I’d reserved a midsized car for our trip to SFO, but Hertz gave me a Ford EcoSport Titanium instead (a free upgrade). All was well until I wanted to put the luggage in the back – and I couldn’t figure out how to open it.

I expected there to be a button somewhere near the camera, or something on the remote, or a button or a lever in the car. I couldn’t find anything. I was almost ready to put the luggage in the back seat, but I decided to let DuckDuckGo guide me and typed the magic spell: “ecosport titanium liftgate”.

The sixth result was a YouTube video titled How to Open the Hatch, Trunk, Tailgate? New 2018 Ford EcoSport SE, and the result snippet said “…you might feel really stupid”. Bingo!

The video was from a Ford dealer; he showed a lot of ways not to open the back until he finally relented and gave up the secret – the hatch opens like a door and the handle is integrated in the trim of the right taillight. What could be more obvious?

The trip to SFO was uneventful once we got the car loaded, as was check-in – no one has asked to look at our Covid documentation yet, but I guess they’ll ask in Heathrow before letting us onto the Portugal-bound plane. Or maybe not – I’ve given up guessing for today.

We had to take Covid tests today (no more than 24 hours before our first flight) to meet the Portuguese entry requirements. We’d scheduled them for late this afternoon at Instant Urgent Care; I was taken aback when they called Diane and suggested we come as soon as we could to make sure they’d still be open!

We got there exactly 24 hours before the flight was scheduled to depart; they were ready for us, and we got the “results are ready” email before we got home. It was a lot less hassle than Minute Clinic, and we didn’t have to get out of our car.

I uploaded our vaccine cards and test results to the British Airways site, but their system wouldn’t accept them, so we can’t check in from home. I wasn’t surprised.