As the days grow shorter many people are thinking about what their second Covid holiday season is going to look like. Will there be gatherings with family and friends? Is the annual turkey dinner with 16 guests back on the table? How will you travel to be with those whom you love and most want to celebrate with?

And – who’s vaccinated and how do you navigate that topic?

At one time Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday. I loved the sound of the Macy’s parade on the television and the fragrance of turkey and sweet potatoes roasting as dinner was prepared. The ritual of ironing the linen napkins we only used on holidays and setting the table always made the day feel special.

Over the years, though, Thanksgiving has changed. My children have a large extended family on their father’s side and I’ve frequently yielded the holiday to him to enjoy with our children. It seemed silly to have a dozen or more people reschedule festivities to accommodate an alternating holidays calendar, as our divorce agreement had outlined. I can make a turkey any day of the week.

This year, however, I felt the need to spend the day, plus a couple of additional ones, with all three of my sons. I can’t begin to explain why hearing about the reopening of the border between the U.S. and Canada prompted me to immediately think that Thanksgiving in Montreal was exactly how I wanted to spend the holiday. All I can say is that within minutes, I was texting my children and their Dad and browsing airbnbs.

I found us a lovely looking apartment in a terrific neighborhood in Montreal and couldn’t be more excited about our upcoming trip. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent a few days together with all three of my children and I’m looking forward to exploring and eating our way around a lovely and foreign feeling city.

Assuming we can get there, that is.

To travel by car to Montreal, one needs to have been tested (PCR) for Covid within 72 hours of their anticipated crossing. That may not sound too onerous, but it sure feels to me like it’s cutting it very close. I imagine many people will be traveling next week and that quite a few of them will be testing in advance of departing for their destinations.

While I’ve been fortunate enough in the past to receive Covid test results back within 3-days, labs may be understaffed and inundated with increased specimens to process. Would medical techs be able to keep up with the demand? Since making reservations for our accommodations, I’ve spent quite a bit of time trolling various testing websites trying to determine our best option for convenience and likelihood of receiving our results in time.

If you’re in a similar situation, let me share some of what I’ve learned. CVS schedules appointments a full two weeks in advance, which definitely provides a degree of comfort. Just knowing that we had appointments on the calendar, shifted the weight a little for me. But, I panicked anew last week when I asked the man administering my booster at CVS what the anticipated turn around time might be – 5 days.

Yikes, that’s a problem.

I’ve heard that Well Now, a medical facility with numerous sites, returns results remarkably fast, sometimes in less than a day. While that sounded reassuring, the testing locations aren’t ideal and only same day appointments are accepted, which made me anxious. This might be the place to go when you need fast results to return to work or after you’ve been potentially exposed to Covid. File that.

Early in the school year I needed a PCR test to be able to go to work after I exhibited cold symptoms and Walgreens offered the earliest appointment for testing. Like CVS, it’s a self administered nasal swab done in your car and submitted through the pharmacy drive through. My results came back in less than 48 hours.

Yesterday, I booked new appointments for my sons and I at Walgreens and canceled the ones I had already scheduled at CVS. Because I already had a positive (negative results!) experience with Walgreens, I feel reasonably confident that we’ll have our results back in time to get into Canada to enjoy our first non-U.S. getaway in more than two years, something for which we’ll all be sincerely thankful.

How are your travel plans shaping up? Have you familiarized yourself with protocols and practices for where you’ll be celebrating the holidays? Any experiences or advice to share?