Anyone desperate to see family in a country with strict quarantine rules?

[Notcontent]

I know there are lots of people (including me) who have close family in places like New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, etc where there are severe restrictions on entry, including extended quarantine.

How are you dealing with it and what do you plan to do?

I am desperate to see my family. The cost of flights plus quarantine facility fees is pretty prohibitive, and of course there is the added complication of actually getting a flight and enough time off work.

Flights are quite cheap at the moment for our destination. The problem is the two weeks quarantine - which is away from family in both directions. We don't want to put the children through it so looking at just one parent going. Home schooling makes that a challenge tough because the parent that will stay is the FT worker!
So on hold for now.

It’s tough, isn’t it. I would have to take my DC with me. I am being patient but just doesn’t look like the situation will change (i.e. open borders) any time soon.

I never expected that I would find myself in this kind of situation.

It’s not so much the cost, as the time. There’s the 14 days and then if you get covid in those 14 days, you’ll have to isolate for 10 days from the start of symptoms. Even if I took 3 weeks off work there’s no guarantee you’d get much time not isolating.

They do have looser restrictions for countries with low rates but I don’t see the U.K. making that list for a while.

Rafals - yes, exactly, the time is an issue. And right now, given what is happening in the U.K., it seems highly unlikely that places like Australia or NZ will be allowing anyone from the U.K. without quarantine, anytime in 2021... 😥

Yes the problem for us is the lengthy quarantine, but I am glad that they they have it.
I was hoping to have been vaccinated by the time we were hoping to visit my relative, in the Spring, but that isn’t looking at all likely. Also if the two week quarantine was still in place that would also make it impossible.

For me it’s the time - it’s unthinkable to spend 2 weeks in a hotel room not seeing my family - and with my kids back in the Uk. I’d be away a month just to see my parents for 9 days - and that’s assuming everything went smoothly! Just can’t justify it no matter which way I look at it. Money isn’t the issue it’s the time.

I think my mum might come here. They’ll put 2 weeks worth of food in cupboards & freezer before they come and then just quarantine at home for 2 weeks once they get back. Probably not until cases come down a lot here. Pointless taking the risk of coming to the U.K. if you don’t need to.

How about stay the fuck where you are until things quieten down?

@BlackForestCake

How about stay the fuck where you are until things quieten down?

Are you being serious?? That’s horribly offensive. This is not about having a holiday - this is about seeing my elderly parents. People’s lives and how things come about can be very complicated. I did not choose to be living on the other side of the world from my parents.

I think we’ve all agreed we’re not actually going anywhere, haven’t we?

I know, it's so tough, I'm separated from someone in Australia and the situation just seems to be never ending. I read a lot about it in the Aus press and the general consensus is that they'll let people in that have been vaccinated, although this hasn't been confirmed. This was a fairly positive news article too: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9110409/Qantas-offers-tickets-international-flights-July-2021.html

I would love to see my fiancee. I last saw him for three nights end of September. Two cancelled/locked down flights since then. I'm hopeful for April, he thinks summer.

How are we dealing with it? Dogged determinism I guess! If you cant have a bubble across tiers you cant have one across countries I guess! (Me UK, him Germany). Christmas was miserable (both live alone and wfh).

I’m desperate to visit a close family member overseas, but no insurance companies are offering travel/medical insurance as long as the FCO advice is against all but essential travel to that country because of Covid.

How are you dealing with it?

I feel sad.

What do you plan to do?

Get on with it. What else is there for it? Simply dig in, wait, work, and choose to hold onto faith it will get better eventually.

OP

I have accepted not being able to go but feel sad. We had thought we might go last April, of course it was clear from late January really that it wasn’t going to happen. Then I had vague hopes of things having calmed down enough that we would be able to go this April instead, but I realise it will be impossible.