Public health restrictions no longer an obstacle for students
BY: KALKIDAN MULUGETA
Loosened public health restrictions aren’t posing an obstacle this year as students prepare for to travel this summer.
Now that Manitoba and other provinces have ended mandates, students are planning trips to places like Toronto, Seattle, and Vancouver.
“It’s definitely nice to go out and be able to travel again,” said Amanda Elston from Brandon University.
Elston said she is going to Toronto in July to visit her boyfriend’s family and attend the Veld Music Festival. She said she loves learning about new cultures during her travels.
Elston said not being able to travel due to COVID-19 wasn’t a big deal.
“It was a good opportunity to save money for future travelling,” she said.
Some students are now able to visit family they haven’t been able to visit since the pandemic hit, like Taylor Eastman from the University of Manitoba.
“Usually every summer we just visit my family in Vancouver and Pender Island,” said Eastman.
She is travelling to Vancouver, then to North Pender Island in B.C., to visit her aunt and uncle. She then plans to visit Seattle at the end of August.
Eastman said she is excited to visit the hospital where her favourite show, Grey’s Anatomy, is filmed and the infamous Market Theater Gum Wall in downtown Seattle.
Eastman said the restrictions on Pender Island are different because it’s a small community.
“You have to take a ferry and you have to get a test to go on the island,” said Eastman.
Eastman said many people grow their own food on North Pender Island. There are also a lot of farmers’ markets around.
“It’s more of a relaxing place,” said Eastman.
During the high wave of COVID-19 cases in 2020, she wasn’t able to visit her family in North Pender Island.
Eastman said following the mandates within the provinces wasn’t difficult during the summer of 2021 when she was able to travel with her family.
“I’m going to follow the rules to keep other people safe,” said Eastman.
Eastman is travelling with her 81-year-old grandma this year, so she said safety is a big concern for them.
Students can expect to face different public health restrictions depending on the province they visit.
