Oh bollocks, I'm really nervous about my holiday now!

[stopitkenneth]

We're due to head to a French campsite in four weeks (driving all the way). We've cancelled two holidays due to COVID, Malta at Easter and Mellorca now. We decided a couple of weeks ago that we'd try for France as quarantine had lifted and I was able to get comprehensive insurance.
But now I'm really worried about needing to quarantine when we get back!

I know, I know, booking anything now was optimistic and a bit stupid. But we really REALLY want to get away (I'm frontline NHS,I need a bloody holiday). And it's hard to see how rates in France could be worse than what we've got here.

At no point have my workplace says that we shouldn't be booking holidays abroad. So if I do have to quarantine on my return, then I'm hoping they'll either support me to work from home, or I'm happy to take the two weeks unpaid. I'm hoping that because I booked it during the time that there was no quarantine, they can't come down hard on me. But I'm now really worried.
Argh!

We cancelled our Easter holiday, cancelled our May holiday and cancelled our Summer holiday.

It's called a virus for a reason.

@userxx and yet many countries are containing it while allowing life to continue in relative normalcy.

Why do you accept such utter shit from the government? It is beyond me.

@Disillusioned11

silkroad eaglejulesk

Because it rains in England ..... all of the time ....incessantly. We go on holiday to get week of warmth and sunshine.

Nonsense, stop exaggerating. We've had some rain this week but generally it's been lovely for weeks.

OP if you're in France and it's sunny then sit outside at cafes and restaurants, no need to stop on the campsite.

In France mask wearing is also obligatory outside in busy tourist areas e.g. La Rochelle, or even on market day where we are. The French are taking sensible measures.
The current map above.

Enjoy your holiday.

@Silkroad

Just out of interest why does needing a holiday equate to going overseas? Wouldn’t a holiday in the UK have been a holiday?

Have you tried to book anywhere in the UK? Everywhere is fully booked.

If you're NHS you don't have quarantine do you?

Can you pay for Covid tests? Surely that would be an option instead of quarantine? Test before you go and test on return - I would take that option if it meant I could go away.

The campsites I've looked at have spaces and that's just the ones providing tents

If people who work on the NHS frontline don’t seem to understand the importance of containing the virus, and think it’s perfectly reasonable to travel to another country in the middle of a global pandemic because they need a holiday abroad, it’s clear why we’re fucked. This self-entitled attitude we’ve adopted as a culture is going to be our downfall.

Just go. Thank you for being front line NHS and have a fantastic time.

We cancelled our France holiday as we didn’t want to do 13 hours on the ferry to get there. Replaced it with a week in Cornwall but the long range weather forecast says rain every day we are there so feeling rather miserable now. Wanted to spend most days on the beach as we can’t potter round the shops like we used to.

This doesn’t work as you can develop symptoms anytime within 14 days of being exposed to the virus. Testing on return is totally pointless. A test is only valid for the moment in which it was taken.

If you're NHS you don't have quarantine do you?

And that's a pretty stupid rule. I'd have thought NHS workers should quarantine as they're going back to work in high risk environments and could easily infect co-workers and patients.

I'm honestly amazed people in the UK are going abroad. I live in one of the countries that dealt with it well, very few cases/deaths, and everyone is holidaying domestically this year. We would have to quarantine on return, no matter where from, but I don't think I'd go anyway.

I agree and wish our borders were closed temporarily.

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

If people who work on the NHS frontline don’t seem to understand the importance of containing the virus, and think it’s perfectly reasonable to travel to another country in the middle of a global pandemic because they need a holiday abroad, it’s clear why we’re fucked. This self-entitled attitude we’ve adopted as a culture is going to be our downfall.

Fully agree. Perhaps that attitude is why covid rampaged through some hospitals at the start. Same with the way norovirus spreads through hospitals.

The ones that I could find were stupidly overpriced

Well, there is that. I understand more cleaning costs but many are just putting prices up because they can.

Fully agree. Perhaps that attitude is why covid rampaged through some hospitals at the start. Same with the way norovirus spreads through hospitals.

You being serious? People in hospitals are generally ill with lower immunity, it's easy to pick up viruses that healthy people would shrug off. Can't believe you are blaming people like the op.

I am find it nauseating that anyone can be moaning about their holiday when potentially thousands more people are going to die.

Working on the front line surely gives you more insight into the suffering that is on its way now in large parts of Europe???

It is beyond selfish that somehow the worst thing that is going to happen in the next few weeks is that you will need to move your holiday to a campsite or hotel in the UK when so many are staring down the barrel of a second wave.

