Irrationally annoyed when people say it’s so easy to travel abroad

[Lemons1571]

This is really getting my goat at the moment. But accept I’m probably jealous which plays a part.

Double jabbed adults testing negative, returning to the uk from their European holidays and declaring “really, it’s so eeaaassyyyyy, you should do it, it’s made to sound soooo difficult but really it’s a piece of piss”.

Well, we have 3 kids.

One (under 12) is still testing faintly positive despite having had covid weeks ago.
One (16) is single jabbed but not allowed a second jab by the uk government, so therefore treated by Europe as unvaccinated and not allowed in restaurants etc in France.
The third child is unvaccinated, but in the 12-15 age group where a lot of Europe expect him to be double vaxxed.

So, forgive me in thinking that no, for us, it really wouldn’t be “eeaaassyyyyy”, and would in actual fact be a fucking nightmare.

AIBU?

YANBU

Im in a similar situation to you and going abroad seems so complicated right now.

I also had a friend who went away and on the way back one of her children tested positive for COVID at the airport. Her whole family were allowed to fly home but my friend and her dd had to isolate in a foreign country for 2 weeks. I couldn't risk it.

As far as I'm aware you can test positive for ages after having Covid, thus seems to be normal.

Well from 4th October you don’t have to test before getting on your return flight which for a lot of people removes the stuck abroad worry (unless you’re symptomatic).

But yes, it’s awful for parents of 12-16 year olds. Spain would be a good destination as they only require a pcr test to get in and they don’t have COVID passes there.

@PersephoneJames

Well from 4th October you don’t have to test before getting on your return flight which for a lot of people removes the stuck abroad worry (unless you’re symptomatic).

But yes, it’s awful for parents of 12-16 year olds. Spain would be a good destination as they only require a pcr test to get in and they don’t have COVID passes there.

It also depends in the country you are flying out of. Some still want people vaccinated before they are allowed in the place. It's important to check.

I've said in a number of threads now though - English(UK?) 12-16y are going to be the potential stopping blocks for many families as one vaccine isn't fully vaccinated for most countries, and as they have been vaccinated 12+ for a while, their rules and restrictions state from 12+.

Hopefully UK parents and teens will be given the option in the future. Maybe once the government realise their own holiday plans might be curtailed 🤷‍♀️

For fully vaccinated adults and those with only children under 12 travel is becoming much easier.

I think it's dependent on where you choose to travel to.
Greece for example accept proof of recovery rather than a negative test for getting in as long as its 30 days since infection. You do need negative test, proof of vaccine or recovery for indoor settings since beginning of Sept now but you would have all three of these available just by arriving.

Malta is definitely a no go, I think it's about choosing country based on your requirements. I originally found it all massively daunting but actually joining travel forums made it a lot more straight forward.

YANBU - I have a 15 year old and a 17 year old. Neither is eligible for 2 doses of the vaccine. So we’re basically stuck. It’s so frustrating. We really want to take them away after GCSEs/A-levels next summer, but neither will be double-vaccinated by then (DD has a late August birthday). Haven’t been away since October 2019. Didn’t go on holiday at all this year (I refuse to holiday in the U.K. - last years utterly shit holiday in the wind and pouring rain was definitely my final one - I’d rather stay at home).

Yep, it’s crap. Pointless going anywhere if you can’t do anything when you get there.

YABU

It may not be as easy if you aren't double vaccinated - but it isn't that hard with a bit of planning. It just means that you have to arrange to have a PCR test within the 72 hours before you go (some countries it's just a lateral flow).

With regards to indoor activities/restaurants - just pick outside venues if necessary (depending on the country).

You may just have to be a bit more flexible on where you travel to.

YABU, it is easy for them.

YABU. Just because your circumstances are different at this specific moment in time doesn't make their statement untrue. It is easy at the moment to travel abroad.

There is an extra cost associated with doing tests at certain border crossings etc, and in some countries you need to download their app, but it's not difficult.

I don't think it's difficult personally. Me dh, and adult dd are all fully vacinated, we're just back from Portugal, and she's in Greece at the moment with her boyfriend.

YABU. Went to Spain this summer with DH, DD and boyfriend (both 17), ds (15) and ds2 (11). DS2 didn't have to have a pre-departure test as he was under 12, and we popped the other 3 down to Boots. The cost wasn't great at £80 each, but that was about the worst part. Test prices are capped in Spain, so it was way cheaper coming back - pre-booked and took lat flow tests at a clinic near our hotel, then took tests at home (which nobody checked we'd done) 2 days after returning.

You just need to be a bit organised re the forms, but it was worth it to get some decent weather. Also - our local airport was almost empty so it was the best ever journey through security and check in that I've ever had!

Forget about airport security. It was great. Quick and easy, and the airport was much less busy than pre covid times.

You're being completely unreasonable.

It is piss easy to go away abroad what kids. My mate and I went away last month with 8 kids between us! Worst bit is filling the Passenger Locator Forms.

We're booked to go away on October holidays too.

Admittedly it does take a while to get your head around what forms/tests you need but once you understand it, it's not difficult at all.

Worth persevering OP, its well worth it, such good cheap deals on at the moment.

@WrongKindOfFace

Yep, it’s crap. Pointless going anywhere if you can’t do anything when you get there.

What? There's loads to do! I suppose dependent on which country you go to. But we've been away 4 times to 4 different countries over the last 18 months and except for having to wear masks in shops there was nearly no difference at all.

No that's no quite true, waterparks were a lot less busy!

Easy? It's an absolute ball ache. It was bad enough when I went to Spain at the end of last July, with STBXH and the kids. Restrictions and the paperwork needed to enter the country were still there, but the mandatory testing etc wasn't.

I'm not even contemplating another holiday abroad for at least a year (not that I can afford one anyway 😅). The stress just doesn't seem worth it.

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand - not difficult is not the same as easy!

[quote luckylavender]@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand - not difficult is not the same as easy! [/quote]
I'm currently overseas, and I would say it's easy. We presented our vaccine pass at Dover, and at restaurants etc. It's very straightforward. When we've crossed borders on the continent no one has even checked anything.

We won't have to do a test until we need to travel home.

And the only place we've needed to show our vaccine passes has been indoor restaurants. Most activities do not require them, so it's totally wrong to say you can do anything without it.

What? There's loads to do! I suppose dependent on which country you go to. But we've been away 4 times to 4 different countries over the last 18 months and except for having to wear masks in shops there was nearly no difference at all.

No that's no quite true, waterparks were a lot less busy!

I’ll rephrase that, it’s not really worth visiting some countries if your teenagers have to stand outside, unless you can arrange (and pay for) a test every 48 hours.

www.theguardian.com/money/2021/sep/19/five-star-to-no-star-holidaymakers-face-nightmare-in-quarantine-hotel

The worry of testing positive and this happening puts me off going to another country on holiday.

I’ll rephrase that, it’s not really worth visiting some countries if your teenagers have to stand outside, unless you can arrange (and pay for) a test every 48 hours.

Yeah blimey that sounds awful, which countries are doing this?? Have you personally experienced this?

I haven’t heard anyone saying it’s “easy”?
Once the rules change on 4th we will consider going away for October half term. I think it’ll be the price that stops us rather then covid.

Well yes provided you don't test positive abroad, then I imagine it os relatively easy.

We will be taking our chances in the October break as have a booked holiday to Tenerife, but I'm under no illusions that we're basically screwed if any of us test positive abroad. Luckily we have enough money to throw at it if that happens and reasonable insurance.

It's not the testing regime that bothers me - it's the outcome of it.

YABU

The annoyance of the PCR tests aside, it was a doddle.

We went to Spain.