Australia is one of my favorite countries in the world and I’m fortunate to have been many times. The last time was to see the first Major League Baseball game Down Under (Dodgers vs Diamondbacks). When people ask me where I would live if I couldn’t live in the U.S., my first choice has always been Sydney. Thanks to the strict Australian quarantine rules, the country has moved even further up on my list.
Australia is roughly the same size as the continental U.S. but has only a fraction of the population (25 million compared to 328 million) and an even smaller fraction of Covid19 cases (103 deaths compared to the 100,400 – at the time of publication – in the U.S.).
Why? That’s a whole other topic for the experts but I’m guessing because their cities aren’t as dense, they started testing earlier, have free healthcare, they shut their borders down relatively early and most importantly, require a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a guarded hotel upon arrival.
When I found out that my friend, Kylie Robertson, was traveling to Australia to see her family, I asked if I could interview her for my new podcast, Johnny Jet’s Travel Podcast. She kindly agreed so I asked her all kinds of questions, from what the flights were like (LAX-SFO-SYD), what happened on arrival, where the mandatory two-week quarantine took place (in a luxury hotel that U.S. presidents have stayed in and included three meals a day), all paid for by the Australian government.
Note: You can’t just jump on a plane to Oz because not just anyone can travel there right now. In fact, according to Australia’s Department of Home Affairs, only “an immediate family member of an Australian citizen or permanent resident (being spouses, de facto partners, dependent children and legal guardians), have a compelling or compassionate reason to travel to Australia urgently, believe you meet a departure travel restriction exemption,” can do so.
Here’s a link to the whole interview on Johnny Jet’s Travel Podcast. I hope you enjoy and that you’ll subscribe for future podcasts.
I’m with you-love SF-but Sydney is my next best place to live
Hi Johnny,I am an Australian and live in Brisbane (where Kylie and her family come from). I want to congratulate BOTH of you for such an interesting and accurate summation of what it is like “In Australia and under Covid19 way of life”.The Podcast was Excellent and very informative and truly states the way things have gone and are presently happening in Australia.WELL DONE to you both.You are VERY WELCOME to come and live in Sydney anytime or anywhere else in Australia,we would have you gladly and look forward to seeing you down under again soon…:)