Cheers for the replies, people. We went through a range of thought processes and emotions yesterday and have decided to proceed and go anyway. I think another Christmas away from her family would really, really be difficult to deal with...
You just can't tell. I'm reasonably sure there'll be some kind of lockdown in place after Christmas in England, but who knows for sure? If you have to quarantine when you get back, so be it - the schools may not even be open.
It's unlikely that anything will be announced tomorrow, and then you'll be travelling on Tuesday. I'd be more concerned about whether Belgium will impose restrictions on you when you arrive.
Cheers for this. I spent most of yesterday hitting refresh on the news/twitter/forums waiting for new information to come through. There didn't seem to be an indication of anything coming through beforehand from the UK and it looks like Belgium officials are meeting up later in the week to discuss what happens with people coming in. So, nothing will change until we're actually there, and may not change until we get back.
We're hoping that everything will be ok when we get into Belgium tomorrow, as the current rules seems to be in favour, for now. Think we might just get lucky and are able to sneak in before things change.
Yeah, difficult one, you don't want to disappoint your family, but also don't want to let your children down when you could have avoided it. Technically correct to go of course, but fair? not sure.
Could Mrs Super go on her own? Some would see that as the right thing to do and some wouldn't, and you've not really been married long which won't help.
The hard thing is dragging out making a decision, you could always toss a coin!
Thanks for this. We did mull over the idea of her just going by herself, which we would've managed. I would feel guilty about not going for support and I'm part of the family now too, so should be there. We got to around 9pm yesterday and thought "feck it" and decided not to change anything. We'll see what happens next. At least we can say that we have tried to get her back to her family for Christmas and it'll be the first time this year that she's visited her home country. That's got to be worth a shot.
Nobody knows?
My guess would be no. Returning tourists are the least of the UK's worries.
That said, is there maybe a way for you to get back early if there was a sudden announcement? There's usually at least 24 hours notice, which might be long enough for you (alone or together) to get back as long as you're prepared for it.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, that's a good point about returning visitors being the least of the problem, especially because the UK's numbers are currently higher. We have prepared ourselves for the fact that we may need to come back a little earlier if need be, and that's ok. It may be the case that I solo it and come back first and she comes back second. We'll work it out, I'm sure.
There won't be restrictions before Christmas because Boris is too much of a cultural traditionalist for that. There likely won't even be official news about it until Boxing Day at the earliest because he won't want it to be in the headlines on the 25th.
So new rules are probably going to start on the 28th or 29th.
But I'm not sure you'll be necessarily need to quarantine on the way back. That only makes sense if the country you're coming from has a higher prevalence than the country you're going to. And the UK is already one of the global hotspots. A Covid Passport or negative test should likely be enough to get you out and about again on your return.
I think you'll end up being right about the timings. But the actual restrictions probably won't impact your job either way. If it were me, I'd chance it. Happy wife happy life.
Cheers for this. You had it spot on with Johnson not changing this before Christmas. He's frustratingly predictable in that way. You've made a great point about the need/no need for quarantine. We'll be doing the tests anyway needed for travel, so hopefully that will suffice. I'm prepared for something to happen after Christmas, so it looks like it's a case of just checking the news and keeping a close eye on things.
The wife is delighted that we're going, so you're definitely right about that.
The government is already reducing border restrictions and Sajid Javid admitted the other day Omicron is everywhere so no longer any point trying to keep it out.
I think there is a very small chance of you having to quarantine on your return. I think your bigger risk is not being allowed in to Belgium, but there's only another couple of days left to find out about that.
Thanks for this. There's some talk about Belgium's government meeting at some point this week (after we arrive) to talk about measures. It looks like we'll be ok to get in, as I doubt that they'll penalise travellers retrospectively.
