So, should I just go back home then 🤷🏻‍♀️

[SickoftheCword]

I live abroad, in a country where you’d have to go to a hotel quarantine if going to/back to the U.K. My parents are due to come out to us in the summer, they’ll be vaccinated by then, dad already had first vaccine.
Will these hotel rules still be in place? There’s no way that can do that..when will they see my Dd again 🤷🏻‍♀️
Worried about the future and wondering whether to just back home to the U.K. to live.
Aibu and dramatic about it or does the future look so uncertain, I’d at least be better back in the same country as them?

@AgentProvocateur Thank you 💐 big hug back to you too, it’s so hard isn’t it. My dad’s not getting any younger and has some health issues and I’m just really conscious of not wasting anymore time, would be different ten years ago.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers Thank you! There’s inevitably always one who has to jump in with something.

@Inkpaperstars I’m not sure 🤔 the only other thing I can think is we both meet in Spain, but it obviously isn’t the same as them coming to stay at our home for a few weeks. I’m considering just thinking about having them here for an extended time of a few months, but not sure.

@BlackCatShadowThis is it, we’d have to arrange jobs to come back to and a place to rent, then it’s sorting our own house out here...all such a mess

@PrimeraVez Same here, we’re very settled here and probably are in a better position where we are currently..just the thought of possibly going years without seeing family and friends is just too much.

@CharlotteRose90

Sadly hotel quarantine will be in place in the summer and it needs to be . We have no idea what people are bringing from other countries. I have family in Prague and I won’t be seeing them for another year now sadly.

Czech Republic is not on the red list of countries so if you can travel (and they list family reunion as a permitted reason) you would not actually have to undertake the hotel quarantine upon return just regular self isolation with the option of a self release test after 5 days.

@HoppingPavlova My parents are in the U.K. and we’re in a country where if people fly from here to the U.K. they now have to do the hotel quarantine. My parents are due to come over in July/August, will have both had the vaccine and will pay for tests etc.

@MindyStClaire Yes, we’re happy and ok where we are, back to the U.K. would be a massive change, but if this is for years, I don’t know

@WhereamI88 I know, it’s so hard. Before we’d see one another three/four times per year and could just nip back to U.K. if we needed to. It feels like we’re further away than ever, it makes me feel panicky in case something were to go wrong and we couldn’t get to one another.

@snowydaysandholidays Thank you 💐

Do you really think we’re looking at years and years of this though?! What’s the point of vaccines..what’s the point of anything really

@SickoftheCword

Thanks all,

Perhaps i have been naive, I didn’t expect some of the responses and feeling a bit panicky that it could potentially be years before seeing them?!

My parents will have had the vaccine by summer, dad is halfway through the process, they would easily quarantine at home as are retired, to pay that amount and to stay in ha hotel, I’m not sure is doable. They’d also pay for covid tests too etc.

We’re settled here with a house and jobs etc, we would be stuck if we came back to live in the uk due to work etc, I’m not sure how easy it would be to get jobs now 🤷🏻‍♀️but I literally can’t bear the thought of not being able to see them, they’re not getting any younger. Such very sad times.

I don't think you need to move back to the UK.

If hotel quarantine isn't feasible for your parents, can you fly here and do hotel quarantine instead. I'm assuming you still have a UK passport, so that would be allowed. You can see your parents, but will need to factor in an extra 2 weeks and hotel costs into your visit.

I think people who say "you just need to figure in 2 weeks of quarantine and hotel costs" are really missing the point - because that is the point! Many of us made the decision to emigrate based on what the world was like before this, based on the knowledge that we can nip back home when we got homesick,we could get a flight for a sudden funeral etc etc. This pandemic has already made these last 12 months really difficult. We are likely looking at another year of this and that's assuming that the virus doesn't throw another curveball. Considering whether you still want to live abroad is perfectly reasonable.

Of course its reasonable to consider whether to live abroad or return to the UK.

