Closed borders mean I’m shut off from family
PEOPLE always tell me I’m lucky when they hear most of my family live abroad.
“It must be great to have somewhere you can go on holiday, for free.” Gosh, if I had a pound for every time someone said that, I’d be able to afford a second home in France – I’ll come on to that in a second.
It certainly didn’t feel so great when I heard the announcement that in Britain we now face fines of £5,000 for going abroad, unless it’s for specified reasons.
This means I can’t go and visit my nearly 88-year-old grandmother in Texas or my sisters, niece and nephew – and I don’t know when I will be able to.
I haven’t seen my immediate family since Christmas 2019, a time when most of us couldn’t even spell coronavirus.
I was gutted when the UK was added to the list of countries whose travellers were barred from flying to the US.
And so for the past year I’ve been chatting to my grandmother either on WhatsApp, inevitably interrupted by other calls, or on family Zoom calls which isn’t very successful as she struggles to get a word in edgeways and usually everyone’s focused on the latest cute thing my niece can do.
The pandemic really has made me feel very cut off from my relatives. I have sleepless nights thinking about how I could possibly get there in an emergency. I’m envious of people who are able to see their loved ones, even if it is from a distance.
What makes things more frustrating is to hear that I could merrily travel abroad to check on my second home in France, if I had one. The rules say you can travel to see bricks and mortar but not to see flesh and blood. That’s heartbreaking.
I’m glad the Government is taking a cautious approach to foreign travel.
We slowly seem to be emerging from this pandemic which has turned the world upside down.
Schools have reopened, and on my birthday next week I’m allowed to meet a handful of friends.
But I’d like to see some compassion and for the rules to take into account the many people like me, whose families aren’t just a stone’s throw away.
We should be allowed to visit relatives who live overseas.
I accept that shouldn’t include red zone countries and I’d happily quarantine and take all the necessary Covid-19 tests to be able to travel safely.
Hopefully common sense will prevail. Again it feels like one rule for the haves and one for the have-nots.
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I have sleepless nights thinking about how I’d get there in an emergency