Lessons from journeying post-pandemic

(Mis)adventure while rediscovering London (for shopping) and Brussels (for the culture and cuisine).

I'd rested the device on my overstuffed luggage (I blame Bicester Village, the outlet mall I'd visited in London before arriving in Belgium - rookie shopping error) and it's duly tipped over, catapulting my iPhone onto the tracks below. If the train begins to move while I'm beneath it, there are, at least, details on my luggage tag to inform my family of my last moments. Meanwhile, I'm aware that a friendly (handsome) stranger is watching this spectacle, biting his nails and mumbling muted apologies from inside the carriage. He has accidentally pulled the emergency lock lever and is trapped on the other side of the doors. He's also one of the reasons I'm lying prostrate on the platform. The story begins with me and my overstuffed bags leaving my travelling companion - my younger brother - behind at the last station by mistake. Lugging the bags up steep stairs onto the train has taken longer than expected (an undignified travel experience for a European hub, actually). The doors shut behind me and the train starts moving before my gracious travel buddy can board with me. We're travelling to Antwerp, about 100km away. With his phone battery at 3%, my brother texts: "You've got my charger and the tickets! Send me a pic of the barcode; I'll grab the next train and meet you there."

And so, I do ... but close to tears, panicked and despondent about travelling alone, I listen as the handsome stranger suggests I get off at the next stop just 10 minutes away, and board the following train. I'd then be on the same train as my brother, who I'm not entirely sure wants to see me just yet. But then - the phone drama. So here I find myself belly down on cold concrete, blindly feeling around in the black gravel (it's out of eye-shot from this angle). My fingers make contact, and the train starts to move just as I shimmy myself upright. Metal makes momentary contact with my knuckle, but nothing more. I'm in a sweat but wave my thanks-for-nothing to the stranger, who sighs in relief. I board the next train and of course, don't find my brother on it - multiple carriages, multiple trains. I close my eyes and feel like a silly sod, not a seasoned traveller who's decided to brave a receding pandemic to trek around Europe. Arriving at Centraal Station, and expecting to be disowned, I meet my brother, who asks: "How did you end up being on the train behind me?" I have no words. We head to the nearest restaurant for garlicky, tomatoey, steaming pots of moulesfrites (mussels with fries) and cold Belgian weissbier, hairy moments forgotten - for now.

Some tips on how to navigate travel in a post-covid world

• Just about everyone involved is geared up to get business and leisure travel moving again, and amped to help people travel.
• First, get vaxxed so you can relax. Next, load your vaccination card or QR code onto your smartphone. Get the visas (early), pack surgical masks and sanitisers, rehydrating lotions to combat said sanitisers, rapid-test kits and all the vitamins.
• When you get there, people will be dancing in the streets. Europeans, particularly, seem so happy to be free of lockdowns that there are random bursts of dancing and song in town squares. In Brussels and Antwerp, bikers kitted with music systems and loudhailers trawl the city, their only aim to spread joy and Stromae (a popular Belgian music artist).
• We've become data analysts of sorts, which also makes us more travel savvy than ever. New regulations guide us; we know that airplanes are safe (filtration systems), the Tube not so much (wear a mask), and open-air restaurants are great (just don't touch the common areas).
• If the pandemic taught us anything, it's to live in the moment. This is no time to put away your bucket list.
• Oh, the shopping! Bargains and indulgences abound, even in pound sterling. Pack light and shop cleverly so your bag doesn't fall over and cause mayhem.
• Listen to your travel buddy if you take one (and ignore handsome strangers).
• Buy flexi-tickets. I booked my flights for 2022 in 2021 to maximise my international Vitality flight discounts so I can still travel internationally this year, if someone actually wants to tag along with me.