How to Stay Safe When Traveling in a Country That Suddenly Locks Down
It’s unfortunate if you got trapped in a different country as a tourist because it suddenly went on a lockdown. It means that flying in and out is difficult. The country shuts down the airports to prevent people from coming in. Your home country might also have the same policy. The recent pandemic caused these problems, and it’s possible for another round of lockdown to happen. It could be due to the same virus, or a different one. Either way, these tips would be useful.
Stay calm
If you’ve heard the experience of other people who have gone through this ordeal before, you know how challenging it is. Before you panic, you have to understand that there’s a way out of it. Just stay calm and collect your thoughts. It’s easier to survive this problem if you have a clear mind. Besides, panicking doesn’t do anything to help.
Contact your embassy
You can communicate with your embassy to determine the next step. You need advice from a representative of your home country to make the right decision. If flights are unavailable, your embassy can arrange repatriation flights. It’s in coordination with your government back home. Some embassies have also gone beyond their responsibilities to extend help to those who are also financially strapped while stuck in another country.
Find a long-term accommodation
If all flights are closed, you have to prepare yourself to stay where you are. Even repatriation flights might not be possible for the next few months. Staying in your current hotel where the daily cost is too high is impractical. Look for local apartments that can give a more reasonable long-term rate.
Follow local guidelines
The primary concern at this stage is safety. Whether you’re processing your flight home or you stay where you are, you should consider safety. Keep yourself abreast with the changes by following relevant social media pages and news organizations. Listen to updates from the government and follow the rules especially if you’re in public. If there’s another pandemic in the future, the world is better prepared to deal with it. Decision-making and releasing of safety protocols would be faster.
Call your employer
Getting stuck in another country won’t be a problem if you can keep your job and continue earning. The problem is if you end up losing your job and not make anything while you’re abroad. Inform your employer about the situation and ask for a possible remote work arrangement. If your employer agrees to it, you can stay out and wait the lockdown out. If not, you have to continue communicating with relevant agencies so you can get a flight back home. If you lost your job, you should start looking for online jobs that you can start right away. Again, being stuck overseas could cost you a lot, and you won’t survive without an alternative source of income.
Hopefully, you can get home soon and stay safe throughout the ordeal.
Photo Attribution:
1st and featured image from https://webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/2020-04/restrction.jpg
2nd image from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/tourists-limbo-kuala-lumpur-airport-coronavirus-shutdown-200325103528530.html