But it doesn't have to be years before the OP can return to the UK for a visit either, which is what the OP was suggesting or concerned about. Obviously its not going to be like before when you could fly to places for the weekend of course, but there isn't a complete travel ban either.

@fluffi But that would be to pay almost £2000 for the hotel, flight tickets, test costs, plus quarantining in a hotel for two weeks without leaving, with a toddler..to then possibly spend two weeks with parents tops, as that would be a month away from my dp (Dd’s) dad who would still need to work. It’s bordering on the ridiculous.

snowydaysandholidays
I am going to be straight with you op, this is going to be continuing in some form or another for years

So are you an MP/Central Government Official...?

@LaceyBetty

I don’t see how that kind of talk helps. No one knows how long this will last. It’s just speculation on your part. Most countries have started vaccinations. Things could change dramatically over the next few months.

To be fair, the OP is asking everyone to speculate.

Yes, but she wasn’t speculating. She was stating it as fact. No one knows how long this will last. We can all speculate but no one knows yet what will happen. What we do know is that things can change very quickly.

I live overseas and haven't seen my family since April 2019 so I get you OP.

To be fair it’s not something isolated to people living overseas from family. I haven’t seen my family since December 2019 and we live in the same country. Closure of state borders, lockdowns etc have meant that many people here have not seen family/friends since Xmas 2019. Even for brief periods where they have opened you have to think carefully as they can snap shut and you are trapped - not feasible if you have a job, kids have school and also not feasible if parents are elderly or family is ill, undergoing treatment regimes in local hospitals etc where it would be problematic to be quickly locked out. I know many people who have had to say goodbye to family remotely, miss the funeral etc - all within the same country. It’s not isolated to those living in different countries from family/friends.

I’m not unsympathetic but it’s difficult for everyone and we all have had to make adjustments but you do have choices. Why would you suggest moving back to the UK before mentioning that your parents could stay with you for an extended period? Moving back to the UK is the nuclear option and its far too soon to be thinking it, let alone saying it out loud.

Uncertainty is horrid so prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Invite your parents to stay for an extended period and assume that they will be quarantined for up to 14 days upon arrival in your country and perhaps upon arrival back to the UK.

@AgentJohnson Because I’m not sure how feasible it would be for all of us to stay in my house on months on end in the hope that the hotel quarantine won’t be needed on their return. The reason I’m saying about the U.K. is because so many are saying restrictions like this might go on for years 🤷🏻‍♀️

@HoppingPavlova That’s hard also, but you have to admit, it’s easier being in the same country, compared to all the issues arising and costs when being abroad. Friends I know in the U.K. have all seen their families during the moments they could and have taken that opportunity. Flying abroad and all the rules that come with it, is much more complex

We have relatives in one of the red list countries. We were gutted we couldn't take our baby to meet them last year, and are preparing ourselves for the same disappointment this year. If we can we will go, but the quarantine hotel is a complete nonstarter for us. I'm more hopeful about the vaccine passport idea, but they don't seem to be putting much of a timeline on vaccinating under 50 year olds.

I won't be booking anything.

@WhirlingGerbil

We have relatives in one of the red list countries. We were gutted we couldn't take our baby to meet them last year, and are preparing ourselves for the same disappointment this year. If we can we will go, but the quarantine hotel is a complete nonstarter for us. I'm more hopeful about the vaccine passport idea, but they don't seem to be putting much of a timeline on vaccinating under 50 year olds.

I won't be booking anything.

You can fill in the givernment calculator to see when you are likely to be vaccinated

www.omnicalculator.com/health/vaccine-queue-uk

So at today's rates a 45 year old with no other special considerations eg. carer, health issues it says between 8 May 2021and 24 June for first vaccine and between 31 Juy and 16 September for 2nd dose.

However the estimates are getting shorter dates as more centres open and more vaccines are ruled out. Mine is due before April and originally when they were vaccinating fewer people it was September.