Travelling abroad for a holiday

[kleew1]

Has anyone done it?

Was the holiday different as a result of covid? How was airport etc and where did you go?

We are going to canaries in September so curious to know.

My son & girlfriend booked themselves to goto Berlin for a few days. However they didn't check the entry requirements and can't go as not double vaccinated til next week! The joys of explaining to a cross 18 year old why 'Germany's on the green list' wasn't enough. Panic over and rescheduled to December at little cost implication.

Several good friends have just returned from hols and said it was definitely worth it despite cost and hassle of tests.

One friend however's dd tested positive day before due to fly home. So they're now stuck in Spain for 10 days - not sure who's paying - and not entirely sure they will be able to fly back on day 11 as if you're covid positive it can show up as a positive test for quite a while. Plus the mum now likely to get it as stuck in a hotel room with her daughter which will delay their eventual return even more. The whole potential stress of that puts me right off.

We have had two weeks in Barbados in July. So worth the hassle of filling in forms beforehand.
We did LFTs before we left daily so we're pretty sure we wouldn't be found to be positive on arrival. The pcr they do on arrival took 5 hours to return then two weeks of bliss. Masks and sanitiser everywhere. So worth it.

We were due to fly to Croatia in the morning but now can't travel as I tested positive on Saturday.
We're gutted! Managed to avoid it all this time and I get it now grrrr
I'm going to call the insurance company in the morning about claiming for lost accommodation and flights.
I'm glad I tested positive before going though and not whilst we were over there with the added hassle of sorting out isolation.
And definitely important to get adequate insurance!!

Not worth the risk of being caught out and stranded overseas. People travelling for leisure internationally during a pandemic need their heads testing.

This is my second big holiday abroad since covid hit. And no, I don’t need my head testing 🤪

It’s been blooming marvellous here (France). We’ve had a blast. Super relaxed and exactly what was needed. A little more prep than normal due to covid in terms of paperwork/ vaccine proof, checking insurance policy, but it wasn’t complicated or time consuming. Sorting out the pre-travel antigen test to get back into the U.K. was straightforward as pretty much every chemist here does them. Doing the additional paperwork took about 5 mins. It didn’t take long to book the day 2 test either (I used the cheapest on the approved list and couldn’t care less if it shows up - cases here significantly lower and significantly more restrictions… the testing isn’t about public health it’s about the government creaming off 20% VAT and a money making opportunity for mates/ party donors). If one of us tested positive, it wouldn’t have mattered as we’re in our own motorhome (totally self contained/ stay off grid)… so would have relished the extra holiday 😂😜

@Thewiseoneincognito

Not worth the risk of being caught out and stranded overseas. People travelling for leisure internationally during a pandemic need their heads testing.

It was worth the risk of being stranded overseas for us. But we tested negative and weren’t stranded, so the risk paid off anyway.

@Thewiseoneincognito

Not worth the risk of being caught out and stranded overseas. People travelling for leisure internationally during a pandemic need their heads testing.

I think we’ve got to the point that everyone can make their own decisions as to if they want to take the risk or not. As long as you accept the risk that you might not be able to go and/or might be stuck in a hotel room somewhere abroad for two weeks (and I can’t just yet) I think it’s fair play tbh

Yep, happy to take the risk here too. No head wobbling required. The international travel industry is already on it’s knees (speaking with a military pilot DH who has plenty of commercial pilot friends) - it’s incredible that there seems to be an idea that by not travelling now we will just be able to bounce back at some random point in the future when it’s “safe”. The airlines/ferry companies would be bust if everyone waited and you can’t just recruit staff for them at the drop of a hat.

We were prepared to take the risk but we have our own place abroad so no worries about finding isolation accommodation. Also would have been easy for DH to work from abroad online and I left plenty of time to isolate if needed before I went back to work ( am a teacher)

Not sure I would have done it otherwise but was so lovely to get away and seemed much safer in Portugal than at home- very strict with masks etc.

Same here, also prepared to take the risk. Packed work laptop, didn't expect to have to need it, did return to U.K. covid test tomo, all good as expected. I love being on holiday ☀️

@Thewiseoneincognito

Not worth the risk of being caught out and stranded overseas. People travelling for leisure internationally during a pandemic need their heads testing.

Do you actually know anyone who has been caught overseas? Or are you just another hysterical DM reader?

I'll be happy to have my head tested and I'm pretty sure the results will be: her mind is fabulously rested after 11 days in 34 degree sunshine in Corfu. Cheers!