The context determines which tense the speaker uses.
Adverbs act as 'cues'.
Certain verbs are used with specific adverbs. Mary Morris applied for her passport last month because she will soon be leaving on a trip that she dreamed has been dreaming about for many years. She has been worked worked has been working as a receptionist at Ardmore's Travel Agency for ten years. All this time, she looked has looked has been looking at pictures of exotic places on the wall and planning trips for others. For this reason she decided has decided has been decided to take an overseas trip herself. .