To think this is just a joke now?

[Justinversusmrtumble]

Portugal possibly going back onto the amber list.
The only thing keeping my parents going is coming to celebrate toddlers DD’s birthday in the summer. It’s getting beyond ridiculous now. Feeling so low today, I miss my family so much.

Wow - this thread has set off a few issues.

First - You don't have to travel abroad to find keeping in touch with family difficult. In fact, sometimes it's easier! Drive times are pretty punishing, sometimes requiring an overnight stop off. Flight times (if flights even exist) are often longer that flight times to European capitals.

Have a look at the journey times I know friends face to visit family members split across the UK.

London to Aberdeen
Cardiff to Newcastle
Cornwall to Berwick on Tweed
London to Orkney (including flight/boat).
Belfast to Cambridge

Second - many people in the UK have had to remain apart from loved ones, some of whom were dying or being treated for an illness that made them vulnerable. This has happened even though they lived in the same city!

Third - funerals are not essential to attend. We might want to attend for all the right reasons, but it's not essential we do. There are lots of ways to pay our respects. Weddings can wait, or go ahead with restricted numbers. Nobody is saying people cannot marry. They are saying, big celebrations can wait.

Fourth - holidays are not essential, so neither are holidays abroad. Some people never travel abroad - ever- and manage to survive. Those desperate enough can holiday in their own country.

Fifth - we've got many ways of keeping in touch - FaceTime being one, home made videos, phones etc. Think how people managed before fast travel - occasional letters. We are better off that ever before with the many ways we can keep in touch. Maybe they don't replace a cuddle - but they go some distance to making things tolerable.

@StoneofDestiny I don’t want to face time my parents, they want to see us and Dd in the flesh. It’s been too long now. The numbers where we are, are very low, it isn’t logical

Justinversusmrtumble
......and many of us are sad we've had to bury ours because of Covid! We just don't want to lose any more family members.

[quote Justinversusmrtumble]@StoneofDestiny I don’t want to face time my parents, they want to see us and Dd in the flesh. It’s been too long now. The numbers where we are, are very low, it isn’t logical[/quote]
I agree it’s a poor substitute. Maybe at the beginning people felt differently.

Agree with all you say @StoneofDestiny

My immediate & extended family is far-flung - when family members migrated we knew that distance & separation would be a thing. If you choose to live in a different country, then you need to factor distance & separation into your decision. When my parents migrated, it was a 3 day journey home. That was part of what you signed up for.

To assume that cheap flying will always be available is foolish - it's relatively new, and is dependent on trashing the atmosphere.

Cheap wasteful travel is what is "not logical."

[quote Justinversusmrtumble]@StoneofDestiny I don’t want to face time my parents, they want to see us and Dd in the flesh. It’s been too long now. The numbers where we are, are very low, it isn’t logical[/quote]
Well we all want lots of things.

And it's not about our numbers. It's about Portugal's.

(Although ours aren't brilliant either.)

@Kinkybutkind

The only reason Portugal was on the green list to start with was the very important football match.

Call me an old cynic but funny how now that match is over and the 12,000 English folk are back home, having squashed together mask free in the various bars and restaurants, we are increasing the alleged risk!

It’s a ridiculous system and decisions are being made by a ridiculous Prime Minister who wouldn’t comprehend statistics if they were written in crayon. Nothing this government does is about keeping the country safe...

That's not true . Footie originally due to be played in Turkey . They talked about having it in UK but due to the EUFA (?) officials who had to attend from various countries and UK Govt wouldn't relax quarantine restrictions for them it was agreed to host in Portugal . Originally the fans were meant to fly in direct on a special charter, watch the match and fly straight back out again but the travel corridors (or whatever they are now calling them ) changes that

@StoneofDestiny

Justinversusmrtumble ......and many of us are sad we've had to bury ours because of Covid! We just don't want to lose any more family members.

Then we will be in travel restrictions forever, CV isn't going away and it will constantly mutate.

Vaccines take too long to supply and administer, even in developed countries, 6 months in and 50% of adults have had the full dose & thats with a unsustainable flat out drive to get them done.

Portugal has a very similar per 100k as UK but apparently we put them on Amber because of the Nepal variant! which they know nothing about, which proves my point, we will never be allowed to travel at this rate.

But your parents can still come to you? It is an Amber list, so the only problem is quarantine on return, but if your dad has alzheimers he is not working so it won't be hard for them to chill out at home for 10 days? And why not let them come over and stay for longer and make up for lost time?

Personally don't see travel as a priority and believe that closing borders would be more containing, really let it get dampened down. But the rules are what they are and your dps could still come to you.

@IntoAir

Agree with all you say *@StoneofDestiny*

My immediate & extended family is far-flung - when family members migrated we knew that distance & separation would be a thing. If you choose to live in a different country, then you need to factor distance & separation into your decision. When my parents migrated, it was a 3 day journey home. That was part of what you signed up for.

To assume that cheap flying will always be available is foolish - it's relatively new, and is dependent on trashing the atmosphere.

Cheap wasteful travel is what is "not logical."

Well once again, if you chose to move somewhere where it takes 3 days to get there (not sure where it is tbh...), then yes you need to take into account.

But we are talking about PORTUGAL.
It’s 2 hours away max or an overnight trip on a boat. You just can’t compare that with your experience.

I’ve lived on the side of the world, litterally. And yes you moving like this means you dint see family as often.
But no one I know has ever had that sort of expectation when talking about two eu countries. Let’s be a bit realistic there.

