Rebecca Seward is one of the many Canadians currently out of the country with limited options to get back home.
She embarked on a planned five month journey across a number of countries in January, well before COVID-19 reached the level of concern shared among Canadians now. It was at her first stop in Thailand where she caught word of the virus, but it wasn’t taken very seriously she says until the past few weeks after visiting Cambodia.
She noticed a tone-shift among locals in Vietnam that led to a realization of the seriousness of the virus, so the Perth, Ontario native made the decision to leave early.
So she went to Australia a little earlier than planned, as at the time there weren’t direct flights to Canada from Vietnam and she figured there was a better chance of getting a direct flight from Australia, whole also wanting to minimize time spent in airports to limit the risk of contracting COVID-19 and bringing it back home.
She’s made the decision along with her family at home to wait things out at her friends house in Australia, while practicing social distancing and keeping up to date with the news.
Seward said she’s one of the lucky ones as she has a place to eat and sleep, and she understands there are people who have lost loved ones or are very sick. For her, the biggest concern right now is running out of prescribed medication not available in Australia.
