I have long been a truly avid traveller, gleefully collecting airmiles, and have always enjoyed the luxury of being able to pop over to the continent at the drop of a hat. Palermo, Porto, Palma – yes please.
But a strange thing has happened. I used to hear of people’s summer jaunts to Europe and experience an acute sense of FOMO (fear of missing now). Now I feel a smug sense of pity: let them have it.
Those heading to Greece, even in June, risk scorching in 40 degree heat: pure hell. A similar fate may await those heading for southern Italy and France, too, thanks to the new unpredictability and hotter summers.
But the weather is only part of it. Strikes, anti-tourism protests and sunbed wars ensure that there can be no rest or relaxation to be had in some old holiday spots – if you can get there at all, that is.
I was speaking to a Polish friend the other day, and she said in August that she would be simply returning to Poland for her summer break, having been twice thwarted elsewhere.
First France, with air traffic controller strikes that meant her holiday was called off – those travelling there now may suffer similarly from the sabotage of the high speed rail network early Friday morning, on the first day of the Paris Olympics. Then Spain: where vehement anti-tourism protests in Barcelona, Palma and other places turned her off.
For the first time, I’ve got the message, loud and clear. I’ve stayed put in verdant Blighty where tourists are encouraged (though admittedly irritating to those of us who live here), our strikes are infuriating but not cosmic, and we still – just about – know how to have a good time.
I have long been a truly avid traveller, gleefully collecting airmiles, and have always enjoyed the luxury of being able to pop over to the continent at the drop of a hat. Palermo, Porto, Palma – yes please.
But a strange thing has happened. I used to hear of people’s summer jaunts to Europe and experience an acute sense of FOMO (fear of missing now). Now I feel a smug sense of pity: let them have it.
Those heading to Greece, even in June, risk scorching in 40 degree heat: pure hell. A similar fate may await those heading for southern Italy and France, too, thanks to the new unpredictability and hotter summers.
But the weather is only part of it. Strikes, anti-tourism protests and sunbed wars ensure that there can be no rest or relaxation to be had in some old holiday spots – if you can get there at all, that is.
I was speaking to a Polish friend the other day, and she said in August that she would be simply returning to Poland for her summer break, having been twice thwarted elsewhere.
First France, with air traffic controller strikes that meant her holiday was called off – those travelling there now may suffer similarly from the sabotage of the high speed rail network early Friday morning, on the first day of the Paris Olympics. Then Spain: where vehement anti-tourism protests in Barcelona, Palma and other places turned her off.
For the first time, I’ve got the message, loud and clear. I’ve stayed put in verdant Blighty where tourists are encouraged (though admittedly irritating to those of us who live here), our strikes are infuriating but not cosmic, and we still – just about – know how to have a good time.