Week 16: Plan B

Where we have been this week....erm...at home for 7 days!!

So, we had been planning everything towards crossing into Europe on 28th December. (Our Euro Channel crossing had been booked since last July.) This included both getting our booster jabs, updating our European vaccine passports, booking Anti-Gen tests, having Bear's health certificate booked and avoiding inside and busy locations. However, having spent a long time looking at different news websites and data about Omicron, I said to Steve one evening 'I don't think we are going to get there. I don't think it is going to be safe to cross.' Having discussed it a lot, we went to bed and decided to make the final decision the following day.

On the morning news, it said France was stopping British tourists from travelling to the country. This made the decision easier, as it was now out of our hands. Also, the decision being this early was the best of a bad situation for us, as it meant we were able to get a refund on the crossing, tests and Bear's certificate. We have said the whole way along, if it's not safe, we would adapt our plans. We've been really lucky, considering the pandemic, to get as far and to see as much as we have safely.

The only issue is... what is Plan B? We haven't got one! We avoided some of the cold and wet weather by spending some time at home and only as I write this, have I realised it was a whole week. (Doing our Fiit classes, walking/training the dog, reading, cleaning the house and van, picking up leaves, cleaning the windows...kept us busy! I also had an MRI scan booked for my hip. Having had surgery on my left knee this year, I am now struggling with my left hip. The Chiropractor made a grimace and not very 're-assuring face' when assessing it and recommended that it is scanned... ) The key reason for heading into southern Spain and Portugal was to avoid the British winter and to get to some warmer weather, which makes it easier in the Mo Ho.

So we'll see but it doesn't look like the UK is going to have a freak January heat wave! We are going to have Christmas and then think more about what Plan B is.

Happy and safe Christmas to everyone. Thank you for still reading the blog and fingers crossed we are back on our travels in 2022!