As much I was ready to leave France, I’ll be honest that the idea of the actual travel itself was not appealing. Part of me definitely had some thoughts along the lines of “what if I just stayed?” but realistically, that wasn’t entirely an option. Obviously, the pandemic is still an issue, so that did feed into my experience (or as I like to call it, ordeal), and made some parts of it more complicated than others.

Prior to flying, I had to receive a negative Covid-19 test result within three days of my flight (in contrast to some countries that require 72 hours, the US has a blanket three calendar day requirement). Since my flight out was 6 May, I decided to get tested on 4 May – happy Star Wars day to me – in case anything happened to delay my flight. Getting tested was super easy, and I got my results six hours after I did the test. I was able to print them out, and they also showed up on my TousAntiCovid app, which I was able to use as proof to board my flight. I also had to print out an attestation from Delta which when signed, stated that I had received a negative result within three days. Both of these were checked, and the latter taken from me before I was allowed to board my flight to the US. They did not check the attestation you supposedly have to have to leave France, which is further proof that the border situation isn’t as “closed” as the government likes to say it is.

The morning of my departure started out very early as I had a 6:25 train out of Dijon. I probably woke up earlier than I needed to, but I find that sleep is something that evades me before travel under the best of circumstances, and this was certainly not the easiest travel adventure I’ve undergone. The train station wasn’t super busy that early in the morning, although it wasn’t entirely empty. My train pulled in on time, and it mercifully wasn’t crowded (contrary to the train I took to Dijon in September that was absolutely packed), which was good because you get a whopping four minutes to get on the train before it leaves. I arrived at Gare de Lyon in Paris at 8:09, so the train made good time. There aren’t any direct trains from Dijon to the airport, unfortunately, hence my having to go to a train station in Paris instead. I could’ve opted to take two trains going via Lyon to get to CDG completely via train, but the scheduling didn’t work well for the timing of my flight.

Due to the fact that I had three suitcases and a backpack, I opted to take a cab from the train station all the way to the airport. I had toyed around with the idea of taking the RER from Gare du Nord up to Paris, but ultimately wasn’t sure I could handle it. I had also thought about getting an uber, but the cab ended up being a cheaper option, so I went with that. I lucked out with traffic and made excellent time to the airport, about which I can’t complain.

The airport in Paris didn’t feel super busy when I arrived, which makes sense given that a lot of international travel is limited right now. I checked my bags, and then proceeded through security, which went pretty quickly given the few people there at that hour. Since I had so much time to kill, and access to the AirFrance lounge, I went there after clearing security to wait out the several hours until my flight departed. The lounge had a decent amount of food, both pre-wrapped and buffet style (although it was served to you), and ample places to sit, although annoyingly, not enough outlets! As I sat and waited, the lounge did fill up more and more, and by the time I left to head to my gate, it was substantially more crowded than it had been when I arrived.

My first flight was operated by AirFrance, and flew into Atlanta. There were under 50 people on the flight, which is somewhat indicative of the state of international travel (and the fact that non US citizens can’t currently gain entry to the US from abroad). I say somewhat because the gate next to my flight’s was a flight headed to Dubai and that flight was way more packed than mine. We were bussed to the airplane, and spent a while waiting in the bus for every person on the plane to be present since they seemingly didn’t want to run two busses. We did push back a little late, and our departure was delayed, but not sizably enough to be of concern. It was raining in Paris when we departed (almost as if France was crying for me), but then quickly accessed some sun once we climbed to higher altitude. They served us our first meal within an hour of take off (I’m not sure whether it was meant to be lunch or dinner if I’m honest, but I won’t say no to food), and then I hunkered down to try and get some sleep. I had been up for 10 hours already by the time my flight departed. The flight was pretty smooth, although we did climb to 40,000 feet at one point to avoid turbulence, and I felt that height on the descent. The flight attendants were all lovely, and at one point I had a decent length chat with one of them in the galley (I promise I kept checking to make sure I wasn’t distracting them or anything). I know that wouldn’t have been possible if there had been more people on my flight. We were served breakfast before we landed, and arrived in Atlanta 8.5 hours after leaving Paris. My one (personal) complaint about AirFrance was that their policy is you must wear a surgical mask on the flight, and cloth ones were not an option. I don’t mind those masks, but they are more irritating to my face so they aren’t my preferred mask if I can opt for a cloth one plus filter.

The first step after deplaning was of course, customs, which is always stressful to me. It took about ten minutes to get through the queue, and then I was shocked as the border agent looked at my passport, scanned it, and let me go without any further questions. I would’ve thought, especially during a pandemic, they would’ve been more diligent in figuring out why people were traveling and from where they were coming. They didn’t seem fussed at all. I picked up my checked bags and then was questioned by an agent between there and the next security checkpoint about where I’d been, what I had in my bags, and all that. I got questioned there more than before, but no issues with letting me pass. Rechecked in my bags for my next flight, and proceeded through security, which also involved no checks to ensure I was actually catching another flight. Very odd if you ask me. That security line was the most stressed I’d been since I left Dijon, though. The pace at which everyone was moving was so quick, and they were asking you to not just remove liquids and electronics, but food as well, so I was having to take out a lot of contents, all while being hustled by the people behind me to get my stuff in the boxes quicker. I was glad to be out of that queue.

I had to change concourses to catch my next flight, but Atlanta has a tram system you can take to expedite the journey. As soon as I exited into the domestic terminals, I was shocked to see just how many people were in the airport. If it weren’t for people wearing masks, you wouldn’t have known there was a pandemic raging. I holed away in the Delta lounge for a little bit before going to the gate for the last leg of my journey. The flight to PDX ended up being delayed (apparently there’s a pattern with this particular flight), so we didn’t board on time, and subsequently didn’t depart on time. It was an absolutely full flight, and as they are no longer blocking middle seats, this meant that every seat was occupied. Luckily, the flight was uneventful other than some small bouts of turbulence towards the end. They dimmed the lights the whole time (the flight left after 8pm) and I was able to sleep for most of it, even if it was fitful because plane sleeping is never an entirely enjoyable experience. We finally touched down in Portland shortly after 10pm, and then I got to see the beloved PDX carpet again! The bags took a while to come out, but I finally emerged from the airport around 10:40pm, and I was glad for the fresh air, and the fact that I was on solid ground.

From start to finish, my ordeal took one train, two planes, and 28 hours, and yes, I wore a mask the entire time. The worst part about wearing a mask? My ears were pretty sore when I finally took it off, but other than that, it wasn’t annoying or uncomfortable in any way. I slept in it and everything. I’m definitely of the mind that if you can’t wear a mask properly for any given amount of time (yes, over the mouth AND nose), you shouldn’t be traveling. Other than sore arms from my baggage, and fatigue from jet lag + the whole travel experience, I’m feeling pretty alright. I’m now in isolation for seven days per CDC recommendations, and then will be able to emerge and get my first vaccine dose if all goes well! It’s going to be at least another four months until I’m on a plane again, and I sincerely hope things are a little better then, but I’m glad to be done with this last travel ordeal, that’s for sure.