Calgary Travel | First Trip After Covid Within Canada

My First Trip After Covid – Calgary Travel 2021

9-Day Calgary Trip Begins in About A Week

It feels like yesterday, but my last trip was almost 2 years ago when I went to Egypt in 2019. Covid has taken away so much from everyone, including exploring new places and faraway lands.

Things started to get back to normal, but not fully normal enough yet to travel beyond the boundaries of our own countries. I had a big trip to Asia in mind, but had to cut that short to Western Canada as Covid stills lingers around.

At this point, travelling to Asia is possible in certain countries. One thing in common, regardless of where you go, is the hassle. Each time you are entering a new country, a Rapid PCR test has to be done within certain hours, and that test is way too expensive.

Travelling within Canada is not cheap. It is actually more expensive than travelling to Europe or Asia, but this is the most viable option I have right now. I don’t need to go through numerous PCR tests or quarantine.

I only need to produce my proof of vaccination if I am staying within Canada. On this trip, I will be concentrating on Calgary and Banff, which is a famous resort town only 2 hours from Calgary.

My travel purpose has changed since I started documentation my journey and posting them on YouTube. My main purpose for this trip in not a vacation, but rather a business trip for my YouTube channel and Instagram.

I will be writing more about this trip as I continue my journey. You will be able to follow the full trip on my channel.

The links are here:

 Ahmed Dawn YouTube

Ahmed Dawn Instagram

At The Cairo Airport | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 09 (Part 64) 08D19

Cairo Airport – Not So Organized, Egypt | Leaving Cairo Tonight

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

After our tour van dropped us off at the Cairo airport, I passed the main entrance to enter the airport building and then headed towards security. This is when things seemed to be in disarray and no one knew which queue or section to follow.

At first, the other passengers and I (we were walking together after getting off the tour bus) were instructed to go to one counter to push our luggage through the X-ray machines and they would issue us our boarding passes. When we got there, someone else told us that it was the wrong section and pointed us to somewhere else.

Some people got mad and started arguing with the airport employees. We seemed to get to the right belt at one point. After putting my carry-on on the belt and passing through, I realized that this was not even the main security checkpoint where airport security officers check for liquids and make you go through the body X-Ray scanner gate.

I realized that for additional security measures, the Cairo airport had a double luggage check process. It was time-consuming, but I couldn’t complain because it was to protect everyone.

I passed through the main luggage check section and scanning machines without any incidents and breathed a sigh of relief. I was heading to the First Class Lounge at Terminal 3, as I had free passes to enter under the Priority Pass program.

The Best Low-Profile 25L Travel Backpack for Your Carry-On | Eddie Bauer Stowaway Packable 25L Packable Backpack Review

This 25L Packable Travel Backpack Folds to Fit in Your Carry-On | Best Travel Accessory - Eddie Bauer Stowaway 25L Pack

What I like about a packable backpack is that you can put them in your carry-on bag without taking up much space and once you arrive at the destination you can unfold it to use as a day pack. That doesn’t mean you have to travel to use it – you can also use it daily as a low-profile backpack that won’t weigh you down like a regular backpack.

The Eddie Bauer 25L Pack is lightweight (11 oz) and folds down into its own pocket, measuring only 17"H x 12"W x 6"D or 8" x 8" x 2.5" when stowed. I like that its side pockets (for water bottles or other accessories) are made of fabric, not mesh.

In the front, you will find one front pocket with a key ring attachment and one zip mesh pocket. The main compartment is surprisingly spacious. There even is another sleeve inside that can be used for a laptop or anything else.

The pocket the bag folds into is also a usable pocket on top of the bag with 2 hooks. You can attach a carabiner here as well.

This pack is made of durable, 200-denier ripstop fabric with water repellant coating. The shoulder straps are lightly padded.

Although it can hold a lot of stuff, the downside of the Eddie Bauer Stowaway Packable 25L Packable Backpack is that it might get uncomfortable and slips off your shoulder if you pack too much or put heavy stuff in it.

For light items, it should be good enough and I will use this especially when I travel as my daypack or a secondary bag. I find it hard to complain about this bag due to its price. Although the price tag says $50 CAD, Eddie Bauer usually has it on sale for 50% off.

Last Night in Cairo | Arriving at the Cairo Airport | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 09 (Part 63) 08D19

Cairo Airport, Egypt | Leaving Cairo Tonight

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

We hopped on a van with other travelers to go to the airport. I didn’t know most of them, but some of them I remember seeing in the hotel before.

My tour guide was sitting with me for almost two hours to give me company and it was time to say goodbye. His name was Mina and we became like friends for the past 10 days staying together crisscrossing Egypt.

I took good care of him by giving a lot more than the standard tips, which was recommended by the tour company. He was very appreciative of that. He personally thanked me many times and personally went beyond his regular duties to look after me during my stay. So yes, I felt bad to say goodbye, but that’s life.

We would have gotten to the airport in 30 minutes, but due to traffic it took more than an hour. However, I took the time to immerse myself in some Cairo roadside scenes for the last time. The full 10-day tour was kind of passing before my eyes and I was recalling all the bits and pieces of it.

This happens to me on every trip. The last couple of days, I start to feel bad because the trip is coming to an end and then when I am home, I feel trip sick for a while. Also, I recall these trips vividly for the rest of my life.

I think that’s a part of travelling and that’s what makes travelling unique and this is an eye-opening experience everyone should have if your situation permits it.

The shimmering lights of the Cairo airport are getting visible far away. We should be arriving shortly.

Best Cloud Storage Offers Even Unlimited Backups at Ridiculously Cheap Cost

GoPro Subscription Unlimited Cloud Storage Is Hard to Beat

I was looking for cloud storage to save my video clips and pictures, especially when I travel. I wanted an additional backup in the cloud, in case I lose both my SD cards and portable hard drives.

But it’s almost impossible to find unlimited cloud storage. I had narrowed it down to either Google One or Microsoft 365. Goggle One 2 TB costs CA$139.99 per year (they don’t have a 1-TB plan) and Microsoft 365 costs CA$79.00 per year for 1 TB.

Both would work for travel needs, but they are nowhere near unlimited. Then while buying my new GoPro 10, I accidentally found a GoPro Subscription that offers unlimited cloud storage for $59.99 and other benefits such as discounts on GoPro cameras and accessories.

The GoPro Subscription for $59.99 has blown my mind because of the value it offers. It offers convenience, as I don’t have to manually transfer my clips from my GoPro cameras anymore. Whenever I come home and plug it in to charge, it starts saving them on the cloud automatically. Later on, I just download them from the GoPro site to my computer to start editing.

But it’s not the convenience that is causing me to continue my subscription beyond the 1st year. It’s the unlimited storage that hooked me to this. I doubt other providers would offer unlimited cloud storage even for thousands of dollars. If you look at the annual rates for any other service, you can see that it would be very expensive had they offered any unlimited option.

Sure, a GoPro Subscription has disadvantages. Some of them are that you can only save video and picture files, nothing else. It doesn’t have nice, visually pleasing layouts like Google or Microsoft. It also doesn’t have search capability or options to stash files by folders or names.

But those flaws don’t bother me. My GoPro Subscription fulfills my needs of having a backup to save my videos and pictures and it’s not only limited to GoPro files. I can save anything from my phone or computers as long as they are video or picture files.

My next trip will be a lot more efficient, as I don’t need to worry about losing my physical backups. I also don’t have to spend hours saving them manually to my portable drives, if I choose not to save them and am happy with only saving on the cloud.