I've wanted to share this story for a long time.
I've attempted countless ways to share it however, it seems fitting for it to be my first post on this blog.
I should warn you now, this is a long story so, you may want to grab a cup of tea and some snacks...
...I'll wait...
ready? okay, let's go!
Before the Pandemic
In December 2019, I received my visa to move to the United States; to finally be with my husband. Although not too long, it was a hard and grueling process to which we suffered from so much uncertainty and the unknowing of when we would see each other again.
I was so relieved and excited and so, the start of the decade felt like I was beginning a new chapter of my life. Everything about 2020 seemed like it was going to be amazing!
I started to plan my move, and trust me, there was a lot to plan!
I started to hear stories about a virus that had broken out in China however, back in early 2020 it felt so far away from the UK.
Side Note: From December 2019 - February 2020, I suffered from what I thought was a chest infection. I had an extremely bad cough that doctors wrote off as asthma (I've had asthma since I was 6, this was not asthma!)..but that's a whole other story (I will write a post about it). To this day, I do not know if I had covid19...but I'm convinced I did.
March 2020
By the time March came around, I had everything ready for the big move. I had sorted and packed most of my belongings, ready to be shipped to the States. I was due to leave the UK on 30th April and my family and I were even planning a leaving party for the week before.
However, the virus was spreading, and now there had been reports of cases being in the UK. My belongings were shipped off on 6th March, and every day after that was like a living nightmare.
The week my belongings were shipped, the cases began to grow rapidly in the UK! Each day there were more and more cases and everyone around me was expressing how worried they were for me.
"This is going to get bad"
"You need to book a flight now!" "Flights might get canceled"
I was trying to stay positive about the situation, thinking that waiting until April would be fine.
However, whenever I would reassure myself, someone would break the rose petal screen I had put up to keep myself positive. I began to freak out to the point where I wanted to burst into tears at the very mention of the virus!
My husband was trying to be positive too and would convince me everything would be fine.
Then, a few days later, it was announced that the virus was now a global pandemic and this gave me so much anxiety! The visa in my passport stated that I needed to be in the United States by 2nd June 2020.
"What if we have to start the process again?" "What if we go into lockdown for months?"
"What if it's years before we are together?"
These questions invaded every corner of my brain, I could not focus on anything.
Literally, as they announced on the news that the virus was a pandemic, I frantically began calling my airline, to get them to change the date on my ticket. It took almost two hours to get through to someone, but they were so kind and even calmed me down.
Shoutout to Norweigan Airlines, they're the best low-cost airline there is!
I felt at ease! However, the next day I went back to work and announced to my boss that I am being forced to leave by 28th March due to the pandemic. She then advised me not to wait until then.
"Try to book a flight for tomorrow!" she said.
I once again, had the alarm bells ringing in my head ...but managed to calm myself down.
By this time, it was now 13th March and I had no idea that my walk home from work that day would be my last, or that the conversations I had that evening with my family would be the last I have with them in person.
It was a Friday and I planned to relax, watch movies and talk to my husband through Skype - a typical Friday night for us. I was watching 'The Mummy' - a childhood favourite.
However, I got distracted by a breaking news report that had come up as a notification on my phone. Trump was giving a speech about the pandemic and how he wanted to cancel flights from Europe with the UK as an exception - I was relieved. But when it came to question time, someone asked "The UK has more cases than <insert country name> yet they are still banned and the UK is exempt?"
I remember my heart racing with anticipation for his answer.
Trump replied to the question explaining that he may add the UK to the list of "banned countries" and my heart dropped.
Strangely, at this moment, I had a knock on my bedroom door, and stood outside was my sister's boyfriend. Without even knowing about the speech, he came to convince me to leave that weekend. Like others, he had a feeling that flights would be canceled and that we would be forced into lockdown.
By that point, I was done! It was clear that this was a sign. I spoke to my husband on Skype and tried to convince him that I should find a flight for tomorrow. He was reluctant because he didn't want me to waste money, but after speaking with his parents, who felt that I should leave asap, he agreed.
