Limited travel list for the foreseeable future

[Butterflyfluff]

So Boris has said that the number of places we can travel to is likely to remain extremely limited for the foreseeable future

It was very all depressing

The government clearly don’t want us to travel and this gives them the perfect excuse to keep the options of places to go extremely limited

It wouldn’t even surprise me if travel was banned altogether again

Not sure how much more of this we can all tolerate ☹️

Sorry but i am not the only one who doesnt agree with people holidaying abroad in a pandemic am i? Its only been just over a year, not that long to sacrifice a holiday abroad really

It's been 14 months and for many communities / countries tourism is their main income.

@Wheresmybiscuit3

It feels like life has been paused. This ‘new’ normal is a facade. It’s hollow. Forced joviality. And it could be snatched away again at any minute.

Life has been paused except for work. Working in health I've worked throughout. I am incredibly tired, and incredibly tired of pretending.

This!

@Whoarethewho

People on their own free choice decided to live abroad. Their decision their consequences. Sorry but a global pandemic will obviously stop international travel and is a cost that should have been factored in before moving.

Ah yes because there have been so many in our life time we of course should have expected this one and known it would be handled so badly.

I assume you've got a fucking crystal ball. Most of us don't.

Going to repeat this yet again but some people need to travel for work. In normal circumstances my DH is usually abroad at least 2-3 weeks each month seeing clients for his business. He has followed the “rules” and not travelled and instead had zoom meetings instead but he is now at risk of losing his whole business because his clients are taking their business to local companies who can travel rather than the U.K. who seem to be stuck in this constant cycle of restrictions. As lovely as a holiday would be, I’d prefer us to actually have an income and a roof over our heads and that can only be achieved by travel.
It’s a red list country he needs to go to (although the fact it’s Red is ridiculous as it has an extremely high vaccination rate) so although travel for work is allowed, logistically it’s going to be impossible.

"You're far less likely to bring back a new variant from Chantelle's beauty salon though"

This is absolutely not true. Variants are due to the virus not "foreign" places. If you holiday in a country with low levels of the virus there is no more risk than doing the same activities here. Cornwall, Norfolk etc will be just as risky as Portugal and the Greek Islands (for examples) this summer. The risks are entirely more complicated than people keep saying. Most transmission is from proximity - mixing in houses, working in unsafe conditions.

I'm tired of reading "going abroad is selfish". Going abroad is not one generic risk. Staying here isn't either. The travel industry is going to be f*cked, here and with lots of our neighbours - that has massive ramifications.

Also people have different priorities for fun. Some people are desperate to get back to hit or yoga, some to the shops, some to the pub, some for holidays. We could "live" without all of them, yes there are always people worse off, but it's not awful to miss the thing you like doing most..

@Oblomov21

Not helped by the fact that May 21 has been coldest for 20 years. Only 12 degrees.

Normally we are in our Dorset caravan at the end of May bank holiday where it's so boiling we have to sit in the shade.

This is what is bugging us too Wouldn’t even be so bad if the weather was better here but we are still going out in big coats, umbrellas , heating on every night .

We have a cottage booked in a weeks time and the weather forecast is looking utterly shit.

Would never have thought we would have shitty cold rain the last week in May ! It’s usually glorious.

It’s putting a dampener on everything.

@ihearttc

Going to repeat this yet again but some people need to travel for work. In normal circumstances my DH is usually abroad at least 2-3 weeks each month seeing clients for his business. He has followed the “rules” and not travelled and instead had zoom meetings instead but he is now at risk of losing his whole business because his clients are taking their business to local"

Ah yes but the "just close the Borders" brigade will simply say that your husband should have had the foresight to have chosen a job that didn't involve international travel.....

Given some of the opinions expressed it's a wonder society ever got beyond the horse and cart with people never travelling further than the next village.

Actually I think some people would be happy if we went back to that, but only as long as they can still have internet/TV/mobile phones/fresh food/University Experience for their offspring...........

ATB, Good Luck.

It isn’t selfish to want a normal life. That includes non-essentials like holidays and a pint in the pub and getting your nails done and Easter eggs and not putting cheese in your coffee instead of milk, and a myriad of other nonsense that’s been touted on this insane site for the entirety of this pandemic.

Any mumsnetter who can’t see that should ‘give their head a wobble’ as we say on here.

HTH.

Oooh and to add its all very well to talk about ‘non-essentials’ but if we want a functioning economy with people with jobs and contributing to the nhs, pensions, education and all of that then people need to start booking holidays, eating out to help out, drinking in pubs and getting their nails done. Otherwise everyone will be unemployed and we’ll have literally fuck all. People talk about spending money in the U.K. this summer - you do that by buying a holiday to Benidorm here you daft cunts.

