I thought I’d write a blog about my experiences of travelling this summer as I’ve seen so many posts online both negative and positive about leaving the country this year.
I appreciate that I am very lucky and my circumstances are different to a lot of peoples. I own a tiny little apartment just outside L’Estartit on the Costa Brava in Spain. As a result of the situation we find ourselves in this year I have been hardly able to rent it out at all (which is the only way I can afford to keep it!) so the next best thing was to try and at least use it myself.
I have stuck religiously to government advice prior to travels so certainly didn’t feel I was posing any great risk to those in other countries. In fact, as I write this, none of my children have been inside a supermarket or shop in England since March! We chose to drive the whole way, as we do most years, but instead of taking a ferry we used the Eurotunnel to reduce our contact with other people. Currently even toilets are closed on the trains and you are not allowed out of your car. We decided to drive it all in one day, so we didn’t need to use a hotel in France. We were on Le Shuttle by 05.30 and with a brilliant drive (French motorways really are exceptional) we arrived at the apartment in time for dinner (I of course mean wine). I packed breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the car (a LOT of thought went into that journey in advance!). Those that drive in France will know there are a mixture of conventional service stations and ‘Aires’ on the side of the road. These ‘Aires’ have just a handful of picnic tables and some toilet facilities so we chose to eat our picnic lunch at one of these. We only needed diesel once on the way down and were able to ‘pay at pump’. This meant we drove from the South East of England to North East Spain without encountering a single person!
When we arrived, Spain was a few weeks ahead of us, ie their rocketing cases and death rates and subsequent lockdown pre-empted ours by a couple of weeks. Subsequently this meant that they were a bit further out of lockdown than us. Bars/restaurants/shops had been open a few weeks. Masks were mandatory indoors and out. Hand sanitising stations were at the entrance to every shop, bar and restaurant we encountered (I now rate places by the quality of their hand sanitiser! Supermarkets – cheap, horrible and sticky. Clothes and upmarket gift shops – floral and light!)
Where we stay is in a small village a 15 minute walk from the main town and it was extremely quiet. I am well used to battling to find a parking space in the summer months and beaches that are packed from end to end. This year could not have been more different. See the pictures below. We visited one beach early on where we were the first to arrive – we had a beautiful cove all to ourselves! Many beaches offered a one in, one out system so that people could safely social distance on them and beach car parks were closed as soon as the beach was at its new capacity. There was even an app for local beaches so you could assess whether there was space before you left. The beaches did get busier at the weekends with Spaniards travelling to the coast but on the one occasion we felt it looked too busy we just went back home. We also chose not to have our annual day trips to the cities of Barcelona and Girona.
We also love the waterparks over there. Every summer we queue for rides. One ride regularly has a queue of 1hr 30 – this year the kids waited no longer than 10 minutes! The place was deserted.
Whilst for us this has resulted in one of the best holidays we’ve had in years, lots of glorious weather and a tenth of the people around of a normal summer, I do feel so sorry for my friends and business owners in Spain who are going to feel the economic effects of this for years to come. For that reason, I did feel slightly frustrated when the UK imposed a 14 day quarantine on anyone coming back from Spain. The British press was quick to damn certain areas including Catalonia, which was deemed ‘dangerous to Brits’ on the front page of one paper. We were in Catalonia. The entire region we were in did not even report a single case in the seven days prior to our arrival. We kept ourselves to ourselves in Spain as much as we have done the past six months in England so feel we don’t really pose much of a threat and I’m surprised on arriving home to find we are not allowed to leave the house at all, not even to go for a walk by ourselves or in our family unit. I cannot tell you how glorious it is sitting at my 34 degree kitchen table right now with the vibrations from the diggers on Phase 3 right outside my window and the absolutely relentless building noise that I’m not allowed to escape from!
In all seriousness, I’m not really moaning about the quarantine. Yes, I think in our circumstances it’s a bit ridiculous but we chose to leave the country this year and we knew that rules could change whilst we were away (we even took laptops and work books with us in case we were locked down there!). All in all we are the lucky ones who have got away but if you still have a holiday to come that you’re anxious about, rest assured that as long as you take the same sensible precautions that you would do here you’ll have a blast.
Well done for writing this, there are so many negative comments and views regarding travel this year. Everyone’s circumstances are different. My family come from Tenerife. I usually see them every 3-4months as we are very close. Either they come over or we go over there. 8 months of not seeing them has been a killer to me but definitely to my girls 7 and 10 as we have no other family near us at home. As a result, I made the decision to take this window of opportunity to fly (I have also abided by all government advice do far, and im a nurse so well aware of all the risks). We all wore masks from the minute we entered the airport until we arrived outside the airport in Tenerife. I was strict on very regular hand gel also. I have to say though, it was do sad, the airport was do quiet that I feel more at risk in asda!! There were only 30 people on a massive plane. The kids asked me where everyone else was, I replied, i think this is it!!. The flight felt very eerie and I felt so sorry for the poor airline staff. It really brought to hime the impact of this nasty virus😔. As for Tenerife, usually we avoid the main beaches in Tenerife, this year the kids pretty much have it to themselves. The water is crystal clear (can’t remember it being so clean!) Dolphin’s and fish are coming closer to the shore and nature is more easily seen!! The true impact is so sad though, being half canarian and have a large family here, i know what this has and will do to the economy and the lives of the local people here. It is devastating. I understand government rules and why things are and have been done but not this. With only 53 active cases of Covid in the canaries (all hospitalised and quarantined) i feel much safer here than in the UK. I cannot understand why the canaries have been included in the quarantined countries but it has devastated these islands as well as manu peoples well needed holidays this year. It is safe here. Masks are mandatory everywhere and gel is everywhere. They were extremely strict throughout this (much more than the UK). Anyway, quarantine for us when we get home but we have managed to see our family and this time has been so precious. People please don’t judge, everyone circumstances are different and we are living in a time where no one knows quite how to play the game correctly- including the government!!