MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Back in September, Lee “Chef” Evans was a desperate man in a Montgomery hotel room, separated from the love of his life by more than 5,000 miles. He’d been that way for about eight months.
“I just want to go home,” the international chef, a Tallassee native who was raised in Eclectic, told the Montgomery Advertiser then.
Home isn’t a place to him. It’s a person.
“The great fear of not knowing what could happen if I couldn’t find my way home was unlike anything I had experienced before,” said Evans, who contacted the Advertiser from Agugliaro, Italy. “I was a total wreck at times, and I know many people are living with the same thing.”
Beyond the distance to Italy, what stood between him and fiancee Katia Chieregato was a mountain of travel restrictions due to COVID-19. The pair could only connect through video calls with a seven-hour time difference. That wasn’t enough, especially since Chieregato has health issues, including multiple sclerosis.
Evans was seeking help from anyone he could to get approval from for a flight to Italy. He’d reached out to every Alabama politician he could think of, and then contacted the Advertiser. What frustrated him most was news of athletes and celebrities being allowed exemptions to fly internationally, while regular people like himself were left to wait.
Waiting finally paid off. Evans received a travel exemption from the Italian government to fly to Chieregato. He arrived In Italy on Oct. 4.
By then, he said stress had taken a toll on him.
“By the time I finally made it home, I was almost unrecognizable and it took me a few weeks to return to normal,” Evans said.
After having to change their wedding plans several times due to restrictions, Evans and Chieregato (who call each other Lupo and Lupa) were married.
“We had to have a civil ceremony because of the COVID restrictions, so it was a very small private ceremony,” Evans said.
Though they’re together, challenges remain. Evans said his planned job fell through, and he is unable to work in Italy for now.
“I’m volunteering as an English teacher in a local school until things return to normal,” Evans said. “I teach basic English to challenged and special needs students… Most of my time is dedicated to helping my wife with her recovery and daily life.”
He’d also like to help the many others who are separated from loved ones, couples and family members. Evans has been active in that on Twitter through Love Is Not Tourism. Many, like him, had no idea getting approval to travel was just the first hurdle.
“My trip home was an uphill battle,” Evans said.
THE FIGHT TO FLY HOME
“My flights were cancelled days after I booked them, and I ended up waiting my turn in line for refunds with literally millions of other people,” he said.
Evans is still waiting for several refunds.
“I almost extended my credit past its limit and things got pretty scary,” he said. “I quickly found myself at the point where I couldn’t buy another ticket on credit. I literally got my documentation submitted hours before the deadline. I was a nervous wreck.”
The trip was full of unexpected moments as well. Evans said there is a “gray area” in the rules that can result in people being turned away at the airport.
“I had all of the information required by the EU and the Italian government and my passport is current,” Evans said. “But when I arrived at the airport to check in, I was asked for more information that wasn’t mentioned anywhere else. I needed to have my fiancée’s identification before I was able to be checked in for the flights.”
Fortunately, Evans was able to contact Chieregato in time to get pictures of her identification, which had to match exactly with the information on the travel exemption documents.
Eventually he was allowed to board the flight, only to have the entire process repeated in Amsterdam.
“Each time I was taken aside and held until everything was confirmed, and they had to confirm all of my fiancée’s information,” Evans said. “It was the most stressful experience of my life.”
More stressful that the current situation he and his bride are in, now that a second wave of infections have swept through Europe and Italy has imposed strict lockdowns again.
“Some people see this as Draconian and a compromise of people’s rights, but I strongly disagree,” Evans said. “People tend to forget just how small Italy is, and though the country is very modern in many ways it is built on some of the oldest infrastructure in human history. So much of Italy is still the ‘Old World,’ which is why I love it so much…. as a matter of basic self-preservation, Italy has to be strict.”
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