Back to Blighty after 4 years

[richard]

NO, not back to the USSR but back to another part of the frozen north

Still got jetlag and can't sleep as afternoon tea awaits me

SO I'm going to to bore you all to death with my exciting trip to Blighty

So why? .................................. why in Olympics year?

Well I’ve lived here nigh on 11 years and only been back to Blighty 4 times. As a rule my family come out to HH to chill. However I still miss friends and the British way of life and the countryside.

I had to go to sort some issues out that could not be sorted from 6400 miles away and thought that this may be the last time. Depressing but a factor to be considered

Olympics? No problem EVA offered a flight at a good price at the close of the games and prior to the Paralympics

Got everything sorted but was struck by a fear of what was in store. All the stories about prices, muggings, depression were playing on my mind but I had a fixed itinerary whereby I could circumvent all these downers.

Game plan

1st week.....Yorkshire with my brother to scour the Yorkshire Wolds and dig up friends and sup real ale, eat real food and plunder the rhubarb fields and Whitby kipper farms

2nd week....Devon (with daughters) to unpack my container which was full of relics, heirlooms and junk. Then South Wales for a ‘welcome in the hillside’ (all the little lambkins I used to know were now rams or Katoeys)

3rd week.... Basingstoke to dig up work mates from the AA and a trip to Chichester to meet friends I’d worked with Johnson Wax

Weekends were spent with my daughters in London

So what shocked me or struck me as being different from my last trip?

1) Soulless airports and travel generally. Everybody on mobiles or tablets. A zombie environment
2) Cashless society looming, Everything on credit or debit cards. Cash not wanted
3) My credit and debit cards locked as soon as I used in LHR
4) On the face of it everyone happy and content with their lot. Brit upper lip stuff. Under the surface, worry and resentment of Gov policies but feel it’s a Blair/Brown cock up and the mess needs sorting
5) Olympic and Jubilee morale boost. Youngsters, though not royalist, supported the Royal attitude to people in both events. Skeptics may say it was ‘media hype’ that did it. Maybe but the general well-being and true Brit Grit was there IMO
6) Total ethnic integration in London, Hull, Cardiff and Exeter
7) Everywhere I was welcomed as a visitor from a planet known as Thailand and also persuaded a few to check the forum prior to visiting HH
Cameras abound. Big brother lives in Blighty as does Elvis and Lord Lucan
9) TV, mobiles, computers rule

What transpired?

Yorkshire

A week in the Wolds. Nowt changed IMO
Pubs in the Wolds open at 12.00 and shut at 14.00 and open at 18.00 and shut at 21.00. Farmers and farm hands WORK
Pub grub is superb but too much for me but OK for a farmer. Met up with Usual Suspect and he had to take home half the pig I had on my plate in a doggie bag

Devon

Amazing how much stuff you store and when you open up are told most of it is junk
Exeter now a haven for travellers and the like

Wales

Vibrant welcome as always and a big surprise with 20 of us in a pub, Yet another walking stick given to me
Streets all walk ways now as drunks used to get run over at weekends

Basingstoke

Soulless as ever but good to see aging mates I used to run about squash courts with

Chichester

Nowt changed but two big surprise meet ups


London

Fast moving and loads of dosh around. Expensive riverside apartments. (start at around 25M Bht)

Vibrant pubs and many that would put Binta to shame regarding BG’s. Mind you I was cruising Clapham, Chelsea, Balham, Brixton and Pimlico.

I wanted to visit old haunts from my time there in the 60’s but no time. Portobello road where I lived, Petticoat lane where I worked, Finsbury park and many other locations.

Managed to visit and dine in Fortnum’s but missed Simpsons on the Strand. Around F&M were parked Bentley and Rollers galore and it was nice to browse F&M and dream. Saw a nice briefcase for 1500 quid.

Spent a time in Green Park. The temp was 30C so stripped off and lay in a deckchair. Knotted handkerchief was missing though

Would I go home to my roots?

