Spain or not to Spain?

[oopsywoopsy]

DH wants us to fly to Spain in a couple of weeks for a family holiday. We have a villa there with our own pool. There's only the one week in August we can go due to DH work, and bonus that flights are a great price.

I feel we all need the break (esp me who was home with our 3 young kids during whole of lockdown as DH worked throughout.) Feel the kids deserve it as they have been great and missed out on a lot same as everyone else.)

I'm reluctant due to the following reasons:

1. Not sure is it soon to fly with COVID, is it worth the risk?

1. My youngest would turn 2 while we would be away and I know grandparents would be upset not seeing him on his special day.

1. I'm actually scared to tell my Mum if we do book it as she's strongly against travel at the moment, is very judgemental and throws major strops. Think she will probably not speak to us for a while. (My sister is 7 months pregnant which will make her even more against it.)

1. Had invited a few family members, little cousins over to celebrate the little ones birthday in the garden so would have to cancel/ rearrange.

1. Have a family member coming with his child to the garden get together who were going to stay the night. (He's having a hard break up and I know it meant a lot to him & he was really looking fwd to it.)Worried about letting him down/ upsetting him. (Also had him up last weekend.)

1. Could rearrange get together for the next day but know some family members would feel uncomfortable that we had just stepped off a plane.

AIBU to deprive my family of a holiday because I'm mainly worried about upsetting/ letting other people down?

Do you think it's to early to fly?

Fucking hell, you really do have a massive chip on your shoulder.

I would go. We are going to Mallorca tomorrow at an AI hotel. I have had Covid so has my partner. Our kids have not, or they may have but have never had a test. You can’t put life on hold forever.

Good choice. Many parts of Spain are about to lock down. You would be stuck here (depending on where it is, of course)

I was horrified to see my small city on the beach outside Valencia is shutting all bars and beach activity from 10 pm tonight.

Too many new deaths.

Definitely right choice.

It is extremely hot and face masks are absolutely mandatory, everywhere om the coast. Your DD is right!

@chocolatesaltyballs22 at least I’m not self-absorbed and entitled.

That was to OP

I live in Spain, above Barcelona, and it's been treated very seriously here. Masks are mandatory everywhere and shops have sanitizer. Given you have a villa, I'd go for it but not go,out much when you get here. It sounds like you could all do with a break and everything else can be sorted.

@Thereisalight7 why do you think international travel now will increase the spread of the virus? How will this spread it any more than going out and about in the UK, assuming people travelling on holiday will be most likely travelling within Europe (as per the subject of this thread) to countries with similar levels of infection to the UK?

Clearly international travel spread the virus in the first place but that was before any restrictions or SD measures were in place - a completely different situation to the one we are in now.

Yes you should definitely go. If it was a hotel I'd think twice as you don't know what their facilities would be like (eg restaurants / pools closed) but with your own villa it will be like a home from
Home.

Don't worry about offending family, you're entitled to think it's safe as much as they're entitled to think it's dangerous.

With people coming to celebrate your sons birthday and having to cancel, you will give them weeks of notice (unless people are travelling from abroad to see him and have booked accommodation etc) and to say you need a break after lockdown is perfectly reasonable. The fun you'll have far outweighs the disappointment they'll have for missing a few hours... you can always do something when you're back.

Go, two year olds don't remember their birthday. Organise a get together 10 days or so after you get back

There's a lot written there about what you think, and the grandparents etc. What about your DH feelings? Will you be considering those?!

@DazedandConcerned I have a PhD in economics 😂😂 so I would wager I know significantly more than you on the topic. I know plenty of people work in travel. You’re the only one I’ve heard of taking the ‘I must spend my money on a holiday to help my husband’ They aren’t going abroad as it’s the right thing to do. It’s not virtue signalling it’s preventing spread. If you don’t care about that then at least be honest about it. I hope it’s not too much for you to suffer through the rest of your holiday to ‘help the tourism industry’.

And FYI airline stocks fell 68% during the GFC and hotel/cruise chain stocks fell 74%. Huge amounts of restructuring had to take place but the industry rebounded and the same will happen again this time. Tourism and travel recovery was cyclical after the GFC. If we see a v or w shaped recovery then it will rebound too. People have money to travel still and will once better protective measures are put in place/effective quarantines are established or a vaccine is found.

I would go (well I am going on Sunday!).

Could the family member just stay in your place while you're away if he needs some space?

I wouldn't worry about rearranging the party for the little one, so long as grandparents get to see him before/after if they want to. You can have a lovely pool party for him at the villa, he won't know any different. Otherwise rearrange for a couple of weekends later? Family might feel better about coming, and he still won't know any different!

A couple of friends have travelled in the past week or so and report back that it was fine, empty airports, social distancing, boarding and deboarding by seat row. Once you're on the plane obligatory masks and hepa filters mean you're about as safe as you could ever be.

Go for it OP 🙂

Best cancel my two foreign holidays later this year then because some random off the internet thinks I'm entitled 🙄

I’d go, especially as you have your own place. Your mum will just have to deal with it.

OP has already said they are not going!! Read the bloody thread people

RTFT

the OP isn’t going to Spain anymore

I would have gone OP.
I'm going abroad for my holiday next month and I can't wait.
I love hot sunny holidays which is why I won't holiday in the UK.
Most of the time it's cheaper to holiday abroad than to holiday in the rip off UK.
Not my problem if anyone has an issue with that.

@MiniCooperLover DH is very supportive and did share some of my concerns about travelling at this time. As for my worries about upsetting family members he thinks I'm silly and if they have a problem, it's their problem.
(I tend to agree but find it hard to act on it.)

We have a balanced relationship as I tend to worry about upsetting people too much and he doesn't so think it equals it all out.
Rest assured do I also worry about hurting his feelings too!

Fact of the matter is the whole reason DH suggested the break was thinking about all our mental health and the impact we can see this has had on our kids.
However we now know this is not the right way forward for our children at this time so will think of something else.

@Thereisalight7

Why *@chocolatesaltyballs22 well let me see, why am I not going on holiday this year..... hmmm... oh that’s right.. the global pandemic with a virus sweeping the globe. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the virus? You see what happened is people travelled to the Uk who had the virus and then they spread it to others. Then it took hold and infected and killed thousands* of people

Why are you going on holiday? Oh let me guess. Because wah wah I wannnttt to. I waannnnt to go on holiday I’m so entitled.

Agree with this and your other posts on this thread @Thereisalight7 👏👏👏

There are some people who cannot live without their foreign holidays and for who booze, crowded beach and a tan is a priority at all costs.

Anyway sorry for hijacking the thread and OP has made the right decision imo.

I don't go on my hot sunny holidays to laze by the pool or on the beach. How boring. There's more to foreign countries than pools and beaches.
Nor do I have tattoos or drink alcohol, however, if it pleases some people to think that, then as I say, the problem is theirs, not mine.
Roll on next month 😎

Hear hear @chocolatesaltyballs22 👍

Another well said @chocolatesaltyballs22 !

Some people are so fucking narrow minded and judgemental it's untrue, no wonder they don't feel the need for a holiday if they think it's sunbathing, getting tattoos and drinking. So unworldly it's untrue!

Who said anything about tattoos?