Travel tales by Sheila

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Corona Effects on Travel

Stay at home.. Flatten the curve..

Hello my lovely readers, I hope you are all holding up well amid this global pandemic. Please stay home and only leave if you have to, let us help flatten the curve, we are in it together. And please remember to wash your hands as well as sanitize them regularly.

When the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, I have to admit I just brushed it off as a flu that will be easily contained in Asia. I went ahead and prepped up for the start of spring time. I booked my flights and even got cute outfits to resonate with spring. But the last few weeks have made me realize this is now a pandemic and every responsible and prudent human being has to adhere to the government directives on having a lock-down in a bid to contain the spread of the virus as microbiologists and virologists work towards finding a vaccine. Life in China is slowly getting back to normal and we all saw they had a total lock-down that its citizens did not take lightly. As the rest of the world deals with this, my heart goes out to Italy.

So, as the virus grew into a pandemic, travelers all around the world grew antsy as the airlines begun facing numerous requests for cancellations and refunds. Every time i logged on to my Air-France app, I was prompted to change my flight by either rerouting or changing my destination. Countries had not begun to close their borders so there was room to play around with my stopover, but I chose to neither cancel, reroute or change my booking.

The situation was getting worse in parts of the world and most travelers were expressing concerns and fears whilst others seemed optimistic. I was sure that it would only get worse and I remember texting my friend who had traveled to Sweden expressing my fears but she was also not so worried, I kept googling different scenarios and finally it dawned on me that I may have to shelve my travel plans. So I logged in to the airline website and I had the option of cancelling my flights and request for a refund or have an open travel voucher valid until December 2020.

I waited it out, a bit optimistic but also trying to be realistic. Countries shut down their borders worldwide and my country, Kenya, reported its first case of Covid19. This hit close to home and my priority was how i will follow through with the societal distancing the government was asking us to do. I stocked up on dry foods, long life milk and various household supplies- no, I did not and will not hoard tissue rolls. I do miss going out for a meal, meeting up friends and family for a drink and just doing simple errands. Nonetheless, I hope everyday that there is a vaccine found and that when we are all in it together, we can help flatten the curve. I now realize that there are far more important industries, institutions and markets that are heavily affected fiscally as well as the emotional and physical strain this is putting on the health workers who have to work so that we can stay home. This is not your chance to go on holiday and make merry, remember some of us have weaker immunity specially the elderly and some have underlying conditions whereby they cannot simply bounce back from this virus. Do not be a Covidiot, stay home and practice social distancing.

Let us echo what Martin Luther said during the Black Plague: “I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

Let us be kind and cautious. God Speed. We are now a global village.

Lotsa Love,

Shee.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

I read, I travel, I become… Derek Walcott

The gist of my blog has been to help newbie travelers realize that travelling can be quite easy with proper, prior planning. I have always tried to cut costs related to travel and channel this money towards shopping (cannot blame a girl for that lol). One thing that people tend to overlook is the importance of travel insurance- actually you will not get visas to some countries if you do not have valid travel insurance acquired before you submit your visa application. True story, sometimes at the passport control/immigration police stalls the officers may ask you for your travel insurance, return ticket and accommodation details. It is thus wise to have copies of the aforementioned documents on your person as you travel. You can actually breeze through passport control but it is better to be on the safe side.

You can purchase a single trip cover or an annual multi-trip cover depending on how frequent your travels are. I would suggest to pay for an annual cover if your travels are more than 2 times in an year.

Travel insurance comes in handy in case you lose valuables like your passport, an expensive gadget or even your luggage. Sometimes flights or baggage is delayed and some covers pay a certain amount for each hour or day your flight or luggage is delayed respectively. Air France delayed my luggage for a day so i got to Frankfurt am Main Airport only to realize that my luggage was left in Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and my carry-on case had basically stuff that could not help me go by. Fortunately, according to Air France policy, i was reimbursed 100 euros for each day i did not have my luggage as well as per the provisos of my travel insurance cover.

*Some few essentials before my luggage arrived in Frankfurt*

Sometimes due to an unforeseen event, one may miss their flight or have to cancel the said flight. So, imagine having to purchase a new ticket at full price? That is a very misguided decision. Insurance covers may provide for reimbursement for certain incidents so take advantage of what your policy covers.

Can you imagine falling sick abroad? How expensive that bill would be? Or having any kind of medical emergency and your local insurance cover cannot cater for the emergency? Acquiring a travel insurance policy with emergency medical benefits, will help pay for losses and emergencies during your trip.

