BBC News: Van Life article (but what about free movement?)

[radamfi]

This is on the front page of BBC News website.

Van life: Durham couple's six years on the road (and counting)

After Dan Colegate nearly died, he and his partner Esther left their careers for the open road.

www.bbc.co.uk

This is intended to be a happy article. But there is no mention about the potential effect of the end of free movement on their future travels.

Is this deliberate BBC bias? I bet some people reading this will see it that way.

 

[MotCO]

Europe will still be there and you will still be able to visit it after 1 January 2021.

 

[radamfi]

Europe will still be there and you will still be able to visit it after 1 January 2021.

But they spend their entire life abroad. That will surely be affected.

It also said that they found found work while travelling. That definitely won't be allowed.

 

[MotCO]

But they spend their entire life abroad. That will surely be affected.

It also said that they found found work while travelling. That definitely won't be allowed.

Before the EU, Britons worked and travelled in Europe, so why would they now be banned? They may need a Visa, but they should be granted.

 

[radamfi]

Before the EU, Britons worked and travelled in Europe, so why would they now be banned? They may need a Visa, but they should be granted.

Have you actually looked at visa requirements in other European countries? Have you seen visa requirements for entering the UK? Most people who have taken advantage of free movement in the last 15 years wouldn't have qualified for a UK visa.

 

[alex397]

There’s no doubt they’ll still be able to go on their travels after we go back in time on the 31st December.

But it won’t be as easy as before with the added Bureaucracy, red tape and costs involved.

If they are longer than 90 days in a country, they’ll need a visa, and it will be more complicated if they need to earn money.

I’m not sure how any sensible person could consider this progress, but this argument has been had hundreds of times, and will continue for many years.

Out of interest would a visa cover just the country, or would it cover all of the Schengen countries (if it is in Schengen?).

 

[radamfi]

I just investigated further and they are going to move to France before the new year.

 

[Elwyn]

I am old enough to remember visiting France and other countries before we joined the EEC (1.1.1973) and before Spain, Greece and Portugal joined in 1983. You could visit as a tourist with the minimum of formality. If you wanted to stay longer than 3 months there was normally a simple process for getting an extension of stay. Brits owned houses, visited and stayed without any great difficulty. I know people who have holiday homes in South Africa and America (not in the EU obviously) who do the same thing today.

Park the idea that leaving the EU is going to make travelling round Europe impossible. Yes you may need an ESTA type permission – as you do for the US, Canada, Oz etc - but it takes about 30 seconds to obtain. Life will go on as before. You will probably also be able to go through the self swipe facilities at most EU airports (as Americans and Canadians and some other non EU nationalities can do when entering the UK).

Whether or not you support Brexit, there’s a lot of exaggerated nonsense about what it’s going to mean. The couple in the article will not necessarily be able to work in the EU after December but provided they can otherwise support themselves (which they mostly seem to be able to do), they’ll be able to carry on with their lifestyle without too much problem, especially as they apparently move on all the time without settling in any one country.

 

[radamfi]

[

I am old enough to remember visiting France and other countries before we joined the EEC (1.1.1973) and before Spain, Greece and Portugal joined in 1983. You could visit as a tourist with the minimum of formality. If you wanted to stay longer than 3 months there was normally a simple process for getting an extension of stay. Brits owned houses, visited and stayed without any great difficulty. I know people who have holiday homes in South Africa and America (not in the EU obviously) who do the same thing today.

Park the idea that leaving the EU is going to make travelling round Europe impossible. Yes you may need an ESTA type permission – as you do for the US, Canada, Oz etc - but it takes about 30 seconds to obtain. Life will go on as before. You will probably also be able to go through the self swipe facilities at most EU airports (as Americans and Canadians and some other non EU nationalities can do when entering the UK).

Whether or not you support Brexit, there’s a lot of exaggerated nonsense about what it’s going to mean. The couple in the article will not necessarily be able to work in the EU after December but provided they can otherwise support themselves (which they mostly seem to be able to do), they’ll be able to carry on with their lifestyle without too much problem, especially as they apparently move on all the time without settling in any one country.

Again, you are quoting a time when immigration rules were so much less restricted. What about visa restrictions today?

If moving country is so easy, why did so few people from Poland move to the UK before 2004? Because it wasn't easy to get a visa. How many Polish will be able to move to Britain from January? Not many.

 

[JonathanP]

If you wanted to stay longer than 3 months there was normally a simple process for getting an extension of stay. Brits owned houses, visited and stayed without any great difficulty. I know people who have holiday homes in South Africa and America (not in the EU obviously) who do the same thing today.

Really? You could get an extension to just hang around and do whatever you wanted, even if you are not rich enough to qualify for an Investment visa?

Certainly that is not the case in Germany for non-EU nationals today. Either you need have a (qualifying) job, or be a full-time student. What life was like in the 1970's is completely irrelevant. The only thing trhat matters is the regulations for non-EU nationals today.

they’ll be able to carry on with their lifestyle without too much problem, especially as they apparently move on all the time without settling in any one country.

