April 25, 2021. Madison, Mississippi. Traveling to Canada.

Right now, travelling to Canada for an American citizen is impossible. The border is closed. A Canadian citizen is allowed to come home to Canada, so fortunately I retained my Canadian Citizenship and carry a Canadian passport. Last summer I had no problem getting to Nova Scotia for the summer. The only rule was for me to isolate myself at home for 14 days, which I did. My helper Anna was allowed to work for me but needed to stay in an adjacent room. So all was well. This summer, the Canadian government has changed the rules. When you fly into Canada to one of the 4 cities approved to receive international flights, all passengers must stay at an approved hotel for three days, isolated in your room. In order to book a room for the three days, the passenger must pay for the three days, which include meals delivered to the room, so it is not inexpensive. Upon arrival, each passenger must take a covid test. Once the test is negative, the passenger is free to leave for their final destination. But the three days at the hotel must be prepaid with no refund. And I must isolate for the remaining of the 14 days when I get home at Western Head. The airlines are still busily changing flights too. My flights from San Antonio have all had to be changed but I was told not to book new flights now because the government is changing the rules regularly. But soon I must get started on my flight to Nova Scotia. I must fly to Charlotte. Then on to Toronto where I must stay 3 nights. I then fly onto Nova Scotia four days later. If my test results come back negative after only 1 day, I am free to try to get an earlier flight. But I still get no money back from the hotel. Getting to Canada these days is not easy. As an asside, Canadian citizens are able to drive into Canada without the three days at the hotel. People are flying from Florida to Buffalo and hiring a service to drive them across the border, for a cost of $250., which is much less than the dollars charged by the airport hotels. Then family members pick the travellers up to take them home. This is truly a crazy world.