I wouldn't come in the winter, more people living indoors gives Covid the chance to grow, the summer is different.

Plus the un vaccinated are acting as a cess-pit of contagion to kelp this thing mutate, all it needs to do is mutate so that the vaccine cannot work and we are all back in the cess-pit together

Yes I think you are right. When I posted it wasn't clear how many passengers, who all tested negative before the flight, were positive. The handling of it was less than great but I guess they had to deal with 600 odd people unexpectedly and Schiphol is perhaps not an ideal place for that. There was of course nothing stopping those in the room together from wearing masks, but most seem to have chosen not to.

Hotel restaurants are also closed. Some offer in room dining. Generally those hotels are less than happy with people bringing in a take out to eat in their room.

Force majeure!

I know there is intense pressure on the government in the UK (in this case it means England and Wales) to introduce masks in theatres, vaccination proof and even testing proof. They really don't want to go down the full passport route (Brexit political) but the cold weather started today (0C) so lots of eating/drinking outside is just stopping (the UK does not really go in for heated-outdoor dining (just too often wet)) and while we have high vaccination rates and third dose rates the anti-vaxers are still holding out.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...pe-by-country/

Not wanting masks in theatres (plays or just cinema) is such an elitist idea, when you think what percentage of the population actually goes to those places in 2021.. I went to a huge theatre in Paris this week and we all kept our masks on with no problem.

Considering the current cold weather, I find that my mask provides additional comfort for my face and I keep it on almost all of the time out on the street. Warm!

They sent home Dutch travellers with "an empty home", or as the Schiphol spokesperson explained through a megaphone: "normal people can leave now". AFTER they had been in an enclosed space with known cases of infection.

Another aspect to the Covid crisis in NL is that Emergency care is scaled back to the bare minimum and non-Covid care has been scaled down as well: people's cancer surgeries are being cancelled, because IC units are overwhelmed.

No.. just wait.
I do not get this urgency to travel to different countries when those countries are having increased spikes in Covid.
things are changing daily. New variant.

No need to worry about Paris. Some restaurants will ask for your Pass, just show your CDC card and it's fine. Masks are a must other than that it is business as usual. Since a lot fewer tourists, stores are not crazy. It's cold and rainy.

Assuming it were me (and I'm likewise checking out arranging an excursion for spring/summer 2022), I'd plan an outing to only one country. Things are not yet decided for what it's worth, attempting to cross lines and manage potential limitations of different nations simply feels excessively hazardous to me. That is my feedback! Best of luck!

[QUOTE=kerouac;17308873

Considering the current cold weather, I find that my mask provides additional comfort for my face and I keep it on almost all of the time out on the street. Warm![/QUOTE]

Me too, and it makes cycling possible

i agree. It’s how these variants are going to be endlessly circulated. 1918 pandemic ended in 2 years but besides soldiers during the war no one traveled like they do now. I’m pretty flabbergasted that people would risk getting sick just to leave town for a few weeks. Get in your car and go somewhere if you can’t stand staying at home.

"I understand this is a very personal decision, but if you could put yourself in our shoes what choice do you think you'd make?"

No I would not go. There are too many reasons not to.

Right now all of us are worried about omicron and we're all waiting to see what happens.

This summer the big concern was delta. As soon as France opened up to Americans last June, we bought tickets for September, and then I kept an eye on the covid rates where we were planning to go. Rates were increasing dramatically. Canceling the trip wouldn't have cost us anything (our flight could be deferred and we could cancel the car a day ahead at no cost), but I didn't want to cancel unless we had to. There were times that I thought we'd have to stay home, but in August covid rates began to decrease and so we went ahead with our trip.

As for getting in your car and exploring your own country, our country (the US) is not doing so well with covid. We live in an area where only 35% of residents are vaccinated and very few people mask. We won’t go to a local grocery store or library. One day a week we drive an hour to an area where there's a better vaccination rate and more people mask.

We felt safer in France this September than we do close to home. In France, every restaurant asked to see our vaccination card, even on our second, third, or fourth visit. On the street, everybody was carrying a mask on their sleeves, ready to pop on when they went indoors.

Rmoore, my suggestion is that you not be wedded to a 2022 trip, but keep refining your plans (because planning is fun) and wait to buy your tickets till you feel it’s safe for your family, hopefully in 2022 but maybe not.

not sure if this is a personal decision, your movement might make my movement impossible

No cold weather here, Bilbo. Very windy over the weekend but now it's relatively pleasant for the time of year, still I wouldn't like to spend much time eating out of doors in the evening. In fact one of my ex colleagues is having an out door leaving do next week about which I'm very dubious, especially as I'd have to spend the night in a hotel. Very close to cancelling.

Yorkshire has had a 24 hour winter wonderland and 0C.

[QUOTE=Coquelicot;17309429]Right now all of us are worried about omicron and we're all waiting to see what happens.

This summer the big concern was delta. As soon as France opened up to Americans last June, we bought tickets for September, and then I kept an eye on the covid rates where we were planning to go. Rates were increasing dramatically. Canceling the trip wouldn't have cost us anything (our flight could be deferred and we could cancel the car a day ahead at no cost), but I didn't want to cancel unless we had to. There were times that I thought we'd have to stay home, but in August covid rates began to decrease and so we went ahead with our trip.

As for getting in your car and exploring your own country, our country (the US) is not doing so well with covid. We live in an area where only 35% of residents are vaccinated and very few people mask. We won’t go to a local grocery store or library. One day a week we drive an hour to an area where there's a better vaccination rate and more people mask.

We felt safer in France this September than we do close to home. In France, every restaurant asked to see our vaccination card, even on our second, third, or fourth visit. On the street, everybody was carrying a mask on their sleeves, ready to pop on when they went indoors.

Rmoore, my suggestion is that you not be wedded to a 2022 trip, but keep refining your plans (because planning is fun) and wait to buy your tickets till you feel it’s safe for your family, hopefully in 2022 but maybe not.[


So sorry about your vaccination rates. It’s mind boggling that people simply refuse to get a free shot that could end this nightmare for everyone. Disinformation spread will be looked back as one of this country’s greatest tragedies. I live in a highly vaxxed area with temperate climate (Santa Barbara) and everyone is masked indoors. We also travel to Bay Area which has an even higher vaccination rate so we feel very safe. I think other concerns with traveling overseas is that countries may start shutting down. A friend just told me that some relatives are trying to get out of Israel (back to Belgium) and may have to stay for awhile.

What happens if my negative 72 hour Covid test expires within this 24 hours?

This concerned us too, so we didn't take our tests (Binax) until the day before our departure.

One of the toughest choices my husband and I had to make...we cancelled our ten day Thanksgiving celebration trip to see our daughter, who is attending university there, due to all the issues - astronomically high covid numbers, lockdowns, limited testing, no QR codes for tourists, etc etc etc.. As it turned out, it was also one of the best decisions we made - Covid ran through her study- she and one other girl are the only ones of her friend group that did not get infected, restaurants were forced to close earlier, the police sent out warnings about riots due to tougher restrictions (happy they did not come to fruition). I can't imagine any tourist would enjoy themselves in the NL right now, or for that fact, in much of western Europe.

In France the Covid pass is no longer valid after January 15 for adults who had their last jab 6 months before. Here in Belgium the roll-out of the booster is very slow. My 80-year old mum is having hers this week. So no visits to France for Belgians from January, there will be lots of cancellations for the ski resorts.