Pre-pandemic, I could see Chanel bags, fancy meals, and duty-free booze flashing in the eyes of anyone I’d mention an upcoming trip to France to. “You’re so lucky!” people would invariably say with a sigh of envy.

Then the plague entered the chatroom. In 2020 and 2021, it was wise to keep travel plans quiet, no matter the reason or rationale, even if you were willing to quarantine, even if you were vaccinated, and even when non-essential travel was allowed. I got numerous death threats and made a few enemies over the past two years. No hard feelings. We all handled the plague the best we could.

This year is the first time since COVID I didn’t feel bad about travelling, and I shared my plans with a few acquaintances.

Nine times out of ten, the reaction was “good luck.”

No shit.

Canada somehow managed to disincentivize travelling—you can add this previously normal and straightforward activity to the long list of “things currently broken in Canada” that includes the economy, the healthcare system, education and lately, telcos.

First, there’s the passport fiasco. Canada has emerged from two years of COVID lockdowns and restrictions with massive passport processing delays. It’s so ridiculous that Canada is seeking hundreds of chairs to help applicants who sometimes have to spend days at Service Canada. It’s complete chaos. And it’s not just passports—some parents are trying to travel to the US with birth certificates for kids instead of passports, but they can’t get the documents back from Service Canada. The excuse? The federal government “underestimated the surge in demand for passports.”

I know a few people who can’t travel this summer because they’ve been waiting for their passport for months. It’s ridiculous.

Now, if you do have a passport and tickets, brace yourself for your airport experience. Toronto Pearson airport has been making headlines for weeks—expect delays,’ chaos at Canadian airports will last through summer is the safest advice. Travellers are facing hour-long lineups for security check, planes stuck on the tarmac, baggage chaos, delays and more. This has been going on for months. Air Canada ended up cancelling over 9500 flights this summer.

So yes, good luck.

But we are lucky in a way. We still have valid passports and I’m willing to deal with airport chaos as long as the plane actually takes off at one point.

Once again, despite the Chinese calendar on the wall just above my desk, I’m almost surprised it’s already time to go. I thought I could have accomplished more. I always think I should accomplish more, I’m rarely done or happy with what I did. And what did I accomplish this spring? Not much except surviving and working.

It was a fun, sociable spring, though. It’s probably not that surprising that after 20 years in Canada, Ottawa is the place where I have the most friends I can see in person. For the first time in two years, there are no restrictions, no mask mandates, and pretty much everybody is on the same page so we hug, hang out and have fun together whenever we can. I enjoyed the company of new friends and old friends. One of them listed me as her reference last week and we realized we have known each other for 14 years—crazy!

Some people update their living will before a trip—I just offered my neighbour a zucchini I had in the fridge, the one veggie Feng doesn’t really cook, and I started packing.

Feng isn’t coming. It’s just Mark and me.

The world can collapse, I don’t care. As long as I have my backpack and a passport, I’m going somewhere.