To take a holiday or not

Sadly, I have had to postpone the annual visit from my daughter and her family for this year.
I live in France and although our area is very low risk, I have to consider the fact that she'd be flying, crowded airports etc to get here.

We have decided that we will not be flying this year and probably not next.
We have a holiday booked for September which involves a flight and a coach for a week. We will be cancelling.

We were booked in just before lockdown and advised to go. We had to come home early and the holiday company just gave us a minimal credit note. I wouldn’t do it again. I found that I cleaned thoroughly when I got there and was surprised that there was no antibac cleaner there at all(lucky I took all my own stuff), even though the house looked spotless. I cooked but put everything through the dishwasher beforehand. We took our own bed linen. I did what I needed for peace of mind but still, it didn’t feel like much of a holiday! You need to do what feels right for you. If you can enjoy it, why not. If you’ll feel worried, give it a miss but you may not get a refund.

Csbbie it really isn’t the case that most cottages are leaving a day in between lets. Instead they are imposing 7Pm check ins and 9am check outs and not offering any reductions in price for this or even acknowledging the difficulties it pushes especially with younger children

Poses of course

There’s a holiday cottage next door to us and we are not really looking forward to visitors coming from more infected areas. But as we are still planning on going to a village house in France in September we can’t be too hypocritical! I’m concerned about the flight and will be wearing gloves and face mask and doing a Naomi Campbell around my seating area (except it won’t be in first class) and avoiding the loo.

Lucky you! I think a holiday cottage in the UK, especially one that is only a 2 hour drive away, sounds lovely. Take stuff with you to stock the cupboards, fridge and freezer (easy cook stuff) and enjoy the freedom of lovely walks in uncrowded spots. You can look after yourselves there just as well as at home!

After a night to think and reading people's thoughts, I am now looking forward to a break whilst appreciating we won't be able to do some of the things we enjoy. We have been going for over 10 years so I trust our hosts and that we are first in is a big plus. I have also checked and the local supermarket, Booths do an excellent Click and Collect service so that's food sorted and our to dogs will love the a change of scene and different walks not to mention we have access to Dog Agility equipment which is what me and the younger dog have missed most.

Good for you Emelle. Have a lovely time, take precautions, stay safe and I hope the dogs have fun!

Hope it's a great break for you. We've just booked a week away in rural west country for 2 of us for mid July. Really looking forward to a change of scenery and will do lots of walking, relaxing and reading. Will go to food shops and gardens that are open and hopefully get a takeaway or two. Maybe even lunch in a pub garden.

I have either cancelled or postponed holiday cottages this year. I just would not feel at ease for all the obvious reasons.

No holiday planned at all for this year, other than (hopefully) a couple of days' stay with family, as and when permitted. Just hoping for next year.....sigh....!

I would go but well equipped with wipes, soap etc. On arrival I would pull back bedclothes open to air and maybe even a gentle spray. It's the lack of social activity - pub grub, country houses/garden visits and shop perusing that deters me.

Yes i suggested a stay uk on 4th july (my birthday 3rd!) to my 2 sons, 17& 21- or at least hire a campervan but they both said a big NO! I reasoned it would be best to go while everything is clean & unused but still no..i just wanted a change of scenery..i had a premier inn booked 1 night for 4th to visit family but they made me cancel that too! But i doubt we will go anywhere at all now till the virus is gone, or theres a vaccine. Its so disappointing..i was supposed to be taking my little granddaughter this year too, shes never been with us on hols before & we had to cancel easter!

We’ve cancelled our Spanish holiday and booked a cottage staycation instead. You can make sure things are anti backed and prepare your own food which puts our mind at rest. I would definitely go and enjoy the break.

We should be arriving at our holiday cottage in Cornwall today, but luckily the company cancelled and we have transferred deposit to 2021. We are so relieved as the reason we were going to that part of Cornwall was to eat at some of the renowned fish restaurants in the area and I don’t think I’m up to restaurant eating yet and they can’t open until we would be coming home anyway.

Any holiday booked to start now is automatically cancelled and if you don’t want to transfer to a later date they have to give you’ll your money back.

I agree it's the eating out and visits amongst other people that would deter many people. Chris Whitty mentioned it when he spoke about tea breaks and lunchtimes at the meat processing places. It's the socialisation with others, not so much the environment of the place where you are living/staying. So if you plan to go walking or relaxing on your own outside there should be no problem. I actually often choose a holiday to get away from people!

What grates with me about my sons refusing to stay/go anywhere is that they both both happily order/eat takeaways in lockdown (not at first, but as time wore on) whereas apart from 2 chippy take outs i have not! (Everything fried at very hot temp& staff have always wore disposable gloves, even before all this!) Its hypocritical of them both!?

We should have been going to Llandudno in October, but postponed until next April. Was worried that the town wasn't opened properly and access to some of places we love would be out of bounds. It is a self catering flat we go to which is on the promenade. I'm sure the owners will manage to relet it, because of it's position.

My DH would go abroad tomorrow if possible, he has a positive 'calculated risk' to life while I choose the 99.9 % safe option! So I guess we'll have to meet somewhere in the middle: self catering staycation in the summer, and possibly a winter trip abroad if things are OK.

We should have been going to Australia to see our new granddaughter born 28th May both now and in December. Sadly not happening and the future doesn’t look hopeful. We have a camper van but it doesn’t have it’s own facilities so not going anywhere. It’s a sad time! ?

We booked Centerparcs Longleat last November for July this year, a lodge sleeping 8 (we are 7 people from 3 families). We went 3 years ago and enjoyed it. We paid the deposit but now 3 families cannot share a place, and Centerparcs are allowed to open but with no pool, flumes, wave machine, no spa, restaurants will be takeaway, numbers limited, so there is no point in going. We have decided to just have days out locally this year.

A lot of cottage owners are worried that their "guests" might test positive for CV OR be traced as a contact and have to isolate in that cottage for 2 weeks, then they can't have other people in for those 2 weeks. If you had to isolate you'd end up having to pay for two more weeks cottage rental. DH and I decided not to risk it and cancelled our 11th July cottage rental

That's interesting Jane that the guests with CV or who have been in contact with it would have to stay in the property for an extra 2 weeks and pay the charges. Do you think some might be tempted to nip back home quickly before reporting it?