The JFC Lockdown Lowdown

If you haven’t been keeping up with the UK headlines (or last week’s other big story means you’re busy trying to figure out how to convert yards to furlongs), you might not have spotted that the Government unveiled a whole bunch of changes to their guidance around travel on September 17th.

Not to be outdone, or perhaps just to keep us on our toes and make us rewrite this article all over again, President Biden then went and announced a whole bunch of other changes related to travel in the USA on September 20th.

Luckily, we’ve got the lowdown on what’s happened, what’s still to be determined, and what it all means for travellers everywhere. Read on!

US News:

You could say he’s been Biden his time.

• After eighteen long months, the US travel ban is set to end in early November, when fully-vaccinated foreign nationals will once again be able to visit the United States.
• There will still be some restrictions, of course. You’ll need to take a COVID test within three days of departure and show the proof of your negative result when boarding.
• Perhaps understandably focused on their own California getaways, British journalists have described the announcement as a “lifting of restrictions for the UK and EU”. But in reality, we’re not the only winners this week; it’s also welcome news for travellers from China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa and India.

UK News:

So long, amber list. You won’t be missed.

• As of yesterday (Wednesday 22nd September), eight countries have now been taken off the UK Government’s red list. This means you can now legally travel to and from Pakistan, the Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh, Turkey and Kenya.
• However, 54 countries remain on the red list, including Chile, Mexico, South Africa, and Namibia.
• If you found the amber list confusing (or worse yet, the dreaded amber watchlist), you can free up that brain-space for something else. The whole thing’s been scrapped. Now any country that isn’t on the red list can be considered ‘low risk’ and safe for travel.

Hopefully this news won’t leave a bad test in your mouth...

• As of 4th October, if you’re flying from any non-red country and you’re fully vaxxed, you’ll no longer need a pre-departure test before arrival into England.
• Better yet, from later in October, you’ll be allowed to take a single lateral flow test in the two-day period after your arrival in order to avoid quarantine, rather than the twice-as-pricey PCR test.
• When is ‘later in October’, you ask? Well, er...nobody’s actually explained that part yet (and this is why a lot of people have been yelling at Grant Shapps on Twitter), but we’ll update you just as soon as we hear more.

This is all just for England, then? Not the rest of the UK?

• Yes and no. The Scottish and Welsh Governments have said they’ll follow the new guidance on red list countries, but neither will be going ahead with changes to their testing arrangements just yet.

In short, we’re seeing some positive forward steps for travellers everywhere. And as you might expect, as the good news is spreading, flights are getting booked up pronto. 

Thomas Cook reported a 200% spike in half-term bookings this Saturday, as travel-starved, exhausted parents leapt in front of their computers and started hammering the ‘check flights’ button.

So it seems pretty likely that flight prices are about to start inching higher and higher again, as seats begin to get snatched up and demand grows. 

Don’t worry, we’ll be right here in your inbox to ensure you can keep getting your hands on the cheapest flights.

And if you haven’t taken advantage of our Premium Membership sale yet, now’s the perfect time to grab a lip-smackingly good £10 discount on a year’s worth of exclusive deals.

Our pick of the clicks:

• CNN Travel has been promoting an experimental windowless plane cabin, with screens and holograms set up to provide stunning virtual views. Creators Rosen Aviation claim that this could be the future of air travel (but then they would, wouldn’t they?)

• Paris has been celebrating its seventh annual ‘day without cars’, allowing citizens to happily throng the Champs-Élysées without fear of fumes or speeding motorists.

• In Boston, the infamous 10ft-wide ‘Skinny House’ (reportedly built by a spiteful local resident who wanted to cut off his neighbour’s light) has just sold for $1.25 million.

• The Scottish Government is planning to expand its carbon offset scheme to cover every single flight that leaves the country.

And the world’s safest cities have been announced for 2021 - with Copenhagen taking the top spot for the very first time.

It’s Always A Party Somewhere

Watch Whales Wondrously (While Getting Wet, We Warn) 

Head about 120km east of Cape Town, and you’ll stumble onto the town of Hermanus - proudly known as the Whale Capital of the world.