Actually I think some people would be happy if we went back to that, but only as long as they can still have internet/TV/mobile phones/fresh food/University Experience for their offspring...........confused

And only if they can force everyone else to live just like them, because they are paragons of virtue.

Wanting holidays to resume is no more selfish than wanting baby groups or pubs/restaurants to reopen. I'm personally surprised how few countries are in the list when I'd imagine that reducing furlough claimants was a top priority for Westminster (plus Johnson's rich mates will want their holidays)

There needs to be quarantine/testing requirement for some countries because they may have higher rates, and be less advanced in their vaccine rollout which is understandable.

Closing borders would have been popular over a year ago and like muppets they are acting too late. UK tourism needs foreign tourists and international companies need UK tourism money too.

I am in favour of places being put on the red list quickly because variants may emerge but not in the same way in the past where there's a deadline of like 5 days so people rush home to avoid quarantine. It would be fair to say that people who travel abroad risk their destination being put on a red list but make the criteria clear (say x per 100,000) and get individuals to keep up with variants originating from that country.

People who choose a UK over foreign holiday aren't more virtuous. They just have deeper pockets.

@ForThePurposeOfTheTape

People who choose a UK over foreign holiday aren't more virtuous. They just have deeper pockets.

This.

The current situation is being made even more depressing by the insistence of some people that if you aspire to anything more than the absolute worst case scenario, then you’re getting ideas above your station and should be grateful you don’t live in a gutter

Travelling is no more risky than going to the pub or going to a concert, if it’s done right

Competitive misery isn’t a pleasant sport

I'm personally surprised at the list considering that the PM is fond of luxury holidays in Mustique paid for by his mates.

Travelling overseas is the new popular industry to bash. It used to be pubs but presumably journalists and MPs are now sick of drinking at home and want to return to pubs and bars.

@TheExtraGuineaPig

"You're far less likely to bring back a new variant from Chantelle's beauty salon though"

This is absolutely not true. Variants are due to the virus not "foreign" places. If you holiday in a country with low levels of the virus there is no more risk than doing the same activities here. Cornwall, Norfolk etc will be just as risky as Portugal and the Greek Islands (for examples) this summer. The risks are entirely more complicated than people keep saying. Most transmission is from proximity - mixing in houses, working in unsafe conditions.

I'm tired of reading "going abroad is selfish". Going abroad is not one generic risk. Staying here isn't either. The travel industry is going to be f*cked, here and with lots of our neighbours - that has massive ramifications.

Also people have different priorities for fun. Some people are desperate to get back to hit or yoga, some to the shops, some to the pub, some for holidays. We could "live" without all of them, yes there are always people worse off, but it's not awful to miss the thing you like doing most..

I agree with all of that. I love travel. It's my very favourite thing. When I was a little girl I would rad books about travelling and coudln't wait to be grown-up enough to see the world. This past year is the longest I've been at home since I was a teen. Living with such shrunken horizons has been really hard for me.

That's not to say I have a 'right' to travel but it's no more 'selfish' to want to travel abroad than it is to want to go to Cornwall, or play tennis, or have a family party. Not to mention that the economy depends on us doing 'selfish' things whihch keep people in jobs and keep essential services, including the NHS, funded.

What about all the people employed by the travel industry, both in the U.K. and abroad? What about destinations where tourism is a primary source if not the only source of income, or where tourism funds conservation or community projects.

The travel ban isn’t just stopping people from two weeks in the sun, it’s destroying a huge industry.

@SunshiningBetty for Gods sake, why should people be “ashamed of themselves”?

I'd feel happier if quarantine actually happened in reality, in a hotel for anyone coming in. The current way just damages holiday companies and has not stopped people travelling to relatives or for some spurious business reason.

My issue is that DC are growing up. Missing two years of holiday with them is really sad. And no I don't want to pay £3k for a week in a caravan in the rain.

My husband pointed out an interesting Simon Calder article last night talking about some Greek islands being on the verge of green and saying he would be surprised if they're not included at in next review. Gives me a bit of hope.

@coronafiona

My issue is that DC are growing up. Missing two years of holiday with them is really sad. And no I don't want to pay £3k for a week in a caravan in the rain.

Same here , probably missed out now on that last special family holiday , sad but there are a lot worse things to be sad about i guess.

I see they are now advising no foreign hols this summer?

Where have you seen that @Coldwine75?

On BBC news page today x

Most countries (even Australia) have already detected the Indian variant in their country. The difference is that they don’t make a song and a dance about it

The UK has the highest case numbers of Indian variant outside India by some large margin. Plus Australia has strict quarantine, so cases identified largely stay in quarantine rather than travelling freely around the country and exponentially increasing in numbers. Not remotely comparable.

If we had had the Australian system, we would have had cases too. They would have been identified while those individuals were in quarantine and not spread exponentially through communities, schools, the country.