Seriously - stop thinking about yourself and start considering others, just for once. This not just happening to you! It is happening to all of us. Quite frankly you selfish and blinkered, and I do hope you are not communicating this to the people around you in RL.

then I'm hoping they'll either support me to work from home, or I'm happy to take the two weeks unpaid

I also don't really understand how you can work from home if you are on the 'front line'.......

This air travel bubble bridge crap was doomed to fail. It was as obvious as a multicoloured elephant.

Quite frankly you selfish and blinkered, and I do hope you are not communicating this to the people around you in RL.

🙄. Here we go.

[quote ItWasNotOK]@userxx and yet many countries are containing it while allowing life to continue in relative normalcy.

Why do you accept such utter shit from the government? It is beyond me.[/quote]
Where? The countries that are closest to normal aren't containing it (USA, Brazil), the countries that did most to stamp on it at the outset are closest to normal (NZ, Germany, S Korea).

UK has done neither, just fiddled about in the middle

You do deserve a holiday after all the extra hard work this year!
But I am of the opinion that we all should holiday locally this year, in the country we are in. Still helps to boost the economy, but we avoid international travelling. It was a huge factor in spreading it around the globe, so why risk it? There are lots and lots of beautiful things to see in the home country. I know the weather is not to be relied on, but they are opening more and more places each day. I am not leaving the country this year, in my sector we have to stay open and provide the service, so need to keep the risks of lost time to the bare minimum.

Well to travel abroad you need to gather in large groups for flights and hotels, swimming pools and bars.

If you travel to France via the Eurotunnel you drive your car onto a train and sit in your car for the 35 mins it takes to cross to France. If you self cater when you get there you're going to a supermarket, same as you would at home, to buy your groceries. Yes, you may take the virus with you, but you could do that travelling from Birmingham to the Peak District or London to Norfolk and I don't see anyone being bashed for booking a UK holiday.

Can you cancel or postpone OP?

I'm on the fence about the moral aspect of what you should do - lots of other posters have covered that in more than enough detail.
However a holiday is not a holiday if it causes so much angst in advance. We changed some flights to Majorca from a previously cancelled holiday - but because we live in Scotland I was worried about quarantine so moved to next year. French numbers are going up - if you were going next week I'd say you might be ok, but as its not for a few weeks then who knows what will happen.

Have you looked to see if any decent holidays in the UK ? If you can be flexible on location it may still be possible to get something decent, although clearly not likely to be as warm as France.

@ReefTeeth and @eaglejulesk I know how you feel. My best friend lives in Auckland so I know how tough and strict the NZ lockdown is, and by extension the Aus one too.

I'm in the Channel Islands. We wanted to keep our borders closed (Jersey) but the politicians put visitors over locals' feelings about it. We'd even got down to 0 active cases 2 days before they opened the borders 4 weeks ago. Since then 5 people have brought Covid to our island - and we don't want it!

Yes, the tourism industry is in bits here, like it is everywhere, and yes those of us with family in the UK would like to go and see them (or even go to France, which is closer) but most aren't ready for that yet, and it certainly doesn't feel safe enough yet (France especially - Brittany is in a local 'red zone' again now, so be aware OP that by the time you get to France there may be more localised 'red zones', especially down by the Spanish border).

The only good thing here is that everyone who arrives is tested - that's how we know how many visitors have brought it over with them from the UK. And we have a very effective local track and trace system that works far better than the UK's does. We're also doing a rolling anti-body testing scheme, and have been for the last 3 months, so we'll know how long average immunity lasts (my DC's partner is in the scheme, so we know all about it!).

But those good things don't stop the majority of islanders wanting people to stay away for the time being. We're nervous, and we're annoyed our politicians (we have our own government, nothing to do with the UK system) have put money before peoples' feelings. The news from both the UK and France worries us through the sheer number of still active cases being detected every day.

So I really hope - in the most polite way possible to say this - that please don't come to Jersey on holiday this year. Next year, we'd love to see you - all being well - but not this year. Our politicians haven't gone 'full New Zealand' (as it's nicknamed here) but we wanted them too. We feel for you in NZ and Aus because we know you rely on tourism almost as much as we do - but local health must come first. We're not out of the woods yet, but a long way

My best friend lives in Auckland so I know how tough and strict the NZ lockdown is, and by extension the Aus one too.

My family are in NZ and Australia too so I've been unable to get home to be with them, I could have flown out to NZ in February but didn't because I knew then there was a risk of not getting back to the UK; as I'd have been travelling without my DCs (long story) there is no way I was going to risk it with Covid already rearing it's ugly head. I'd much rather be in NZ with their decent lockdown, as it is I'm here and can't go there but I'll accept that as it's the right thing.