It is also very important to ascertain which insurance firms are accepted by the specific embassy you are applying at. I have had a case where i was almost purchasing an annual travel cover via Resolution Insurance but out of sheer luck i called to ask for some clarification and the person handling my query informed me for a few days the firm is not issuing Schengen travel covers, and if i did not heed to that advice, my visa application would have been rejected as the cover would not be valid in the Schengen zone. I had to resort to using Heritage Insurance insurance firm. It is important to note though, that Resolution Insurance is my go to firm as their customer care is top notch, their rates are also quite affordable and their covers are pretty easy to grasp.

Some banks offer various cards with various benefits and i happen to have an I&M Bank Platinum Travel card that gives you the option to load your card and have the option of various currencies namely, GBP, USD and Euro. The card comes with a 1 year travel insurance cover.

Taking everything into account, purchasing a travel insurance cover is an expense you should not overlook. Safe travels lovelies!

How to Score Cheap Flights

Once a year, go some place you have never been…
Dalai Lama.

I was once having a chat with my cousin Kelvin (bro) about travel and how expensive he thought travel was. So many people have asked how i can pay hundreds of thousands to travel and i cannot help but chuckle. I also thought tickets cost a lot and well, they could, but with proper planning it is very easy to travel on a realistic budget. I follow a very simple plan that i will break down in the most basic form.

I pick a month i would love to travel and instead of inputting the exact dates for my travel, i select the whole month and pick the cheaper dates for my outbound and inbound flights. I will randomly pick July 2020 and my destination being Frankfurt in Germany.

I will then search for the flights, which will display most of the prices for each day i pick for both my departure and return flights, if you are a budget traveler then definitely pick the cheaper dates. I mostly pick the second cheapest flights because i am a Flying Blue member and i am garnering points/miles, i also use Emirates since i have a decent number of miles there. The beauty of having miles is that at some point you can upgrade to Business Class by using your cash plus miles (Hello champagne, comfort and class lol). So i mostly use Air France, KLM and Emirates to increase my Flying Blue and Skyward miles respectively (I will do a whole post on miles/points and upgrades).

I mostly avoid major holidays, Mondays and some weekends where the prices may be considerably high. But that is the technique i use to score cheap flights. It also helps to book your flight months or weeks ahead of your travel rather than too close to your date of departure. I mostly use Skyscanner, Momondo and Opodo as they have amazing discounts and if you go ahead to book a hotel or hire a car via their websites, you get massive discounts. It is important to note that depending on the hotels you choose, you could get more points that come in handy for upgrades, after-all, we all cannot afford to pay for Business or First class tickets on the spot.

I say you could fly to Europe from Africa at a paltry 446 pounds, i can see you rolling your eyes but trust me, for a measly 58,000KES you can fly from JKIA to CDG, Paris on a return ticket. People tend to shy away from cheaper airlines and i do understand the hesitation but Ethiopian airlines is a pretty decent airline though the Bole Airport at Addis Ababa, can literally drive you crazy if you have a short layover, second in line is Egypt Airlines which can sometimes be the cheapest and i was really intrigued to learn it is a Star Alliance member so why not try it out? Oh! And always scour for tickets on weekdays at odd hours.

As i had earlier mentioned, a Schengen visa basically lets you visit the entire Schengen area (kindly read your visa sticker carefully). You can always choose to drive to the next Schengen country, take a bus which is actually super comfy, take the ICE train and admire the scenery or, as i personally do, take a flight which is usually a 1-2 hours direct flight which saves on so much time on the road or rails. Once again, booking your ticket early comes in very handy in getting a cheap ticket. Imagine paying 5-6,000KES to fly from Copenhagen, Denmark to Oslo, Norway? Proper and prior planning goes a long way wanderlusts!!

Please remember to clear your cookies and always compare 2 or 3 sites before settling on one site. It is really important to note that in case you have to change your dates or destination the agent will charge a fee and the airline will charge the fair difference so always have travel insurance, secondly a basic ticket may be super cheap but if you foresee any future changes in your travel plan, kindly add that 15 euros or so to cater for this. The beauty of booking directly with the airlines is that changes are cheaper and easier.

Panacotta on the train from Zurich to Milano

Schengen Visas

Travel leaves you speechless, then it turns you into a story-teller.. Ibn Battuta.

The Schengen area was established in 1995 following the ratification of the Schengen Agreement and it compromises of 26 countries. This means that if any of the Schengen countries grants you a visa, you are able to travel through the Schengen area freely unless you are limited to stay within the Schengen state that issued your visa. Once you identify the country you would like to visit, go to the embassy’s website and check the list of documents they require from you depending on the visa type. The visa can be a long-term or short-term visa with either single, double or multiple entries.

