(CNN) — “We’re driving to Canada.”
“That sounds complicated,” my husband replied. He had a point: We have unvaccinated 4- and 7-year-old sons and an 11-year-old labradoodle. But after 18 months of pandemic-juggling and bracing for another Covid-affected school year, I needed a break.
I wanted to look at something besides the locust tree outside my window in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. I wanted to be in another country. One we could drive to, since we decided to not fly with our kids while they’re unvaccinated. I wanted nice people and respect for Covid precautions. All those wants pointed to one destination: Canada.
So, we went for it. And after a whirlwind planning stage rife with confusion, I’m happy to report that part was notably more stressful than any part of the actual trip.
The toughest things to figure out? What we needed to do to cross the border, and when we needed to do it.
The guidelines seemed to keep shifting and we found contradictory information from various sources, even on reputable media and government sites.
Some friends in the know warned that a test taken even 72 hours and 10 minutes beforehand would be rejected, so we worked backwards from when we wanted to arrive in Canada and then aimed for several hours earlier in case of border delays.
Border checks
Approaching the Canadian border at Buffalo.
Courtesy Rebecca Soffer
Our local PCR testing site informed us that results could take 24-36 hours, so that part was a bit tricky to plan for. Ironically, we got them within an hour but needed additional help to get printable reports detailing that they were PCR tests. Antigen tests are not accepted.
It hurt our heads trying to figure out how to bring our dog along on a road trip during which we might be in between lodgings on hot August days — our two Canadian hotels had strict 3 p.m. check-in policies, no earlier — so poor Ziggy was left Stateside (if you do bring yours, bring a signed rabies certificate from your vet).
I’d read that ArriveCAN hadn’t been working well and wasn’t properly updated. But I found it to be easy and straightforward. Each traveler’s passport and vaccination card needs to be scanned into the app, along with an address of somewhere you’ll stay in case you need to quarantine in Canada. You’ll also need to know which border crossing you plan on traveling across, the date, and estimated time.
The Saturday morning of our arrival we encountered a mere half-dozen cars at border control. My body finally started to relax as we inched toward the checkpoint flanked with large red maple leaves, while my husband gently begged me to not blast the Céline Dion I was firing up on Spotify.
We showed the agent our ArriveCAN digital receipts, passport and test results and in return received a PCR test box which I learned, to my surprise, I was expected to personally administer to my 7-year-old at a screening location in a nearby racetrack parking lot.
A different world
A boat trip to see Niagara Falls.
Courtesy Rebecca Soffer
We drove straight to Niagara Falls, which was crowded but also felt immediately different from the United States.
Everyone is masked inside (and frequently outside), social distancing reminders and hand sanitizer stations are everywhere, and indoor locations have limited capacity. We rode the Ferris Wheel, which offers a glorious view of the falls, and noticed a staff member carefully sanitizing each car in between visitors. While in the long line to board our boat ride to the falls we felt a little squeezed but noticed a staff member reminding people to mask up.
The view of Niagara Falls from the 175-foot-tall SkyWheel on the Canadian side.
Courtesy Rebecca Soffer
We wandered through the terrific outdoor Kensington Market. We drove to a mall to absorb some air conditioning and take advantage of beneficial exchange rates to do some shopping.
We took several street cars, nearly empty due to the August holiday period (all of which had seats blocked off for distancing), and booked advance timed tickets to see the CN Tower’s glorious 360-degree views.
Throughout it all, I felt comfortable, joyful and relaxed; feelings with which I became gratefully reacquainted after a very long time apart.
Watching the Blue Jays play the Tigers from the physically distanced section at the Rogers Center.
Courtesy Rebecca Soffer
We’d been to Fenway Park in Boston in early July, before Delta took hold, and saw nobody masked anywhere in the stadium. Here, there was limited capacity, and omnipresent signs reminding us that masks were required for everyone, even when seated, unless while eating.
My favorite moment was when the woman who sold us lunch ran after me to offer extra salt and pepper for our fries. Ah, Canada.
Successful trip
Rebecca Soffer and her sons in Niagara Falls.
Courtesy Rebecca Soffer
There are still some glitches in the international visitor system. I had a minor panic attack when, two days after my arrival, I received an email “Covid-19: Emergency Order to isolate” detailing how all travelers to Canada needed to quarantine for 14 days (I concluded this must have been a mistake, since it went against every other verbal and written instruction I’d received).
It was immediately followed by another email on follow-up testing, which took some careful reading to realize it was a reminder for anyone who had been selected at the border to do randomized testing and had not yet done so, and also for unvaccinated people who were staying in the country for eight days or longer.
Road trips with kids can be a slog during normal times. An international one in the throes of a relentless pandemic added a healthy dose of discomfort and uncertainty. And there were certainly places where physical distancing was more difficult despite all the signage, such as on the Niagara Falls boat ride or the Toronto Islands ferry.
But the benefit of showing more of the world to our children during a time when it has felt so constricted made the small amount of hassle involved worthwhile. A good reminder that fun adventures could be thrown together with little notice, a lot of uncertainty and a sense of humor.
On the morning of our departure, everyone wanted to stay in Canada just a bit longer. It felt calmer, organized, less divided over simple precautions and, yes, safer.
Alas, work and back-to-school preparations beckoned, and so we quickly and easily crossed the empty border at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge (no Covid-related questions asked, and no paperwork required except for passports), and back into a land of fewer, if any, restrictions.
The night we got home, we decided to drive to Montreal in September. I’m counting the weeks already.