@maddening

But your parents can still come to you? It is an Amber list, so the only problem is quarantine on return, but if your dad has alzheimers he is not working so it won't be hard for them to chill out at home for 10 days? And why not let them come over and stay for longer and make up for lost time?

Personally don't see travel as a priority and believe that closing borders would be more containing, really let it get dampened down. But the rules are what they are and your dps could still come to you.

I’m in a similar position than the OP.

I wouldn’t expect my parents to do the travelling because they are the ones who are elderly. My dad is ECV (cancer, diabetes etc...). No way I am going to ask him to take the risk associated with flying.
And to then take the risk of being ill in a foreign country.

It’s not just about the quarantine.

The variant of coronavirus first identified in India is now the dominant strain in the UK, Public Health England (PHE) has said. The number of cases confirmed by laboratory analysis rose by 79% over the last week to 12,431

Travel to and from India was allowed because Johnson had trade deals as his priority. Look where that has led us.

Covid will continue to mutate.....Then we will be in travel restrictions forever

Scientist are still finding out what Covid will do - but they have been pretty consistent in telling us restricted travel and avoidance of red areas is the best defence we have got.

Exactly @jasjas1973 and @DreamingNow

Travel to and from India was allowed because Johnson had trade deals as his priority. Look where that has led us. countries like UAE and Qatar were put on red list due to fear of Indian Variant arriving to U.K. through their very busy airports, but India was not placed on red list till much , much later on.!
I’m starting to think there is more to this than what we are told , was the green list made to discourage people from travelling abroad? Or is it to Fly with BA instead of Emirates and QA if you really had to?

@queenofarles It makes no sense, does it, definitely more to it all, but what 🤷🏻‍♀️

@UnusuallyCommon

I hate the way some people seem to think things like this just don't matter. It's such a cold non human way of thinking.

Losing out on precious time with elderly relatives, children missing out on developing early bonds with their grandparents and so on... It is fucking important. And the day that people stop seeing it as so is a very sad day for humanity indeed.

You can only expect people to care more about the 'bigger picture' for so long.

It's not any colder than 'most people have been vaccinated so I should get to go on holiday and fuck the people who haven't got their jabs yet'

@JewelGarden And who said that?

"DreamingNow

maddening

But your parents can still come to you? It is an Amber list, so the only problem is quarantine on return, but if your dad has alzheimers he is not working so it won't be hard for them to chill out at home for 10 days? And why not let them come over and stay for longer and make up for lost time?

Personally don't see travel as a priority and believe that closing borders would be more containing, really let it get dampened down. But the rules are what they are and your dps could still come to you.

I’m in a similar position than the OP.

I wouldn’t expect my parents to do the travelling because they are the ones who are elderly. My dad is ECV (cancer, diabetes etc...). No way I am going to ask him to take the risk associated with flying.
And to then take the risk of being ill in a foreign country.

It’s not just about the quarantine*
I understood that the parents wanted to visit op, therefore that would work. I was not commenting on your situation as this was not your thread. In your situation you would just have to visit your parents and such up the quarantine at their house, it really is the cost.of travelling internationally in a pandemic. You don't want your dad to risk getting ill, others don't want to risk new variants for their vulnerable relatives and further lockdowns. If you travel then yes it is just about the quarantine.

@Tiktokersmiracle

Sorry but your parents being miffed is of little concern. We are at risk as a whole. A party can be rearranged. I say this as someone facing the prospect of having to rearrange a wedding again because of selfish people who won't vaccinate or quarantine.

This traffic light system is stupid. We should follow Australia and New Zealand and ban all non-essential travel in or out until next year at the earliest.
The current system is open to abuse of people traveling from a red or amber country via a green country to avoid quarantine.
The only way out of this mess now is to vaccinate asap and shut the border.

Ok so you trump someone's desire to see their family with your desire to have a wedding? That doesn't make sense?

How about I trump that with my desire to be able to put a roof over my families head? Am I selfish too?

Everyone has different wishes and needs, be kind

@Stitch9191 Exactly! And I personally wouldn’t consider having a wedding an anywhere near an essential thing, but I do understand that it could be upsetting and sympathise.

@jasjas1973 I totally agree and this is what has me really down today.

It feels more and more like travel is cancelled forever.

When does it end? There’s an Indian variant, a Vietnam one, a Nepal one... they’re going to keep coming. We keep hearing ‘we just need to vaccinate everyone’ but we don’t know if the vaccines will work on the variant that springs up three years from now.

What is the long term plan? How long will people accept this?

My job involves a lot of travel and the past year and a half has been miserable, trying to get it all done on zoom (it doesn’t work.) it’s devastating to think how long this is going to go on for.

‘I agree we should have just stuck with no travel until 2022, it’s what most people expected to happen anyway’

@notalwaysalondoner why do you think travel will be possible in 2022? What do you think will be different?

Are you one of the people who said last year ‘why can’t they wait till 2021?’

@StoneofDestiny - one of the best posts I've seen recently. Well said.

It’s great posters in Aus are having a great time

It’s not really that relevant to here though

I was responding to a poster who insists people in this part of the world are living under "draconian" leaders and turning into North Korea. Are we only allowed to comment on the original post now?

For what it's worth maybe we are sick of people moaning about not being able to see family abroad - people here can't either, but I've heard very few complain.

@VeganVeal

Thousands of people have died and all some are worried about is going abroad and having a party.

madness

They want to see their loved ones after months apart. They're allowed to be upset and vent on here.

What part of that can you not understand?