our TEN rapid tests that we are carrying around with us every day. Lol!
The Camino so far seems quite sparse. Tonight in Arcos, there were only 5 pilgrims, including us, for dinner. We only see about 5-7 pilgrims on the road during the day. (We are doing the hybrid coastal to Vila do Conde, connecting to central at Arcos.) I have done one Camino before, and I can tell you it doesn’t feel THAT much different to me. The worst loss is having all hotel and individual room bookings instead of the albergues. That hurts. But otherwise we are having a wonderful time.
We booked a pretty wonky flight using my work-earned Alaska Airlines miles. SEA -> LAX -> HEL -> OPO. Lots of time and transfers but cheap. Sorry. Lol.
We used Carbon Health (Alaska’s recommended partner) for PCR tests. I had a difficult time finding any better choice. All of the local drug stores either had no availability or no guaranteed turnaround time. The test needs to be within 72 hours of boarding for your actual Portugal flight as I understand it. So we paid the $170 each. They guarantee results by 2:00 pm the next day. The first flight was Thursday at 1:00 pm, we did our tests Tuesday at 5:00 pm, and got our results via email when we woke up Wednesday. I printed them and put a copy on our phones.
Because I overthink everything I had also booked a rapid PCR at Seatac airport at Xprescheck as a backup. Those are $250 each and will give you results in 1 hour while you wait. After we had done the Carbon ones though, I figured that was enough, so I tried to cancel the Xpres ones. They do not have an option to cancel over the internet - you have to call in. I called quite a few times and sat on hold forever and never got through to a human. So I basically walked up to the Xprescheck station the morning of the flight and canceled the tests like an hour before the appointment. They didn’t complain or try to charge me anything.
I brought with us six Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests. They cost $25 for 2 at Walgreens or CVS. I also brought our original CDC vacc cards in plastic sleeves. We signed up for the Clear health pass and the Washington state myIR system and generated our absolutely cheesy vaccination certificates. We did the Portugal visitor locator card online and it gave us a QR code. I took a screenshot of that. I made multiple printed copies of all of this, as well as digital copies on our phones. Did I mention I overthink things?
Even though we weren’t checking baggage, we had to go to a ticketing agent - the Alaska app wouldn’t give us our digital boarding passes. The agent asked us for our test results. The pdf we were given by Carbon was so cheesy. It was a simple document that I could have made myself in a minute in Word. There was no QR code or stamp or anything official looking. He glanced at it and we got our boarding passes.
Flying was normal (for COVID times). At LAX, we did not have to go through security again. We went up to the Finnair gate and the agent asked for our test results. No issues.
Flying Finnair was pretty nice. The food was fairly miserable but the plane was practically empty, and because it was a Finnish flight it was DEAD SILENT. Lol. Great for sleeping.
We landed in Helsinki and had to go through customs. The agent wanted just our passports, asked the basic “what is the purpose of your visit” and we were stamped and through. At the gate, the agent asked for the visitor locator card. He just glanced at the screenshot I had on the phone and said okay. Didn’t scan it. He also asked for proof of vacc. I think he was expecting we were EU citizens because he seemed a bit surprised when I pulled out the CDC cards, but he checked them over and said okay.
We landed in Porto and just walked right out of the airport. I thought there might be a second customs or a check of our tests or something but nope. Literally one minute after exiting the plane we were finding our taxi driver. He was wearing a mask and so were we, but he didn’t ask about tests or proof of vaccine.
I bought some MORE rapid antigen tests at the local pharmacy. They are super cheap, like €3 each or something. I was afraid the locals wouldn’t recognize the USA Abbott tests.
As far as lodging goes, so far:
Porto - private apartment off booking.com
Didn’t even ask about vacc/test.
Matosinhos - Fishtail sea house hostel
Entry was automated and no staff was present. We got a door code. Didn’t ask about vacc/test.
Vila do Conde - Venceslau Hotel
Front desk asked for proof of vacc or test - I gave him our original CDC cards and he looked at them and said okay.
Arcos - Quinta Sao Miguel de Arcos
Same as previous night.
As far as restaurants go, so far:
Outdoor dinner / lunch dining - none have asked for anything
Indoor seating at coffee places - none have asked for anything
Indoor dinner / lunch dining - one asked for proof of vacc. I pulled up the image on my phone of one of our CDC cards, he glanced at it quickly. I started pulling up the other one and he said okay, okay. It was clear that it was just a formality to him. Two others didn’t ask.
Walking around Porto, in the outside areas, people seemed very reasonable. If the area wasn’t too crowded, some people would be wearing a mask, others not. In any inside space, everyone wore a mask, period. The fashion seems to be to have the mask looped on your arm if you are outside and not around other people. It did seem that locals were masking more than tourists though. As we started the Camino and got out into the countryside, we would see most people masking even if there was none else around.
So in summary, I worried too much. As far as I can tell, if you can get here, things should be okay. We haven’t used any of our TEN rapid tests that we are carrying around with us every day. Lol!
The Camino so far seems quite sparse. Tonight in Arcos, there were only 5 pilgrims, including us, for dinner. We only see about 5-7 pilgrims on the road during the day. (We are doing the hybrid coastal to Vila do Conde, connecting to central at Arcos.) I have done one Camino before, and I can tell you it doesn’t feel THAT much different to me. The worst loss is having all hotel and individual room bookings instead of the albergues. That hurts. But otherwise we are having a wonderful time.
