With people across the UK grappling with different local restrictions over Christmas, for some the lure of travelling abroad for the festive season has proved too great. The Guardian spoke to those who have – or had – trips planned.
‘We are desperate for my father to meet his granddaughter while there is still time’
Nicholas, 38, and his wife Oanh, 41, from London are hoping they will be able to travel to Connecticut in the US on Christmas Day to introduce their baby daughter to his parents.
He said: “My father has advanced Parkinson’s. His mental and physical states have been deteriorating rapidly, he’s in a really bad way and I haven’t seen him for a year. The coronavirus restrictions have made his condition much worse due to the lack of stimulation. We are desperate for him to meet our daughter while there is still time, and there isn’t much left.”
Although Nicholas is a US citizen and he and his wife should have the right to enter the country, he is concerned things might not go entirely smoothly and plans to come armed “with all sorts of documentation”.
As a precaution, the plan is to stay in a hotel upon arrival in New York for a week and get tested again before going to his parents.
“We want to do the right thing by my parents; the last thing you want to do is rush over and end up killing them because you are infected,” he said.
‘I’m stuck with my cat and it’s been driving me crazy’
Avid-traveller Anne (not her real name), 63, lives by herself in Salisbury and is determined to fly to Dubai over Christmas for a week with her son.
“My whole life has been about travel and the pandemic has fundamentally changed and completely ruined it. My way of filling my life has disappeared and it’s been awful,” she said.
She has suffered particularly from the isolation as she hasn’t been able to form a bubble with anyone as relatives live too far away and friends have chosen to form bubbles with bigger households. She said: “My only option to see other people is to stand outside in all weathers. Wiltshire is now in tier 2, which means I can’t even eat out unless I eat out on my own. I’m stuck inside with my cat and it’s been driving me crazy.”
Anne feels at ease because all her travel costs are refundable and Dubai is offering free Covid tests on arrival, while her airline, Emirates, has pledged to cover all costs that could arise if travellers test positive. She is not concerned about falling ill “in the slightest”. “I’m a bit old but fairly healthy and I don’t see why I’d get affected by it badly,” she said.
‘I’ll visit my parents, but there won’t be any hugging’
Jasper Martens, 42, is excited about travelling from his home in Brentford to his parents in the Netherlands on 23 December.
“I’m getting a bit nervous, but my plans haven’t changed. The health of my parents is my biggest concern. Especially my mother’s, who has asthma. I’ve locked myself away at my house and will have been self-isolating for seven days by the time I fly, and I will get a private Covid test on arrival to make sure I’m not carrying the virus. There won’t be any hugging anyway and I will keep a distance.”
Martens hopes the trip will partially make up for having been separated from his family for most of the year.
“My partner currently lives in Chicago, I’ve not seen him since March. Before Covid we were travelling back and forth with the largest gap being three weeks. Covid has thrown a spanner in this arrangement so we have been living apart. Since we’re not able to meet over Christmas, I would love to spend some time with my family in the Netherlands. I left the decision to my parents – we have discussed the risks and they would just love to have me over to be together again after all these months.”
‘By not going on holiday, I’ve just lost £60’
Greg Hope, 73, a retired HR specialist from Colchester, had been looking forward to flying to Malta on 17 December for 10 days and spending Christmas with friends.
“I’m a single pensioner, with my son, his wife and three young boys living 30 miles away. I reduced contact with them during this year for health risk reasons, and decided it would be unwise to visit at Christmas.
“I was meant to fly to Malta today, and I’ve decided not to show up. I live in tier 2, the good bit of Essex, but the rules keep changing. Malta still seems fairly safe, but about a week ago, it introduced a test you have to take when you arrive. So the risk would have been that I’d have to go into quarantine upon arrival if I tested positive, and that would be a miserable Christmas.
“The warm weather would have been nice, but staying home is all right, too. By not going, I’ve just lost £60 for the plane ticket. One of the good things about being old is, as a friend recently put it, your lifestyle is semi-lockdown anyway. I’ve been lucky and haven’t caught this disease yet, and am hoping it’ll stay this way.”