1 am - 14th March 2020
It was now the early hours of Saturday and I had just bought my new one-way ticket to the US! The date of the ticket? 14th March 2020 at 12:40 pm. This meant that I had to be out of my family home, the home where I grew up, by 5 am (I had to catch a coach from my hometown to London Heathrow - a 3-hour drive). I had 4 hours to prepare!
I was running on adrenaline, I had been up from 6 am the previous morning and now, there was no time to sleep. I packed the remaining belongings I had left and prepared for the long nerve-wracking journey to the United States.
My dad and sister were asleep at the time and were woken up by the news that I was leaving. I don't think any of us really fathomed what was going on. No-one had the time to process anything - especially me.
By 5 am I was out the door. Arriving at the coach station just felt as it had always felt whenever I would travel to the US. Except for this time, I wasn't coming back!
Within minutes, I said goodbye to my family and was on a coach that was heading for Heathrow airport. It was so surreal, so abrupt, and with no closure. This was it, I was leaving everything I had ever known...and all so unexpectedly.
I remember gazing out the window of the coach in disbelief, and trying to soak in as much as I could of my home country, and the surroundings in which I spent most of my life.
I was wearing a mask, as were others and that's when it hit me that this virus was real and that it had caused me to leave everything and everyone without warning.
It also hit my husband and I that we were no longer going to be "long-distance" ...it was bittersweet.
Heathrow Airport
By the time I arrived at Heathrow airport, I was exhausted beyond words.
I got through security and sat in the waiting area for my gate to be announced. Then something really bizarre happened! I saw one of my friends who I used to work with when I lived in London!
I approached him in disbelief, almost to the point where I thought I was imagining him. After all, I hadn't slept in over 24 hours! It really was him! He told me that he works at the airport and this just so happened to be his first shift in Terminal 3! Everything about these last few hours felt like a dream because of how surreal the events were. Out of hundreds of people in that Terminal, I spot a friend, who, if I had come any earlier or later, I wouldn't have seen. It felt good to talk to someone and to actually say goodbye to at least one friend!
A few hours later, my gate was announced. When queuing up to sit in the gate waiting area, members of staff were asking if anyone had been to Europe in the last 14 days, many American citizens came forward. They were not allowed on the direct flight to Denver because they needed to go through covid19 screening - Denver didn't have the equipment and so, they had to get a flight to Miami first. I felt so bad for them but this worked in my favour!
The Flight
As many people could not board the flight, it meant that I had a whole row to myself, which I was so happy about. After the emotional rollercoaster I had just been on, I just wanted to be alone, without the added stress of having to let someone out of the aisle to use the bathroom.
The flight was relatively smooth and I felt comfortable taking off my mask to eat occasionally. However, as I was eating a meal on the plane, I suddenly noticed that the cabin crew had put on masks. They were not wearing masks throughout this whole flight until an hour before landing, which made me nervous. Sensing their energy, I quickly put on my mask and immediately regretted taking it off to eat. It was then revealed to us that a passenger on the flight had fallen ill and was now isolated away from everyone. Every passenger on the flight had to fill out a form so that we could be contacted in the event that we were exposed to covid19. I was once again, nervous!
Landing
Once we had landed, the sick passenger was taken off the plane first, there were ambulances waiting outside. As the rest of us were waiting for the okay for us to leave, many passengers started connecting to the internet. I overheard the person sat behind me say that The United States has now banned flights from the UK, starting the next day.
I realised how lucky I was and was so happy that I listened to everyone as well as my gut telling me that I had to leave.
Huge thank you to my sister's boyfriend for giving me the final push!
Overall, it was a crazy experience, I just feel sad that I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to my family and friends, nor to the students that I taught. Looking back, it feels like a movie and I still can't believe that I've left the UK!
It feels good to finally write about this story!
If you have read all of this, then, wow....thank you. Although I mainly want to document this for myself, I never want to forget how fortunate I am.
- Kerry xoxo