Feeling a little deflated over here at livein10countries as I take on this Brexit travel experiences blog. The EU has been a cornerstone of my dream to experience life in new countries, and as a Brit, I now have to accept the evolution of that dream. Still it’s not all doom and gloom- here’s the takeaway from the vote results- good and bad!
Cheap budget airlines in limbo
Leaving the EU has removed the ‘open skies’ policy that allowed these airlines to roam freely across Europe and compete with their more expensive cousins. We’re waiting to hear whether the UK can negotiate a new deal on this. Luckily, we know that other non-EU countries have successfully managed this- such as Norway and it’s own budget airlines. Time to hope and pray this goes well, as so many of us travellers rely on budget airlines. I’ll be keeping updated here with post-Brexit travel experiences- is it still possible to move freely in Europe?
A great time to visit the UK- or take a staycation for Brits
The pound’s plummeted like a lead bomb, so the thought of cashing it in for the usual holidays to Spain and France will be harder to swallow this year. On the other hand, EU visitors to the UK will see the benefit of this and won’t have any visa difficulties (ever tried visiting Switzerland?) they’ll only need to show their passports.
End of automatic freedom to live and work within the EU (for Brits) and in the UK (for EU citizens)
Sources state that long term expats living in either area shouldn’t worry- there won’t be any mass exodus, but in time we will see an end to the borderless free movement we had previously. It all depends on the agreement that the UK government signs, but my hope is that we can enter the EEA and enjoy the right to work in the EU on the same footing as EU nationals. Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway have this deal- and yes, they are all not in the EU. It’s all up in the air at present, but everything to play for!
Updating on Brexit travel experiences:
I wanted to take a moment to blog about what to expect as a tourist following the EU referendum. As yet no change and things are still riding smoothly with open borders to the European continent. I took a train recently to France with no difference in procedure. There seems to be so far no loss of cheap flight deals either, as friends recently flew with WOW air to Iceland for $99 and on to the UK for a fantastic rate.
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I really hope we can secure a deal to be part of the EEA too, although I have been out of Europe for a long time, the fact that I could live and work there was always in my mind. Also, you never know maybe Brexit won’t actually happen what with all the political ups and downs since!
Gosh what a Pandora’s box we’ve opened…. Yes we may be able to organise a deal with the EU similar to Norway, but we definitely won’t get all the money back that the leave campaign based their whole advertising on… I hope that freedom of movement will continue and that those areas that depend on tourism still benefit – even without EU funding.
Great ideas, thanks for your input Lottie and Katie!
I can only speak for myself, but I needed to check it out for myself and the pound plummeting might be a good thing for travelers. So, I booked my first trip to the UK. Just a weekend to Liverpool, but thought now is as good as time as any!
Some good and some bad. It’s going to be an interesting ride to see where things go.
I’m seriously sad about the limits on immigration and ease of travel. That was one of the big plus points of living in London. It is now so easy to get to the EU.
It might be a good time for those of us in the US to visit as well. I hope this doesn’t affect you negatively. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
Brexit was a pretty dumb political move – but I’m an American so I really can’t speak about the stupidity of large masses of citizens. ::facepalm::
This really made me laugh, there certainly has been a trump card around recently. But the Brexit was a pretty big fail too!