My world tour almost didn't even begin

No matter how "expert" one feels about a subject, a little oversight can always happen, and what happened to me threatened to leave me stranded before I even boarded my suitcase on the first flight from London to Frankfurt.

I have written many pieces on this note. I told how I booked it in 2020 and how in these two years I struggled to keep it up after each cancellation and after spending hours and hours on the phone with the Lufthansa call center.

The problem of places

I admit, I made a rookie mistake: after yet another email notifying me of the cancellation of a flight on the itinerary and after finding a CC staff member eager to help me, I was able to reschedule the itinerary, but I didn't remember to rebook the seats on board.

So 36 hours after the first flight I was able to take what was left, and I have to say there was absolutely not much left, in fact all the flights I will be on will have, judging from the map, very few vacancies.

The almost capital sin

As the departure date approaches and especially once the realized that this time I was really going to leave, I started to check all the documentation, all the entry requirements and covid restrictions. In fact in the last month the rules have changed in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In fact, in Australia they changed twice.

At present, the Japan's borders are still closed, so I will have no problem transiting Haneda Airport, but of course I will not be able to leave the sterile area.

Australia first eased restrictions and finally, just in the past few days eliminated all requirements. Finally, New Zealand has also made travel easier, but I will be forced to take a swab when I get to Auckland. And to report me in case of positivity.

In all this welter of changes I had applied for the travel pass for the All Blacks nation, and downloaded the app for the Australian PLF, but I had completely forgotten about the eTA in order to enter Australia.

As with the American Esta. or South Korea's K-Eta, Australia also requires travelers to register and pay for an entry permit that lasts one year from the date of issuance.

Everything is done through the app, and fortunately for me it was all immediate, as is the case with Canada, while the United States requires at least 24 hours to release it.

Traveling with an Italian passport: where you need a visa and where you don't

I remembered my friend Raffaele who called me from Malpensa Airport a few months ago to tell me how his trip to the U.S. had been skipped precisely because he had shown up at the check-in counters without Esta.

In conclusion

I risked losing everything, without the ETA I would not have been able to embark to Frankfurt and from there to Sydney, via Tokyo. This is why it always pays to check everything 3 times, especially when traveling to areas where you have never gone or where you do not pass through often. The rules can always change and the consequences in some cases can be disastrous.

• round the world tour

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