Traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic can be scary and overwhelming. For me, I traveled from LAX to Miami with American Airlines with only one layover in Charleston, South Carolina. My first flight was pretty relaxed. The flight attendants gave us each a Ziploc bag with a sanitization wipe, cookie, and a small water bottle. It was a four hour flight. They made sure to keep one seat empty between each passenger, unless it was a party flying together such as a family or friends. For me, I got the whole row to myself. When I went to sit down, the first thing I did was I took out my own sanitization wipes and wiped down the seat, arm rests, screen, and table. The flight overall, was smooth, but it was mandatory to wear a mask the entire time, unless you wanted to drink or eat.
The second flight from Charleston to Miami, was not as reassuring. There were no empty seats at all. It was a plane that was completely booked. Thankfully, it was only a one hour plane ride. By the time we were up in the air, it was time to land again.
Once I made it to Miami, I went to the baggage carousel to claim my baggage. Afterwards, I walked towards Iberia airlines and checked my bags in to Madrid. I gave myself three hours between flights in case of delays and thankfully everything ran smoothly.
For the Iberia flight, there was drastically less people. I, again, had a whole row to myself as did others. It was reassuring and made it much more comfortable to sleep, especially being only 5'1. Also, luckily I was exhausted from getting up at 4am for my first flight that I slept for 6 out of the 8 hour flight. Unfortunately, for me, I did not like any of the airplane food that they had to offer. For lunch, it was a vegetable sandwich with two huge bread rolls and a piece of lettuce in between. It was not appetizing. Again, for breakfast, I opened up the box and left it as is. They did offer coffee twice which was good and drinks, so I got a Coco-cola, even though I am a fan of Pepsi.
Once I arrived in Madrid, there was a health form that Spain required travelers to complete. Each passenger was given a paper form on the plane, but I had filled it out online prior to my departure. Therefore, I was able to merely show them a QR code and wait in a shorter line. Once I got my luggage, I headed to the train. I used Renfe to buy my ticket. An important thing to note is that you have to first take the train from the airport to Atocha which is six stops on the train. From there, you can switch and go to the train you need, which for me was to Sevilla. The train ride was also nice because there were not many people. It was only a two hour train ride to Sevilla from Madrid passing through Cordoba.
Finally, once I made it, I got a taxi, which you have to take the first one because they wait in a line. I got to my Airbnb and showered thoroughly with hot water.