The 90 days restriction applies to the whole Schengen area. This means someone wanting to follow this kind of lifestyle, after spending 90 days in the EU, will have spend 90 days touring Ukraine/Moldova/Belarus before they can return. So not impossible, but I imagine this will make this kind of long term tourism significantly less attractive.

 

[Starmill]

I bet they regret very much that they didn't spend more than half of every year in one country now! After 6 years, they could have made an application to be naturalised as citizens of a member state, allowing them to continue to avail themselves of free movement.

 

[najaB]

Whether or not you support Brexit, there’s a lot of exaggerated nonsense about what it’s going to mean.

It's neither exaggerated nonsense nor gospel truth at present since we still, over four years into the process, don't know what the post-Brexit arrangements are going to be.

 

[alex397]

It's neither exaggerated nonsense nor gospel truth at present since we still, over four years into the process, don't know what the post-Brexit arrangements are going to be.

Indeed, and we leave at the end of next month.

There will be changes which many of us wouldn’t realise would change, as very little seems to be known about what being part of the EU actually means.

I agree there is lots of nonsense around, but to say things will carry on as before is over-simplistic and unrealistic. Sure, going on a couple of weeks holiday in the EU is likely to remain the same. But going on extended trips, and living and working, is clearly going to become more difficult, and that surely can’t be considered ‘scaremongering’ any more.

 

[Elwyn]

I acknowledged that working in Europe will be very different but people going for up to 3 months for leisure purposes (which is what 95% of most trips are) will see little change.

I have American friends (retired) who spend the winter (ie more than 3 months) in the south of France. They are able to obtain permission to do that with little difficulty from the local prefecture. I strongly suspect that Brits who want to winter in Spain etc or campervan around Europe will likewise find it’s not too difficult. They are probably going to have to pay for a residence permit of some sort but that’s probably about it. It’s generally in Spain’s economic interest to encourage people to over-winter and so I’d be surprised if they made it too difficult for the average financially independent person to get permission to remain for 6 months.

To the person who asked what I know about visas, well I am a retired UK Border Force manager.

 

[DarloRich]

There is quite a bit of concern about this in camper-van circles. It is quite ( or has been) a common choice for people of a certain age to do this kind of thing and there is some concern about the impact of Brexit on this lifestyle.

 

[geoffk]

Indeed, and we leave at the end of next month.

There will be changes which many of us wouldn’t realise would change, as very little seems to be known about what being part of the EU actually means.

I agree there is lots of nonsense around, but to say things will carry on as before is over-simplistic and unrealistic. Sure, going on a couple of weeks holiday in the EU is likely to remain the same. But going on extended trips, and living and working, is clearly going to become more difficult, and that surely can’t be considered ‘scaremongering’ any more.

Going on holiday is likely to remain the same but that assumes some agreement will be reached on trains, ferries and planes being able to travel between Britain and the EU.

 

[alex397]

This couple are in the news again. Sadly, the lady of the couple, Esther Dingley has gone missing while in the Pyrenees. Her partner last made contact last Sunday. It doesn't sound good, but hopefully there is still a chance she can be found.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-55118130

A British woman who has spent six years on a campervan tour of Europe has gone missing while walking in the Pyrenees.
Esther Dingley, 37, last spoke to her partner Dan Colegate via Whatsapp last Sunday, when she was atop Pic de Sauvegarde on the France Spain border.
She had been due to end her solo trek on Wednesday but has not been seen.
French authorities confirmed they were searching for Ms Dingley, and Mr Colegate said he was "broken" and "shattered" by her disappearance.
Ms Dingley had been travelling in the couple's camper van while Mr Colegate stayed at a farm in the Gascony area of France.
On the weekend she set out on the trek, the couple's story about exploits around Europe in the camper van since 2014 was published by BBC News.

Mr Colegate said she had been away for a month and their last conversation had been about "how excited we were to see each other as this was her last trip before driving back".
Her last known location was on top of the mountain at about 16:00 GMT on 22 November.
Ms Dingley had started walking from Benasque in Spain on Saturday and had a plan to spend Sunday night at Refuge Venasque in France, Mr Colegate said.
He said searches had yielded "no sign at all" and temperatures were dropping with light snow fall in the area.

She has previously completed solo treks, and Mr Colegate said: "She always tried to keep in touch but sometimes on her hikes was out of contact for a couple of days.
"This is not looking good."
The couple had lived in Durham before deciding to pack up their lives and go travelling after Mr Colegate nearly died from an infection.
In a post on Facebook, the Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne, said it was "actively looking" for Ms Dingley.
Mr Colegate, who has gone to the Luchon area to help look for his partner of 18 years, said helicopters and dogs have been involved in the search but have so far found "no trace".

 

[najaB]

That's unfortunate. I hope she's found alive.