Am I the only one not to take a holiday abroad?

[ILoveJoeBrown]

Is it me, or have all my friends seemed to have had lovely hot holidays abroad this year? We didn't book anything until a few weeks back and have just had 4 days in North of England. That was our only summer holiday as we worked all through the blasted heatwave.

Now all we can see on fb is photos of friends who have been to lovely hot sunny places for a week or two. Italy, Greece, France. Even my DS21 has just flown off to Amsterdam.

Were we wrong to staycation or should we just have gone abroad and hang the consequences? Beginning to think we missed something. Is there a pandemic or did we imagine it all (no - that's another thread!!)?

I felt similar about ‘getting away while we could’.
We went the third week in July when the air bridges were coming in and we were being encouraged to go away!

Agree, I wouldn’t assume next year will be any different to this year.

We’ve had a staycation. It’s been crap. I’d give anything to go away but we cannot get to where we want to, so will just wait.

@DarkMintChocolate

No, we didn't. We think its selfish, as we might be incubating it when we go, and therefore infect the locals; or we might bring it back with us and infect people here! IMO, had holidays abroad been banned at February half term, we might not have had such a bad epidemic?

Does the same sentiment apply to holidays in the UK? You know travelling across the country selfishly infecting the locals or is it just abroad travel thats selfish?

My holiday in May was cancelled nothing rebooted yet purely for the quarantine reasons in Spain (we have a holiday home there)

Yup. Having a lovely time, thanks. Plane 15% full, island very quiet. Don't really see a problem.

I never knew this need that people had to holiday abroad every summer before the pandemic. We haven't gone on any holiday. And most families we know haven't gone on holidays too.
I am not jealous of the people who went. I am glad that they got back alright. I think they took a huge risk for themselves and for others.

Some colleagues have been away - I have to admit to being jealous even though we had nothing booked.

We booked a week long inland camping trip (we live near the coast) but one of the recent storms stopped us in our tracks after a couple of nights.

I’m pretty fed up tbh.

We'd been hoping to go , had booked in January for a holiday later in September. We've cancelled due to uncertainty around quarantine and rising Covid numbers , although part of me thinks we would have been safer in our chosen destination where we had a huge apartment and it would have been warm enough to always sit outdoors . Probably not going to be the case for the replacement UK holiday we've booked .

None of my friends or colleagues have gone abroad this year and I think they were a bit at our plans

@Timeforanotherusername

And they all felt safer abroad than when at home.

Yet we have lots if people testing positive after their holiday abroad..............

We cancelled our foreign holiday and went away in the UK.

Aren't the people testing positive on returning to the UK all groups of young people ? I think I read that those returning from Zante to Plymouth were all 18/19.

I think the problem is the kind of holiday they had, not where they went to .

I don't think the same risks would apply to a family self catering in a private villa

We usually go abroad once a year and didn't this year. Same with many of my friends.

We haven't had a holiday as a family for 5 years, ds has been abroad on school trips twice, one in 2018 & this year ironically to Italy in February just as covid kicked off over there. We haven't been abroad as a family since ds was 18 months old. Both myself & ds are autistic & much prefer to be at home, we don't find living somewhere strange restful, ds really struggled both times on school trips but they were very short, no more than 4 nights away from home.

I actually don’t know anyone who has been abroad for their holiday. Everyone I know had holidays in the U.K. or didn’t holiday at all.

A fair number of people I work with have been abroad and some are or have been quarantining as a result, but they can wfh so that is not as bad as it could be. Some friends have also done the same.

In fact, most people I know have been somewhere, mainly in the UK though. We had a week camping in Devon in July, and are just back from a second week, this time in a hotel in the North East. We loved it, the scenery especially was amazing, and we probably would never have gone up there in another year as we usually go camping in France. So we are not feeling at all deprived, not from a holiday perspective, at least 😊.

I just wouldn’t. I have a friend who had three previous holidays cancelled. They finally flew to Zakynthos at the weekend ......

I went abroad this year but it was at the start of March a couple of weeks before lockdown when everyone thought Covid was just a bad cough

We had 3 foreign holidays booked for 2020 and ended up going to Northumberland and Somerset. We had a good time but really hoping we get to Spain in 2021, I miss proper sunshine and swimming.
I do know quite a lot of people who went away and a couple who has to quarantine on return- I don’t know if it was worth it or not to them.

Yet we have a lot of people testing positive after their holiday abroad....

It seems we have lots of people testing positive after holidays in the UK too judging by the figures in the past few days.

I dont get the branding of people selfish for wanting a holiday abroad but not for wanting a holiday in the UK. Holidays are a luxury and and pleasure, wherever the destination is its not essential. Personally I dont think anyone who's had a holiday is selfish at all good on them but I'm sick of everyone who's been abroad being slated

Given that passenger traffic at airports is down to single figure percentages of what it was last year, that thousands working in the travel and tourism business have lost their jobs and many hotels fear they will have to close their doors for good, then clearly no, OP, you are not the only one who hasn't taken a holiday abroad.

But don't let that stop your smuggery.

No

I haven't been abroad since 2005 and my life is fine. I don't think fancying a week or two somewhere hot and sunny sufficiently justifies getting on a plane, so I don't.

I’ve been shocked to see young friends jetting off for weekends away in Europe- the risks (of having to quarantine/ getting stuck, not of getting it) don’t seem worth it.

@SeekingCoffee33

I actually don’t know anyone who has been abroad for their holiday. Everyone I know had holidays in the U.K. or didn’t holiday at all.

Same here.

We haven't been away home or abroad, all of DP's annual leave has been, or will be, used up while his bile duct tumour is investigated to see whether or not it is cancerous.

I’m in SW London and I don’t know anyone who has been abroad, people round here would normally have 2-3 overseas trips, friends / family / neighbours but none have. Everyone has holidayed in the UK (us included).

@Sctree what is the huge risk I took going on holiday abroad? Would it have been safer to catch a train to Blackpool instead?

We’ve had two staycations but dh went abroad with family because i get anxious at the thought of getting on plane at the moment.

I know quite a few people who have gone abroad and from the feedback there was no social distancing anywhere from the airport to the plane and even at the destination. It makes me glad I didn’t go, I’d have been having panic attacks the whole time.