Over this past year, travel has been super limited. Really limited. So yeah, people have been traveling but it hasn’t been the easiest and it also hasn’t been the most comforting to get on a plane and travel I know for me like to get on a plane. It’s stressful. I’m thinking how are we all on this plane together and there’s a pandemic going on. But you know, we just have to do what we have to do to get to where we want to go. But one thing I can’t wait for is to be able to travel internationally again and to see things and share things with you. And also hear about some of your travels and adventures. So one of the things that I ran into which actually is another version of this. But then I ended up, after researching, finding an at-home covid test kit for testing for Covid, which is very interesting, but I will touch base on the second part that how this ties into traveling in just a moment. But I ended up finding this company called Abbott. It’s a Covid at-home test kit by the name of BinaxNow, it’s by the company Abbott. This is really convenient because who knows, maybe if you are in a situation where you’re around other people or have someone in your home, then this will kind of give you a little bit of peace of mind. I’m not a doctor or scientist, so I can’t say that this test is 100%. And plus Even if you take a test, I believe at a hospital, there is still a waiting period before you find out if you even test positive or negative for Covid. So keep that in mind. But for some peace of mind that you can do in the convenience of your own home. This is great because I use this for my business and having meetings with people, sometimes I’d rather have a little bit of comfort. Better safe than sorry in taking a test. So you do get the results in literally 15 minutes, it’s a really easy kit that they give you. It’s basically almost like a pregnancy test. I’m not joking with that. Another thing that I didn’t mention is that in one box you get two tests. So that’s really good, especially if it’s for you and your spouse or you and a friend. You get more than just one in a box, which normally something like this, they’d only give you one test, right? 
But no they’re giving you two which is awesome. I ended up getting this from was Walmart out of all places. I do believe you can order it online as well. I actually ended up finding a local one in my area. Not all the Walmart’s carried it in my area, I’m not sure why but they do have delivery, so you can order it online for delivery. You can also order from Amazon here. It did say the regular price was about $24, I don’t know if this is a regular deal that they will be having forever or if this is just a limited time offer, but ended up I ended up paying a little over $19. It was less than $20 for two tests which you can take one now and then if you want to save the other for another time, then you can always save it if you’re not going to give it to someone else to use. And one thing I like to mention about this a little caveat is that they do have an expiration obviously, but I did buy quite a few tests because I always try to stock up on things that I feel like I’m going to use a lot of. I just purchased this literally last weekend. It says it was manufactured last month. So about a month ago, and it expires basically in eight months. So I don’t know if they all expire in eight months from the manufacturer date or is that something that they’re working on to make them have a longer shelf life. But that’s this current box that I purchased. So keep in mind that if you do get one, always say check the expiration date before you buy anything including groceries in the store. It’s amazing how many things that are on the shelves in stores sometimes that are either expired or at the expiration or very close to the expiration date. So I do like to check that on a regular basis.
So what you get is a little sleeve, it’s a little card that has a couple of holes in it. So the holes are where you’re going to put the swab. So they give you two swabs obviously because it’s two test. And then they give you two cards which are actually sealed individually which is good. So basically you take the swab, You swab one nostril about three times to the left, three times to the right. And then they give you a little liquid capsule. So what you do is you take this liquid capsule and you put the drops into the testing board. Once you drop the liquid in there you take the swab and you stick the swab through the hole and push it out towards the other side of the hole which they’re right next to each other. 
And like I said, it’s basically like a pregnancy test because it’s basically two lines and you’re pregnant or one line you’re not pregnant except it’s for covid. So I think it’s one line and your negative for Covid and two lines you’re positive for Covid. But like I said read the directions because I can’t recall which one is which and that’s why I say it’s like a pregnancy test. It’s actually pretty interesting how they made this for home use. So like I said as far as is it 100% accurate? Not even a pregnancy test is 100% accurate. So go figure. Use it at your own discretion. The reason that I ended up running across the home test is thinking about traveling and if you go to another country that allows U.S. citizens to enter for travel, not only do you have to take a test before you go, even just like traveling to Hawaii which is also here in the United States, but you may also have to take a test before you return. I believe it’s within 48 or 72 hours of your departure, you have to show a negative covid test. Always check CDC guidelines for most recent changes and requirements. So what Abbott actually offers is a test that you purchase to take with you when you travel. I don’t think the boxes are as big as the test you buy for just home use. I mean it’s not a huge box but it’s pretty big to take with you on a plane, especially when you’re already pushing the limit on your bag. I believe the one that you get to take when you travel is a little bit smaller from what I can recall online. From looking at their website. The travel version is a monitored test. So instead of you running around a town that you may not be familiar with trying to find a covid test location, you can actually have one in the comfort of your own hotel room. It’s basically just like this except you have to register it. Maybe you have to scan like a QR code you register on your phone and it actually comes in a sealed pack.
Once you register, you have to check in with a virtual administrator that’s going to watch you take the test. At the time of writing this, you can purchase these Covid travel test kits from eMed for $150 for a pack of 6. They want to actually see you open the pack. So I don’t believe you’re supposed to open it until that virtual viewer is on the video call watching you take the test. If you test negative, you show the person on the other end, you’re basically video chatting with them either on your phone or on your tablet. Once this person sees that you’re negative, then you get registered on this app so that you can then send that or provide that to the airline that you’re going to be flying on. So I thought that was the coolest thing. The fact that they turn something that was, such a hassle or trying to figure out where to go in a place that you may not be familiar with. Making it so convenient, these are the types of things that I get excited about. These are the types of things I want to share with everyone when I hear about things like this. So maybe I’ll be able to travel soon overseas and actually may be able to record and show you how easy it is. The only thing I can pretty much say is what if you do come back positive you travel and then you have to quarantine for what until for 14 days or until you test negative before you can fly back? I think that is probably the biggest hurdle or stressful thing to go through if you end up going to another country and you’re having to come back and get back home to family or get back home to work. Something like this just makes your trip back just a little bit easier.
Please leave a comment below if you have more covid travel tips and testing.
Photo courtesy of Abbott
