doodah wrote:I was rather thinking of the OP and his travels through Europe where there could be a rigorous enforcement of quarantine or self isolation as borders are crossed? It would appear that there is no encouragement for long term planning as can be evidenced from the UK’s government on people currently returning from Spain. Possibly as a cyclist, ones immune system may build up Better than in a home environment. Certainly, gypsies and pikies don’t have the luxuries and home comforts of hygiene that most of us enjoy and CV 19 will be the last thing on their mind. I hope I haven’t overstepped the mark there in being PC. I would even argue that plumbers and sewage workers will have a better immune system than most people on account of what they are dealing with daily. I digress....I believe that the last lines from djb sum it up “but we don’t know how summer will be anywhere”. Perhaps I will have to be patient and await the outcome from Bojo & Co and Mr Covid before doing further planning.
Indeed you could well find yourself unable to cross a border without quarantining. I think we're heading towards that on the French/Spanish border now.
There's no evidence that cyclists have better than average immune systems. Indeed pushing yourself really hard, as performance athletes do, tends to depress your immune system. Neither is there any reason to believe that plumbers or sewage workers have immune systems which offer them protection from Covid-19.
One think that I'm pretty certain about is that the situation won't change for a very long time.
It's all very precarious at the moment and as a cycle tourist you are very vulnerable to sudden changes and lockdowns as you can't get anywhere quickly. You have your own transport but it becomes a hindrance if you have to use public transport. If I were to go anywhere I'd take my vehicle with bike and gear in it so I have a means of escape.
If the Covid situation settles down for the 2021 touring season we plan to tour in Europe again. The problem I see is the 90 day in 180 limit for Visa-free travel. Even if we need a visa we can get a 90 day tourism visa, but there does not seem to be any facility for a visa for more than 90 days for tourism purposes - so as itinerants not working or living there it looks like we are stuck with a strict 90 day limit ( and coming back to the UK briefly won't work as it is 90 in any 180 period.)
RobinS wrote:If the Covid situation settles down for the 2021 touring season we plan to tour in Europe again. The problem I see is the 90 day in 180 limit for Visa-free travel. Even if we need a visa we can get a 90 day tourism visa, but there does not seem to be any facility for a visa for more than 90 days for tourism purposes - so as itinerants not working or living there it looks like we are stuck with a strict 90 day limit ( and coming back to the UK briefly won't work as it is 90 in any 180 period.)
It's called "taking back control" by some on here.
RobinS wrote:If the Covid situation settles down for the 2021 touring season we plan to tour in Europe again. The problem I see is the 90 day in 180 limit for Visa-free travel. Even if we need a visa we can get a 90 day tourism visa, but there does not seem to be any facility for a visa for more than 90 days for tourism purposes - so as itinerants not working or living there it looks like we are stuck with a strict 90 day limit ( and coming back to the UK briefly won't work as it is 90 in any 180 period.)
It's called "taking back control" by some on here.
I call it a substantial loss of freedom.
I sincerely hope that some sort of solution or work around is found for this. And your phone roaming likely to go and EHIC card will no longer be valid. But hey it's what the people voted for.
The phone companies all said it wouldn't affect roaming in the period post referendum. So what's changed there. No EU fair roaming law so they can fleece to poor old UK traveller maybe?
The EUCI card was dismissed by many on here at referendum time as not worthwhile. It was however very valuable to anyone with an existing health problem or just simple older age. For both those "conditions" (!) private health cover will be a lot more expensive and time restricted. Again this was pretty universally denied by the leaver faction on here. They were convinced the EU needed us more than vice versa! Putin and the Rees Mogg's won, and fooled 'em whichever way you look at it.
PDQ Mobile wrote:The phone companies all said it wouldn't affect roaming in the period post referendum. So what's changed there. No EU fair roaming law so they can fleece to poor old UK traveller maybe?
PDQ Mobile wrote:The phone companies all said it wouldn't affect roaming in the period post referendum. So what's changed there. No EU fair roaming law so they can fleece to poor old UK traveller maybe?
I was supposed to be setting off rtw now and I was going to start with several months in Europe first while we still have free travel but then Covid hit
Reviving this post to throw another spanner in the works. I read something on another forum about how our change of status after leaving the EU could affect travel. Not sure if it is correct or what.
Basically, for COVID purposes we are currently grouped with EU and EAA and given privileged access to other EU countries. This means that even though we are amongst the worst when it comes to the plague, we still get fairly easy access. After 1st Jan we (I presume) drop out out of this club and will be grouped with countries with a similar record. I'm not sure if there is a single list, but I have seen A, B and C lists used by different countries to control their borders. We could well end up in C (ie the worst one).
Without this umbrella, it could make getting into Europe even more difficult next year. That's if you can get through the lorry parks in Kent.
simonhill wrote:Reviving this post to throw another spanner in the works. I read something on another forum about how our change of status after leaving the EU could affect travel. Not sure if it is correct or what.
Basically, for COVID purposes we are currently grouped with EU and EAA and given privileged access to other EU countries. This means that even though we are amongst the worst when it comes to the plague, we still get fairly easy access. After 1st Jan we (I presume) drop out out of this club and will be grouped with countries with a similar record. I'm not sure if there is a single list, but I have seen A, B and C lists used by different countries to control their borders. We could well end up in C (ie the worst one).
Without this umbrella, it could make getting into Europe even more difficult next year. That's if you can get through the lorry parks in Kent.
For me that is all a bit academic. Do you really want to be setting off across mainland Europe not knowing which places are going to effectively shut down when?
This post is about next year and I suspect lots of forum members will want to head off across mainland Europe then. Just look at the interest shown on the withdrawn ferry post.
simonhill wrote:This post is about next year and I suspect lots of forum members will want to head off across mainland Europe then. Just look at the interest shown on the withdrawn ferry post.
So we could end up substantially worse than the 90 days out of 180 post Brexit?
simonhill wrote:This post is about next year and I suspect lots of forum members will want to head off across mainland Europe then. Just look at the interest shown on the withdrawn ferry post.
I appreciate you are talking about next year but right now the best case scenario is that a vaccine (or two) starts being used by next spring and by mid summer we may see some signs of reducing rates. If everything goes well we may be getting back to normal(ish) by the autumn. That is what I am telling myself. I want some hope but I don't want unrealistic hope.
When the dust settles the tourist trade will be welcoming visitors with enthusiasm, glad to see people spending again.
