Week 0: Packed, panicked, and finally off to Europe for the next 3 months
One of the worst combination of words you can hear when you *think* you’re completely prepared for a trip is “and you’ve been approved for the visa?” I’m standing at the Westjet check-in counter in Toronto Pearson airport after my online check-in failed, when I realized Canadians now require a visa to visit the UK (as of January 2025).
Traveling solo means you have to lug your stuff with you on each trip to the bathroom
London is the first stop on my 3-month backpacking trip, which is an absolute must after finishing my Masters earlier this year. The employee behind the counter wasted no time scolding me, “you must check if you require a visa for each place you go.” It wasn’t until I mentioned that I had previously been to the UK and hadn’t required a visa that he told me this was a new policy and I should always be up to date on this information….. Okay, my bad.
Fortunately, this was a rare occasion in which I actually arrived at the airport 3 hours early. After 40 minutes at the check-in counter, I type “Canadian visa to visit the UK” into Google while walking to security as quickly as I can with all my stuff. I re-pack my bag for the millionth time after getting through security and aimlessly fill out the visa form. At the end, I was asked for a payment of $300, and my stomach dropped. I didn’t even plan to spend that much while in London, let alone to get to London, which I have very little interest in re-visiting other than to see my bestie. In a state of panic, I thought about coughing up the $300, but as I sat down outside of security, feeling pretty sweaty, I realized something seemed off about that. After a bit of research, I found the official UK government website, which actually requires you to place your phone on your passport to scan a microchip inside the passport while verifying your identity (and it only cost me $25).
Concrete jungle outside Toronto Pearson Airport
Unfortunately, the stress didn’t end there. When I clicked “submit,” I got an email saying it could take ~ 3 business days. I immediately imagined myself sitting anxiously in the airport for the next 2 hours, constantly refreshing my email. But luckily, I caught a break and got the “approved email” pretty quickly.
Just yesterday, I was bragging to my grandma about how organized I have become in preparation for this trip…. “We don’t need to remind Megan not to forget things anymore, Joe, she has spreadsheets and has done so much research,” she told my grandpa proudly. I waved goodbye to my family standing on the front porch and was ready for my big adventure to start. And only 30 seconds into my drive to the airport, it dawned on me that I had forgotten my phone at home. (Sorry to prove you wrong, grandma.) I could only imagine the ridicule I would deserve if I had to come back home again before even setting foot on a plane! There’s probably a lesson in there somewhere, but I’m too tired to think about it.
