Part 1: Southeast Asia
It was late December when we first heard about a new virus outbreak happening in China.
It wasn’t even something we discussed because it seemed so non-threatening that it wasn’t even worth bringing up at the time.
Back then, we had no idea that we would not only have to cancel our travel plans in China and Hong Kong, but we would have to shorten our trip to South Korea and ultimately reassess if it even made sense to return home to the United States….. where the outbreak was on track to become worst of all.
Let’s rewind: JJ and I saved up for over 5 years in the hopes of taking a trip around the world. Beautiful places filled our dreams and we hoped to visit incredible locations all over the globe.
After my younger brother unexpectedly passed away back in 2016, we knew this was something we truly had to make happen. So we continued to save while we poured over the calendar and nailed down dates, planning the epic adventure we had ahead of us.
Finally, in late 2018, we set off for Europe!
We travelled to more than 30 countries as we spent months making our way across Europe before heading south. The next continent we visited was Africa, and then ultimately, as we continued around the globe, we made our way to Asia.
We took a detour to Australia in December of 2019, and returned to Asia on January 1st, 2020, which was right around the time that we had first heard the words “new corona virus.”
We’ve recently been reflecting on our experiences traveling throughout Asia in the midst of this outbreak and throughout its progression into a world pandemic.
We’ve decided that we want to share our unique experiences within each country along the way.
Thailand: January 1-20, 2020
After spending the Christmas and New Year holidays in Australia, we flew to Thailand where we backpacked around the country for 3 weeks. We made our way from the beaches and islands in the south to the jungles in the north.
Our travel plans were completely unaffected and we enjoyed our time exploring massive cities, bustling markets, stunning mountains, pristine blue waters, historic monuments, and intricate temples, which were all open and functioning normally.
We heard updates here and there about the new virus beginning to spread in central China but initially we didn’t think too much about it, similarly to most people. But as we continued our travels and made our way through many other countries, things started to change as the virus began to spread.
Vietnam: January 20-February 2, 2020
A few weeks later, we found ourselves in Vietnam visiting amazing cities like Hanoi, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). At this point, we were following U.S. news a little more closely and it was here that we started to feel the need to protect ourselves a bit further.
The virus was now named the novel Corona Virus Disease, or COVID19, and updates had become an almost daily item on the news. There were now a few isolated cases outside of China, so it felt like the risk of catching it was definitely there, even if it may have been very low.
Vietnam is gorgeous and soon became one of our favorite places, but we just didn’t know much about the virus. It seemed that awareness was very low: we had many people from home writing to us asking why we were wearing masks and even asking if it was because of poor air quality. We realized that although the news was reporting on it a bit more, the concern about the virus was minimal around the world.
We purchased face masks, extra hand sanitizer, and always had our eyes on the lookout for anyone who was visibly sick. If we had known that February 1, 2020 would be the last time we’d be able to buy hand sanitizer for months, we’d have probably stocked up a lot more!
Despite keeping ourselves as healthy as we possibly could, our biggest initial personal concern was our scheduled trip to Hong Kong and China.
The thought of canceling our trip that we had planned months in advance tore us apart. It’s not every day an American finds themselves on the other side of the world. But, honestly, we didn’t think that would happen and we really felt that this would all just blow over.
During our time in Vietnam, things were totally normal in the beginning, but then suddenly changed fairly quickly. We enjoyed our first week in Hanoi without any hiccups, and then we traveled to Hoi An.
It was in Hoi An where we met a couple from Hong Kong in our cooking class. We asked them how things were going there and told them that we were getting more and more nervous that we may have to cancel our plans.
They responded by saying that “the protests are no big deal if you know how to avoid them,” and we realized we were on totally different wavelengths as we had been referring to the virus and not the political protests that had been going on for some time. But these people live in Hong Kong, so surely the virus must be no big deal, right?
Wrong. By the time we left Vietnam, just days after that conversation, the U.S. had enacted a travel ban and closed the borders to anyone that had been in China within the past 14 days, and many other countries followed suit. More and more people were getting diagnosed everyday. The virus was spreading to many other countries. Everywhere we looked, people were wearing masks.
We knew that our travel plans in China were completely off the table because (1) there was the possibility that we could get stuck there and (2) we could become seriously ill in a foreign country if we were to catch the virus. Neither of which were ideal. So, with less than a week until we were originally scheduled to fly to China, we began discussing the possibilities of where to go instead.
Cambodia: February 2-9, 2020
On February 2, 2020 we took a bus from Saigon, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was an interesting and bumpy ride which saw us cross our first land border during our travels throughout Asia.
There was a young female on the bus who did not look well. She was one of the few on the bus who wasn’t wearing a face mask. Pale white, and frequently coughing and sneezing — every time she moved, numerous people would stare with burning eyes. No one was intending to be rude, but we all knew the threat was growing.
When we arrived at our hotel in Cambodia, we experienced our first temperature test. It was weird at first, but we quickly got used to it. This became the norm every single time we would enter or leave any building in Phnom Penh. It was nerve-wracking but luckily we passed all of these tests!
This addition to our day showed us just how seriously everything was being taken in Cambodia. It was at this point that we began wearing a face mask everywhere we went, and only took it off at meal times or in our hotel room. In Asia, this is common practice: it shows respect to everyone around you that you are not only protecting yourself but also protecting others, in case you happen to be carrying any sickness that you are unaware of.
Despite the temperature tests and other safety measures being taken, most things continued to be business as usual. Touristy places continued to be open and busy. Nothing seemed crazy… yet.
We enjoyed the rest of our time in Cambodia and weighed our plans for the following week.
We cancelled our flights to and from China and were able to get full refunds in the process — due to the travel ban. We thought long and hard about where to visit instead!
It was a difficult decision because there were so many things to consider: cost and ease of travel, what types of things we wanted to see and do, and especially how other countries were handling the spread of the virus.
We finally landed on a country that seemed to be taking the virus extremely seriously: The Philippines.
Head to Part 2 of this blog series to find out how things went when we arrived in the Philippines!
Extra Time Abroad is a lifestyle blog focusing on three areas: finance, sustainability, and travel. The blog is managed by husband/wife duo JJ & Janelle. We can be found on Instagram @ExtraTimeAbroad or at the airport!
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