Hello, I'm Simon Corder, welcoming you to my independent travel podcast, bringing you the latest

news on travelling, whether you're just dreaming of a great escape, looking forward to one or actually

away like I am, and having the time of your life. I'm here in northern Burgundy, in the lovely

post-industrial town of Mijenne, just overlooking the canal and what used to be

one of France's most important railway junctions. Now it's a bit of a branch line, but all

the lovelier for that, and I'm delighted to say that I do not have to take a test when I return to the UK tomorrow.

Because 18 days after the Transport Secretary said that the post-arrival test for fully vaccinated

travellers to the UK had outlived its usefulness, finally the test is being scrapped.

That saved me, what, £30 or so? Also a lot of hassle.

And it reduces the complexity of going abroad, although I've still had to fill in my passenger locator form, which at one point assures me that I have to book a test after I arrive. I ignored that instruction and I've still managed to

complete the form. Now, it's really interesting that they're getting rid of testing. Grant Shaps has

just described it as a landmark moment for international travel, saying that the UK is becoming one of the

most open countries

in the world. He said that after nearly two years of necessary but complex travel arrangements,

these changes will make it cheaper and easier for families to travel, taking advantage of the UK's

high levels of vaccination and keeping us all safe. Well, oddly, it's not actually two years

because the UK, in a very singular way, lifted all its travel restrictions in March 2020

and didn't start reimposing them until June of that year. So it's sort of 19 months if I was splitting hairs.

And the other interesting thing is that testing has been very on and off all the way through 2020

when the whole travel industry was saying, oh, look, let us travel, but why don't you just

have tests?

And then we'd be able to minimize the danger

...