The Girl Who Goes

independent, intentional travel

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What It’s Like to Fly Internationally During Coronavirus

airplane coronavirus pandemic

As my second year in Spain was coming to an end, it was time for me to plan my return home. Remembering the true horror of last summer spent in Madrid — record-breaking heat waves and a lack of air conditioning — I knew I needed to leave Madrid before July. But in April, at the same time I was considering my exit, the coronavirus pandemic was also taking over the world… particularly Europe. Hoping that things would return to some semblance of normal by then, I decided I would leave Spain on July 1.

In general, I’m accustomed to paying about $300 one way from Madrid to a large U.S. city such as Boston or Chicago. Then, I use Southwest points accumulated from my former life as a traveling tech consultant to get me back to Kansas City. In this case, however, I had to make a choice: pay $2,000+ for a semi-direct flight, or pay $200 to fly Madrid-Paris-Newark-(stay overnight)-LaGuardia-Kansas City? [Read more…]

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Coronavirus Update: Madrid, Spain – May 25, 2020

Day 1 of semi-freedom

Another month has passed since my last post, but it seems that May has gone more quickly than April, and MUCH more quickly than March.

In my last update, I wondered how much longer it was going to be until the end of lockdown. Well, just a few days later, I got my answer. [Read more…]

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Coronavirus Update: Madrid, Spain – April 27, 2020

Hi everyone. It’s been over a month since I last wrote something, and I think that may be the longest time I’ve ever gone without posting. As of this month, I’ve been writing as The Girl Who Goes for three years! (A fact I was reminded of when I was prompted to renew my domain registration.) So, it looks like I’ll be the girl who’s going for the next three years, at least. 🙂

Obviously, Spain has been in the news a lot over the past couple of months. It’s the second-most affected country in the world after the U.S., and third in number of deaths after the U.S. and Italy. That being said, as I begin Week #7 of lockdown – honestly, it’s more than just quarantine – I have seen a lot of changes over the past 6 weeks and glimmers of hope for the next weeks to come. [Read more…]

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Coronavirus Update: Madrid, Spain – March 20, 2020

coronavirus quarantine

Day 1 of coronavirus quarantine in Spain

It feels a little bit like end times, doesn’t it? A month ago, even though we knew that coronavirus was happening *elsewhere* in the world, we didn’t anticipate its spread to be quite this serious and far-reaching.

My mom came to visit me the last week of February into the first week of March. We traveled down to Sevilla, in Spain’s southernmost region of Andalucía. Spain’s coronavirus cases at that point were around 100. We didn’t notice really any change in daily life; all we did differently was be more vigilant about washing our hands. [Read more…]