Why I still plan to holiday abroad this year - Catherine Scott

Reports that the 14-day quarantine when entering the UK could be lifted next week along with a potential relaxation of Government travel advice led to a flurry of activity as people tried to bag a bargain.

While clearly good news for the UK’s travel and tourism industry, it is still unclear how it will work.

For instance, would you go on an aeroplane with no social distancing after being told for more than three months that it is not safe to go within two metres of anyone outside of your household? I am not sure
that I would be rushing to travel abroad.

However, being well-organised, we booked our family holidays in January. At that time none of us could have envisaged the turn of events that would see our normal lives grind to a halt and all the things we took for granted banned.

We had booked to visit friends on Guernsey at the end of July. Those flights were cancelled weeks ago when Guernsey announced it was stopping all non-essential travel in and out of the Bailiwick until September 1. We were disappointed as we had hoped there might be an exception made from the UK mainland. But Guernsey has been a huge success story when it comes to controlling the virus and, understandably, wants to keep it that way.

We had also booked a family holiday to Majorca and had been quite prepared for that to be cancelled.

But this week’s expected announcement means that it could now go ahead, which leaves me with mixed emotions.

On the one hand we could all really do with a break. I have been working from home throughout and the children have been studying for A-levels and GCSEs.

My husband has been furloughed so has been doing all manner of DIY jobs. Some time away would do us all good. But on the other hand I am apprehensive about going to an airport and travelling on an aeroplane. But then again if we decide to cancel because we feel the risks are too great then it is doubtful we will get a refund or that our insurance would pay out.

I am sure we are not alone in this quandary. I am not worried about what happens once we get to our destination as we will be outside for most of the time and it is probably safer than going to the pub or even the supermarket over here.

On balance, if we are allowed, then I think we will go. We will take masks and bucket loads of hand sanitizer and try to have as normal a holiday as possible. We need it!