Every September, as mating season begins, magnificent Southern Right whales descend upon the coastline in their hundreds - all but guaranteeing near-daily sightings for the visitors who head to Hermanus for its annual Whale Watching Festival. 

The town even has their own krill-er gimmick in the form of a Whale Crier; an eagle-eyed local who stands on the cliffs and blows into a giant kelp horn to alert watchers when a whale is spotted.

Due to COVID restrictions, the 2021 festival has been, sadly, postponed. But don’t get the hump(back), it’s still on for September 2022 - so mark your calendar, book your flights, and get your binocs and raincoats ready. 

• Where? Hermanus, South Africa
• When? Late September each year - dates vary.
• How do I get there? It’s only a couple of hours’ drive from Cape Town, with genuinely spectacular views if you take the cliffside road. You could even stop off at Stellenbosch’s vineyards to sample some wine, or at Gansbaai to swim with the Great White Sharks (probably don’t attempt both on the same day, though).

Alternatively, you could...

• Head to the stunning city of Qufu, in China’s Shandong Province - home of ancient mystic and Greatest Thinker Of All Time nominee Confucius. Here they celebrate the big man’s birthday each year (he turns 2572 this September 21st) with a two-day Confucius Festival of parades, traditional banquet food, and celebrations at the city’s ancient temples.

• Celebrate World Gorilla Day on 24th September by paying a visit to the Karisoke Research Centre in Rwanda’s magnificent Volcanoes National Park, founded by legendary conservationist Dian Fossey. Or if you can’t make the journey this year, you can also support the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s vital work from the comfort of your living room.

Guess it's Thai-me to update your passwords

Travelled to Thailand in the past ten years? According to Comparitech, your personal data may have been accidentally exposed online (alongside 106 million others) as part of an unsecured database.

The Thai authorities have stressed that they do not believe the database was discovered by unauthorised parties, and thankfully no financial information was exposed.

However, some personal details, such as name and passport number, were left out there for the world to see before the issue was spotted and fixed in late August this year.

That Looks Pretty Dang Dishy

In this column, we aim to get your taste-buds quivering and tums rumbling as we highlight some of the delicious local dishes you can expect to eat while on your globe-trotting travels.

Have you mastered a local delicacy while on your own travels? Send us a pic at [email protected]

Got a trip booked to the Seychelles (maybe you spotted our recent cheap flight deal)? St Vincent or Sri Lanka? Vietnam or the Philippines? 

Wherever you may roam in the world’s warmest climes, you’re nearly certain to find yourself eating breadfruit - a starchy, potato-like staple, named after its bread-like appearance and aroma once cooked.

Originally from New Guinea, breadfruit spread far and wide across the Pacific as Papuan explorers voyaged from island to island - and then rather further in 1500, once European colonists got their hands on the stuff.

In countries across the world, it’s renowned for its incredible versatility. In other words, you can find yourself chowing down on it as part of breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, as mash, roasted, boiled, fried…

Lick your lips and scan your menus for...

• The Grenadines: Splash out on the roasted breadfruit & fried jackfish. Across the sun-kissed Caribbean islands of St Vincent and their Grenadines, breadfruit is serious business - it’s their national dish, in fact. (St Vincent even has a Breadfruit Festival every August, celebrating the fruit’s contribution to the island’s cuisine while acknowledging its roots in the slave trade).
• The Philippines: Try the Ginataang Kamansi. Sliced breadfruit with the traditional accompaniment of coconut milk and spice, then served with steamed rice. (You might also try the dish’s close relation, ginataang langka, which uses jackfruit instead).
• The Seychelles: Indulge in a little Ladob Friyapen. A scrummy, intensely creamy local dessert, with the breadfruit boiled in coconut milk until it’s soft enough to smush.

Please enjoy this viral clip, shared from Romania’s official TikTok, in which a granny with a seriously impressive scythe technique kicks the ass of some grass. 

You’re welcome.

Thanks for reading!