I think the situation with the regards to the UK is too vague and wooly. From what I remember when I was in the UK in December and early January you were given advice to stay at home. To not make unnecessary journeys and to stay in your local area. It's the last part that people have seized on.
What exactly is a local area? To a photographer a local area can encompass quite a wide area that most people would think is far. I was in Salisbury and to me Dorset is local and I could have very easily said to heck with it, hired a car and gone down to Dorset. But there was absolutely no way that I was going to do that.
Over the festive season I commented on a particular vloggers exploits and their travels. Asking if what they did was really "necessary" and what did I get back? From certain subscribers abuse and from the vlogger the response was it was their "work".
Now as a landscape and travel photographer who is doing this full time I could very easily find ways to get out of France. Sweden as far as I remember has no entry conditions. The same also goes for Dubai. Two places that would be awesome to visit. Sweden for the winter and Dubai for the cityscapes. But am I going to find those excuses? Nope, no way and not in a million years.
But what I do have here in central France is a commission to work on which requires me to photograph the Loire Valley from one end to the other in all seasons and all different types of lighting. So that is a legitimate job from a client that needs doing.
Some people may disagree and some may agree but for me this is my 100% full time job. It also doesn't entail me having to meet anyone. In fact, when i'm out and about I never see hardly anyone which is surprising given the stunning locations.
My own personal thoughts on travel right now is that we should just stay in our respective countries and not be trying to justifying every 5 minutes why it is we should be out taking photos.
I did see an earlier comment about things not ever getting back to how they were. I have adopted a more positive attitude throughout all of this. That things are GOING to get better rather than WILL. The human body and immune system is very adaptable. I would hedge my bets that after enough people have been vaccinated that things are going to open up again slowly but surely. That herd immunity is going to kick in at some point.
There are lots of new vaccines around the corner. So folks, let's keep positive. We're nearly there