It's the green light for the dozen countries

 It's the green light for the dozen.

So there you are. You can breathe a sigh of relief or perhaps you should but can't be sure whether it's appropriate at the moment. Besides we must take this one nice and carefully because if we go too fast we may suffer the consequences of our foolhardy actions. You know what happened the last time we reached this stage. We assumed that we'd seen the last of this horribly wretched and egregious worldwide virus and look what happened when we did that. January and February were the worst months of this year but we all came through and survived. 

But now May dawned and today those at the medical nerve centre and the scientific data land, have now told us that we can go on holiday abroad but only with preconditions and caveats. There always seems to be a snag, some awkward hindrance rather than help. You knew there were strings attached because not every country has got to that same, multi vaccination stage where everything looks plain sailing and hunky dory. There are complications along the way and even if you do rock up in some Mediterranean hot spot the chances are that you might regret your decision to book your yearly excursion to the Costas Brava, Blanca, Benidorm, the Greek islands and any location where the virus still hangs around. 

Now from May 17 the UK Government boldly confirmed the first dozen countries that have now been given permission to let their British sun seekers back into their hotels. You can imagine it can't you? There they were desperate to climb aboard a plane to anywhere with palm trees and exotic cocktails. It was beginning to look as though it might happen without any problems. But even when you've negotiated the bureaucratic minefield that is now the Covid 19 test you may be required to take more tests and then there's customs, the mind blowing security checks and that's before you have to show your passports. 

Then once you've taken off your trousers belts, socks, shoes and then tipped out the thousands of pounds in your respective pockets into a tray, there are yet more fun packed attractions. Once you've entered that vast waiting area and concourse, there's the obligatory 26 mile marathon to be overcome. One minute you're traipsing around innumerable perfume shops, clothing outlets and then you find yourself back in a restaurant eating and drinking again because there's nothing else to do. 

Now, there are places serving bottles of wine and spirits that you always encounter on your airport travels. Next door are the waiting areas, thousands of seats with thousands of restless children running amok while mum, dad, uncle and cousin rummage through their suitcases just to while away the hours before the tannoy system tells you that Flight 12345 is ready to take off for Hong Kong. By now you feel as though somebody in the airport should, out of courtesy, offer you several bottles of plonk just to revive you after what can only be described as the most gruelling assault course you've ever undertaken. 

Now though we have the first twelve countries who have sanctioned your holiday, given it the thumbs up. You can go to these countries without fearing something deeply unpleasant. It is easy to be disillusioned  about the latest virus bulletins since the number of fatalities has now gone right down to 15 today and the number of hospital admissions with Covid symptoms is also showing deeply encouraging signs in the positive. Still, we're almost there within touching distance of freedom.

However, Portugal, Israel, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Iceland, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, the Faroe Islands and South Georgia have all been given the all clear. Your captain and pilot is glad to have you travelling with them on the maiden flight back to the land of normal. He welcomes you on board because the tedium at home for the last year has been absolutely overwhelming at times and there are only so many crossword  books and jigsaw puzzles you can complete before it all gets a bit much. 

And so it is with feverish anticipation we will strap on our safety belts, wiggle our knees about in some ridiculously claustrophobic area and then either drop off to sleep, look longingly at the fluffy white marshmallow thick clouds at the highest altitude, flicking through the airline's brochure with utter indifference and wrestling embarrassingly with that tiny table which should, in theory, provide you with a hot meal and a refreshing drink but does nothing of the sort. Or maybe you've got more patience than some of us. Soon you're all fingers and thumbs, ripping up the wrappers which contain the plastic knives and forks and then squeezing open the coffee and tea sachet in the most confined of spaces. 

This summer though still has the potential to be one of the most triumphant. Of course you'll be confronted with teeth clenching delays, hours and hours spent painstakingly battling the forces of monotony and then looking at that electronic board with acres of flight times, timetables containing the names of some of the strangest sounding countries in the world and then you're back to pacing up and down the airport for the 275th time. 

Thankfully though the restrictions have all but been completely lifted give a take one or two that are proving to be annoyingly troublesome. It is to be hoped that shortly some of us will be taking our week's holiday somewhere warm and soothing to the soul shortly. We can't be certain when but we'd like to think that it won't be too soon. 

In the not too distant future you would like to be slumped on some very accommodating sun lounger with the familiar umbrella, light reading book in hand, loving family around you and everything that's just right. For the last year and week or so, we've all been subjected to the same scenery, the same buildings, houses, apartments, supermarkets, industrial parks and congested traffic stretching back for miles. Book your holidays everybody because this could be the summer we'll never ever forget for all the right reasons. Bon voyage tout le monde. Have a cracking vacation one and all and don't forget your donkeys, sombrero hats and those irresistible bottles of sangria. Postcards though are purely optional.