Travelling during COVID

So let’s be real, 2020 hasn’t been what we all hoped it would be. I know so many people who have had to cancel or reschedule holidays this year which is a real shame. I was planning a Disney trip this year but luckily I never booked one, so I’m hoping to go at some point next year, however I’m playing it all by ear. I was very lucky that I got to go to the south of France for a week at the beginning of September before new Lockdown rules were put in place. I’m very aware that I was extremely fortunate to be able to get away for a little bit this year; so I thought I might write a little post about how the travelling was during the pandemic. I know it’s not Disney related but I hope something in here may be of use to at least one of you.

The holiday was a familiar break for us, as my boyfriend’s mum and step dad live in the Pyrenees mountains, we do a little trip out once or twice a year. We hadn’t been out there since May 2019 so as soon as we saw the opportunity to go we grabbed it. Because we travelled from England to France and back we only had to quarantine when we arrived back in England.

We travelled with Ryanair from London Stansted to Toulouse, as these were the cheapest flights available. My main issue with booking with a bargain airline is the seating. We assumed that passengers flying together would be seated together, due to the pandemic, but we were wrong. We had to pay extra for our seats in order to sit together and another passenger was seated on my other side, even though the plane was only half full. This made absolutely no sense, it did not seem safe and the crew didn’t seem to care. Passengers did move around and sit in empty rows to try and social distance, however the crew would not let them until the seatbelt signs had gone off. This was my main issue with travelling as I feel, even with budget airlines, passenger safety is the top priority and so I think seating should definitely be looked into.

Stansted airport was much quieter than I’ve ever seen it before, it was easy to social distance and all the staff were extremely helpful. Security were making sure all masks were being worn correctly and it really put me at ease. We also ate at Coast to Coast where all the tables were separated nicely and the food was great. It was expensive but we thought it would be seeing as it was in the airport. Everything in the airport was dealt with fantastically, you could really tell all the staff knew the guidelines and how to carry them out, which made us feel safe. Boarding also went very smoothly, every passenger was wearing their mask correctly but obviously the seating issue did make a lot of us feel uncomfortable. Also the mask rule does not apply if you are drinking or eating; this meant quite a few passengers just took their masks off and held a water bottle or snack in their hand for the entire trip which was very irritating. I think some cabin crew members needed to be a bit more on it when it came to Covid guidelines which I’m hoping is something the company are looking into.

When we arrived at Toulouse everything was very easy. We landed at 10pm so the airport was empty. Passport control went smoothly, you just quickly pull down your mask when asked and the officers are behind glass so you feel safe. People kept their distance and their masks on all through the airport, which did make us feel better about being in a different country.

The French lockdown was much stricter than ours in England so I felt that people would follow the rules better, and I was correct. We mainly stayed at the house, however we went to a couple of markets where masks had to be worn. In both markets, Foix and Mirepoix, everyone was wearing their masks correctly and keeping as much distance as they could on the small streets. This made us feel extremely safe which meant we also felt safe enough to eat at the small restaurants on the outside of the market as everything was spaced correctly. You could easily see that the rules were being followed by everyone and it meant that everyone in the market was having a lovely time because of it.

I have to admit that I actually felt safer in France than I have in London throughout this whole time. I work in hospitality so I’m around a lot of people constantly; however for some reason a lot of customers do not seem to care about social distancing and masks etc when it comes to where I work. This means that I am not as concerned as other people because I am not high risk, but I definitely felt so much more at ease around places in France than I have in London.

Overall we had a lovely time and it was so nice to be able to get away. However we did have to quarantine for 14 days when we arrived back in the UK, which wasn’t too bad. My main issue was that we had filled in all the paperwork to hand over when we landed in England, in order to confirm our address and other details for quarantine and for track and trace purposes. The most baffling thing was that there was no one checking anyone's paperwork at all. There were loads of people in the airport all coming in from different countries but not one single person to check paperwork and quarantining details. I found this shocking as it shows that the government really aren’t protecting infection rates at the borders like we had hoped they were. We did stay inside our house and quarantined completely for the full 14 days but it was clear to us that there was no one checking if we actually were.

As I said, we did mainly stay to ourselves for the trip as we didn’t want a high risk of infection from visiting many places. We also just wanted a relaxing trip away from London and to spend time with my other half’s family. We really did have a lovely trip and I’d definitely suggest the south of France for a beautiful and safe break. Obviously I understand people’s concerns about travelling during the pandemic but I hope that this has helped to understand what you can expect when travelling to another country.