Home Alone

Weight
Friday: 80.4kg (177lb)
Saturday: 80.7kg (178lb)
Sunday: 80.4kg (177lb)
Monday: 80.2kg (177lb)
Tuesday: 80.8kg (178lb)
Wednesday: 80.2kg (177lb)
Thursday: 80.7kg (178lb)
Friday: 81.4kg (179lb)
Saturday: 81.7kg (180lb)

Today: 81.7kg (180lb)

FILLING in the UK passenger locator form, which is necessary before flying back to London, is fairly straightforward.

At least it is until you reach the part where you have to book PCR covid tests for day two and eight after your return from an amber-list country.

The first few sites I tried were at full capacity, with one not taking new bookings until late September.

I wanted to book tests where I could go to a clinic to have swabs taken, but in the end settled for being sent kits with which I will have to self-swab at home and post.

Trying to check-in for my flight with Tui online was a nightmare, and I did not manage to resolve it (a family at the head of the airport check-in queue told me they had similar problems).

Indeed the Tui website consistently failed me, refusing to accept a seat upgrade I booked and failing to even send me confirmation of my original booking (luckily I wrote down my booking reference number as emails to Tui have gone unanswered).

Accordingly I got to Heraklion airport early, which was a double-edged sword as it is grotty pre-security with no airconditioning, numerous flies and poorly maintained toilets.

Checking-in at the airport was fine, if rather time-consuming, but it was not possible to pay for the seat upgrade I had booked.

Things brightened up at security, which was fast, and once through that the airport is airconditioned and considerably smarter, although the wifi actually manages to go from feeble to almost non-existent.

The flight was fairly busy, but two sets of emergency exit seats were unoccupied, so I volunteered to sit in one (airlines are obliged to have someone sitting there to open the exits in an emergency).

Arriving at Gatwick was an interesting experience.

The airport has closed the south terminal and closed all the e-gates at the north terminal.

This would not be so bad if all the booths at passport control were staffed.

Having said, from arriving at the back of the queue to reaching the front took little more than 30 minutes. Worse things happen at Heathrow.

At passport control, as well as producing my passport, I had to show my passenger locator form and proof of a covid-test negative result taken in the three days before flying home.

This went surprisingly quickly, but then I was pulled over at customs and quizzed about where I had been, what I had been doing, had I got any duty-free, was I bringing back anything I bought while abroad, etc.

Again, to be fair, this took five minutes at most, and was conducted in a friendly manner.

Now I have reached home I am required to isolate for 10 days, during which I take the covid tests for which I have paid £155.