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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why people are booking holidays abroad...

184 replies

MrsMillhouse · 17/07/2021 00:18

... when the rules seem to change every 5 minutes?

I understand those desperate to see family. But otherwise I don’t get why you would take the risk of getting your holiday canceled or have to spend £000s on quarantine as the bloody rules seem to change from day to day

OP posts:
Whiskycav · 17/07/2021 00:22

I do agree with you. I look at everything g you need to do and everything that COULD happen and I just don't have the energy and know I would not enjoy it one bit.

But I would guess, for some people it's worth it.

My biggest concern is a country changing status while I am away or getting a cobid positive test on the way back. I know I would spend all my time worrying about that and just not enjoy it.

But some people probably don't over think like I do. And probably happier for it.

And for many of them the risk will pay off. Some it won't. But lots of them will have a great holiday with very little problems.

Original poster
MrsMillhouse · 17/07/2021 00:24

I don’t blame anyone for wanting to go abroad. But I personally couldn’t deal with the worry of whether flights could get canceled or having to go into quarantine when getting home. I wouldn’t be overly worried about catching Covid abroad as I could just as easily catch it at home

OP posts:
x2boys · 17/07/2021 00:25

Because they can I suppose, everybody has had 18 months of crap and people want a break, personally watching cases sky rocket and hospital admissions and deaths increasing I don't think it's a great time to be going abroad, but others have different opinions 🤷‍♀️

BootsScootsAndToots · 17/07/2021 00:25

Agree.

I'm in Australia and we won't even consider interstate travel as our rules change in the snap of a finger.

I had a friend who went interstate for 2 weeks for our mid-year term holidays.

3 days into an 11 day holiday they had to fly home as their holiday destination went into lockdown.

RoseRedRoseBlue · 17/07/2021 00:28

Because it’s nice to have something to look forward to, other than the interminably shit situation in England, and it supports the travel industry.

nancy75 · 17/07/2021 00:30

I’ve got a holiday booked for October. Booked in November 2019 supposed to go on Aug 2020, changed it to October 2020, changed it to feb 2021, changed it to October 2021, will soon be changing it again. That’s why I’ve got a holiday booked!

BadMotherLover · 17/07/2021 00:31

It is optimism.
Over evidence.
Those foreign trips will get cancelled.
Those people will lose out.
I feel very sorry for them.
They trust the government advice.

Eeiliethya · 17/07/2021 00:33

I couldn't be arsed with the testing faff personally but I honestly couldn't give a fook about other folk booking holidays 🤷🏼‍♀️

MostlyMaple · 17/07/2021 00:34

I have a holiday booked for August.
Booked in July 2019 for June 2020. Cancelled in June 2020, rebooked for June 2021. Cancelled again and rebooked for August 2021.
Probably not going to happen but here's hoping!

BitterTits · 17/07/2021 00:38

I mean, they've been fed the lie of 'freedom day' for the last three months. Ultimately the aim of this was to boost the economy, tourism included. Of course half of this lie is that anyone WFH is at a massive advantage because they can still work if they're self-isolating.

Ohhelppp · 17/07/2021 00:39

As everyone has said here. My husband is desperate for a some good weather. We’ve both worked bloody hard (one of us a keyworker) and every year we reward ourselves with a nice holiday. We drive shit cars, don’t splash out on clothes or nights out. Holidays are our thing.
He’d boom a holiday abroad tomorrow but I’m unsure. So we haven’t booked anything. Seeing the state of things now, I’m glad of that. Too risky, in my opinion.

avamiah · 17/07/2021 00:42

I don’t know why but I have a friend who has booked 2 weeks away for her and OH and 3 kids in August to Portugal.
She told me that she only pays for hotel when she arrives and they have only paid for flights which are fully refundable 🙄

I was actually lost for words when she told me but Que Sera,Sera .

Original poster
MrsMillhouse · 17/07/2021 00:42

@nancy75 hope your holiday does manage to happen!

OP posts:
ZoinksRun · 17/07/2021 00:45

I agree. I love a holiday and have family abroad who I would love to see but the thought of it being cancelled or having to isolate for ten days or find a PCR test in a foreign country, awful!
My friends dh is doing the hotel isolation right now and he is so bored. The hotel aren't bringing him regular food. It's not easy. I wouldn't do that with two kids.

FlyingBattie · 17/07/2021 00:54

I'm resigned to not going anywhere until at least 2022.
I can't be arsed with testing, finding out the rules for where I am going, maybe having it cancelled and/or having to quarantine.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 17/07/2021 00:59

A triumph of hope over experience!?

To be fair many are trying to use bookings and vouchers carried forward which all have expiry dates. We'll be scrabbling around towards the year end doing similar. Can't be arsed with it all until then.

Those who aren't and are committing new funds ... hats off! . Hope you get there as it's frickin' joyless dealing with the airlines etc when you can't

TheHateIsNotGood · 17/07/2021 01:07

For the first time since the beginning of time I do not have a valid passport, it needed renewing over a year ago.

I fully appreciate people's desire to travel elsewhere and am grateful that I've got a very good reason not to consider it, as well as gaining at least an extra year on my Passport because if I'd renewed on expiry then I wouldn't have been able to use it for a year anyway.

But, to me it's not worth the hassle of going out of the UK for the time being - to mentally be happy with this all I do is recall the times in my lifetime when an holiday abroad wasn't considered a necessity.

nancy75 · 17/07/2021 01:36

[quote MrsMillhouse]@nancy75 hope your holiday does manage to happen![/quote]
One day…Grin
We won’t be going if there is any chance of quarantine when we get back, would rather just change it (again!!!) and not have the stress.

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 17/07/2021 01:37

Fuck knows, I haven't simply because it may well be good being able to fly there but what if that country goes into lockdown while I'm there and I have to be in a hotel room with 2 kids for a week?!

Cornwall here we come instead!

GrandTheftWalrus · 17/07/2021 02:22

I've booked a holiday for September 2022 and I'm hoping it'll just be normal by then. That's if I ever get my passport

PurpleOkapi · 17/07/2021 02:48

Because they're not willing to completely write off any possibility of holidays abroad for however long they think it will take for the rules to stop changing every five minutes. The goalposts keep moving, and that doesn't seem likely to stop in the near future.

Coachradley · 17/07/2021 03:56

I couldn’t be bothered with all that testing and self isolation. Having to take a pcr test so many days before flying and before you return.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 17/07/2021 04:04

The thing that's putting me off going isn't the possibility of having to quarantine on return - we both wfh so that would be straightforward - but the possibility of testing positive whilst abroad. Where would you stay? You wouldn't be allowed to book a hotel, I just don't know how that works.

Doingtheboxerbeat · 17/07/2021 04:08

There is a direct correlation between risk takers and people with plenty of money to waste in my friend group. Me and my BFF are turning 50 this year (me first then him a month later) and he has booked for him ,his partner and grown-up DC and they want me to book ,but I am in a worse financial situation than them and I can't afford the unexpected extra costs .

lurker101 · 17/07/2021 04:11

We booked (and went on) a holiday recently. We had annual leave to take and had originally planned to travel to family abroad which we couldn’t do, so booked a trip to a green list country. Prices were reasonable and we figured that it was highly unlikely to turn “red” while we were away, so worst case would turn amber. We wfh currently so 5 days isolation wouldn’t be an issue and the cost of day 5&8 tests is around £200 on top of green costs, so it was worth it to us to go away.
Before booking anything I read our insurance ts&cs carefully and knew if either of us tested +ive before leaving the uk or in destination we were covered, so I was quite happy to go.