You can apply for your visa as early as 90 days before the date of departure or 15 days to, if you are cutting it too close. My advice would be to book the appointment and give yourself at least 4 weeks to collect what you need. Print out the checklist and make sure you have everything that the embassy requires. Most embassies require you to present yourself at the embassy or via various application centers like VFS or BLS. The most basic but useful website for Schengen visa information is https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/

On the day of my interview, i got to the embassy a few minutes before my scheduled appointment. The guards at the embassy are very friendly and will make you feel calm. Once you walk past security, you leave everything in a locker and only proceed with your documents and visa fees (no phones). My first visa appointment was short and i could not read the visa officers’ faces during all my appointments, the visa officers are professional and trained to see through your story but they are also polite and human, just state the truth and be confident. After i left the embassy i was on Novenas and prayers from Father Anthony who used to be at Vincentian Prayer House. Anyway, the next day, the embassy called me to confirm some things and send an extra document (via email or drop off at the gate) and called my supervisor too. The next afternoon, i got a text my passport was dispatched from the embassy and usually that means you will only get it the next morning (sleep was a rumor). I spent my time calling my friends who have been through this and who knew about it (Thanks Jolinda, Ndumi, Rachael and Carol). So i picked my passport at 8.15am and as is protocol, you have to take out your passport from the plastic paper and give it to the G4S staff, i saw a white paper attached to my passport and i was sure it’s a refusal. So, i walked to the taxi and was staring out the window and all i wanted was to get home and see what they had to say. The driver asked me to buckle up and as i was doing that i see the words border control on the piece of paper and I was confused, i opened the paper and voila! You are reading this…. because your visa was granted. My first visa was a single entry of 13 days and my second visa was a double entry of 82 days. Please note that you can only stay in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days only within the year for a 1 year multiple entry visa and 90 days in a 180 day period for 2-5 years multiple entry visa. I personally travel for a maximum of 2 weeks at a time because of commitments back home, so i did not use all the 82 days i was given. My longer visa also took a maximum 2 days to be granted, the turnaround time for visa decisions is usually 15 days.

Visa applications are pretty straightforward. Do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions or need any help at traveltalesbyshee@gmail.com.

DUBAI

Show me where there is life in the desert. Only those who can see such signs of life are able to find treasure.
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist.

The first step in planning your travel as soon as you identify your destination, is to check on the visa rules. Dubai visas are one of the easiest visas to apply for as there are numerous agencies that provide for this service at a fee and with a quick turn around. I personally used https://www.dubaivisa.net/ and it was cheaper than using agents. This is a service offered by VFS Global Kenya and my visa was sent straight to email. The website gives you different kinds of transit and tourist visas for different lengths of time.

After i got my visa, i checked the weather in Dubai and begun shopping for weather-appropriate clothes. I flew with emirates.com and i really applaud the flight attendants who were always alert on needs of the passengers, the food was also spot on (different options that you can pre-order during online check in). The in-flight entertainment was quite decent as well as the standard seat offered on Economy class. Once i got to Dubai, i took a taxi just at the exit straight to my hotel at the Sheraton Grand Hotel where i could not check in before 3 pm but the hotel was gracious enough to offer me their spa for a quick shower and access to the rooftop swimming pool. The room was very spacious, clean and comfy with a very nice view and huge glass windows. The location was perfect as i could stroll to different eateries and a taxi to the Dubai mall was super cheaper (Next time i am using the metro).

My first days were spent going round the big malls where they had Ramadan sales and very good stuff was on offer. The mall has so many designer and drugstore retailers so you cannot lack for anything. My evenings were spent having dinner as i watched the dancing fountain. I was able to go to the gold souk, use the old boats, visit the aquarium, ski center and go up the Burj Khalifa which is the tallest building.

The highlight of my trip was the desert safari. Miles and miles of sand. Our driver was kind enough to make a stop where we bought Muslim jewelry and turbans as well as ride the sand bikes and pose with a very vicious bird (eagle? owl?). The camp offered us dinner, drinks of all kinds (Champagne in the dessert) and entertainment by various artists (belly dancers, dancing with fire among others). We drove back the same day and i got to my hotel super beat, ready to pack and head out for the airport the next morning.

I need a round 2 of Dubai.

SOLO KENYAN FEMALE TRAVELER

Hello,

My name is Sheila but i mostly go by Shee. I am a Kenyan passport holder who is keen on travelling the world on a realistic budget but getting the most out of my travels.

I have been to 8 countries so far during my first year of travel and i intend to add more flags to my list.

I hope you will enjoy my blog as i offer tips on getting visas, how to score affordable flight deals and plan a trip on your own.