Time to book your holiday in the sun.

Time to book your holiday in the sun.

Set against an increasingly hostile backdrop of riots, demonstrations and irrationally aggressive behaviour it is now comforting to hear that at long last we can finally book that welcome holiday to the sun. Before that now dreadful lockdown in March most of us were optimistically waiting for the right moment to book our yearly holiday to far off places abroad where the sun shone eternally, pina coladas were drunk by the gallon next to a shimmering swimming pool and Britain was thousands of miles away from here.

Little did we know it at the time that something was ominous in the air with far-reaching implications, terrible repercussions and something that would throw all of us into full -time panic mode. We had to look forward to something but were deprived of doing so because the world became inaccessible, out of bounds, trapped in a raging pandemic disease that just kept getting worse by the day and beyond human control.

And so it is that we welcome summer 2020 and after another series of contradictory messages from both government and those talking heads in the House of Self Parody, we have now been given permission to go on holiday. Whoopee? Let's get out that passport,  stock up on those plentiful supplies of sun factor cream 72 and just pack every single piece of clothing into a fit to burst suitcase while always concerned about what might happen if we do get too close to anybody on the plane.

Still, in a couple of weeks time all of those sun kissed beaches in those quintessentially exotic lands far away from British shores will once again be heaving with sun umbrellas, Brits paddling lazily in turquoise seas and kids running in and out of the waters with cute little caps on their heads. Then the Mediterranean idyll will find all of those British tourists with unfortunate red burn marks on their body where the sun factor has failed to reach its intended spot. Then emergency measures will be called upon as dozens of after sun tan lotion bottles will be dug out of bags overflowing with sangria and donkeys.

No matter of course that we may not be up to going away on holiday just yet because the rumours of quarantine, hand sanitisers at airports and yet another consignment of masks to be worn at customs remain as true as they might have done a couple of weeks ago. So there you are already to go, suitcases packed, sun -glasses perched on the bridge of your nose, paperback books tucked away safely in your baggage and then somebody tells us that once we get to our destination we may have to deal with yet more confinement.

Suddenly, the whole concept of going away for a week to two weeks in either the Med or any other part of the world now becomes distinctly less appealing than it should. The fear factor and sense of foreboding is too much to take in and most of us may not entirely fancy the prospect of squeezing through the aisles of a plane, plonking ourselves down on our seats and then suffering the ultimate indignity of claustrophobia when we could be booking ourselves into a bed and breakfast hotel in Skegness or Blackpool.

And this is where we begin to weigh up the pros and cons of this whole bizarre set of events. Is travelling abroad a calculated risk or perhaps Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, the USA, Mexico, the Far East or Israel really does feel like the ultimate temptation too good to be resisted? But hey come on we've got to get away from Britain after all these months of just becoming stressed out because the kids have been driving you mad at home and you're about to explode.

We mustn't forget all that unnecessary hassle and aggravation at the airport where everything becomes like an assault course or some perilous expedition into the unknown. Under the circumstances you probably won't be looking forward to the prospect of walking for miles around the airport concourse, dragging your cases through a minefield of annoyances, those loathsome inconveniences.

There are those tiresome customs desks, hypnotic luggage carousels, the endless parade of perfume shops, checking in with your passports and those wretched security checks where trouser belts have to be taken off, watches and jewellery removed from your pockets and everything that smacks of red tape bureaucracy just leaves you screaming with frustration.

But way back in the early 1970s when we signed up for this time consuming rigmarole at our local airport nobody knew this would happen, much less bargain for. In those days airports, although busy, must have assumed that if you had booked your holiday in either January or February you really wouldn't have to worry about such minor details as out of date passports or the Tablet you'd forgotten to pack. We could negotiate that particular problem since you could always fly off at a later date during the summer.

The blunt truth though is that nobody is going nowhere at this moment although the doors and gates could be open at either Heathrow, Luton, Gatwick and all of those wonderful regional airports around Britain very soon so just hold on and we'll get there. However after all those months of teeth- gnashing and finger biting the enthusiasm to hit the beaches and hotel swimming pools of the world may not be quite as feverish as perhaps it should be. Or maybe you're just counting the hours down before that Easy Jet plane is winging its way over the Iberian peninsula.

The fact is thankfully that we may be edging our way tentatively back to that point of the year when Easter chocolate eggs were only weeks away and spring was the most enticing prospect. Nobody can really tell where we are at the moment because the pubs and restaurants have been ordered to be ready for the beginning of July and most of those non- essential shops are, we assured, ringing those tills.

The feeling though is that half of the world is open and functioning at something that seems like semi business as usual while the other half is still kicking its heels. People are still wandering around in masks, those who aren't wearing them are beginning to ask themselves whether they should and it all feels as if we're like extras for a potential remake of Emergency Ward 10. It just feels like one of those years that really didn't happen at all and should have been scrapped on New Year's Day.

Of course we love life and our mental health but the end of June probably feels like  the end of November or the week before Christmas. The end of the world isn't nigh and we know that but the significance of the year and the energy have long since evaporated. All of the cultural and major sporting events have now been placed in cold storage and what could have been so richly satisfying and aesthetically perfect is now just a torn page in history. Or so it would seem.

For instance last night BBC Two devoted the entire evening to the many- layered history of Glastonbury, a pop and rock music festival so enshrined in the hearts of hundreds of late 1960s hippies and modern day kids that a year without it, is a gaping wound. Two presenters stood in an empty field in deepest Somerset surrounded by cows and not a lot else. There was a very lonely electricity pylon but in the place where the esteemed Motown legend who is Diana Ross should have been tomorrow night was grass and stunning scenery. It is all very demoralising but then again there's always next year.

So here's the deal everyone. Forget about Glastonbury, the tennis from Wimbledon, quite possibly cricket and every other national treasure because they won't be happening. Euro 2020 would have been approaching its final stages although the Premier League football season is still jumping up and down in the background and won't be happy until the end of July. These were all scheduled plans that didn't take place nor were they in retrospect, destined to happen.

 This is the advice for what's it worth. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and when you wake up at any time in the foreseeable future this will all be over. Trust me, you've looked into your crystal ball and the future is resplendently bright. It can only be a matter of time now. Stay safe and alert everybody and keep well.