I doubt it but who knows what if Thailand goes tits up. IMO it’s:

1) Too cold
2) I would need a lottery win
3) Ideal if 50% of time there and 50% here
4) I now realise how lucky I am here in Thailand

That's all for now

Loads of pics but I reckon most of you are asleep now

Excuse grammar as jet-lagged and my cucumber sandwiches are off and going down the toilet soon

Never mind I'll beam into my kippers instead. I brought a whole load of goodies back. Catch me if you can. No one provides good kippers, smoked haddock, artichokes, black pudding and Rhubarb in HH

[richard]

Oh forgot

The first kiss I had in The UK was from a mozzie in Heathrow airport

I'm rarely bitten by a Mozz in Thailand

I conclude that Thai Mozzies don't like my blood but UK ones do. I await the comments Oh, and please don't give me a hard time about sheep in Wales. PH will get offended as I might have stolen one of his G/F's. Sorry Pete, couldn't resist

[caller]

Nice report - so it was alright then?

I think cash is still welcomed pretty much everywhere, but have noticed changes. In probably my favourite local pub the other evening and one or two others I've used, its now common, from ordering the 1st drink, to offer to run up a tab and then settle at the end, which I like (especially as I didn't pay), which pretty much always results in a card being used, especially if eating as well.

[BaaBaa.]

I rarely use cash anymore, I'd still use cash in the pub but I rarely go there anymore as it's too damn expensive.

It's a shame as England is traditionally a few pints with the lads but it's a reoccurring trend that more and more people are watching the match or having a curry round mates houses.

[johnnyk]

Great report!

[STEVE G]

I still go back every few months for a weekend to see my parents and where I go, a village in Notts, it hasn't changed that much at all from when I first left it in 1980. I've been based out of Asia since 1995 and evreytime you go back to Asia they've built a new airport or motorway or something, but in my home village they had a new village hall about ten years a go and that's pretty much it.

[J.J.B.]

A very poignant, personal and honest report.

I've lived outside the UK for almost three years now and sometimes feel irritated when I go back on business or for family reunions. I like my host country (Italy) even less, however, and long for the day where I can call HH or almost anywhere else my 'semi-permanent' home, despite that likely being a while off yet.

Since I celebrated a milestone birthday only yesterday, I was recalling to people younger than me a life without mobiles, the Internet, easy credit or cheap flights to anywhere and it seemed like such a utopian dream that I wondered if it could ever have been real.

My conclusion was to simply accept that "time and tide waits for no man".

[VincentD]

..... a life without mobiles, the Internet, easy credit or cheap flights to anywhere .

Yah. Calling an operator and waiting ten minutes for the callback to say you're connected... credit was a wad of traveller's cheques and a flight to anywhere involved sitting down in some travel agent's office while he got things sorted over the phone.. and getting a hand-written ticket issued.

[buksida]

Nice report Richard, I haven't been there for 14 years so always interesting reading about the changes.

The 'zombie environment' isn't just in the UK, get on the Skytrain, eye contact is a thing of the past, everyone is absorbed by these 'smart' phones.

[Terry]

Thanks for that Richard - v. interesting.

I (Finally) severed the umbilical with Blighty in 2000, having been back and forth since the early '90s

I took Mrs. T and our eldest boy (then a babe) to UK in 'early 99 and spent most of that year there.

Went to my mother's funeral in 2001 and passed through Heathrow on a business trip in 2003.

On both of those occasions, all that I could see were miserable faces and hear were moans and groans. Frankly I could not wait to get back to HH

I've always said that I would make a family 'pilgrimage' with both our boys (now having 2) to show them their 50% English Heritage. The REAL Blighty, not the tourist tat - rather as you have just done.

Apart from the humungous cost of it, I am seriously wondering whether it would be worth it - bearing in mind all the cultural and social changes that have happened.

What to do? - I ask myself

[Takiap]

Nice report Richard


While I'm not from the UK, I did live and work there for just over ten years. I loved my time there, and will always have very fond memories, but I know myself well enough to know I could never return to live there permanently. For me, there is just too much control, too many gloomy faces, and not enough bright blue skies.


Saying all that, I couldn't return to my own country either (South Africa). The last time I went back was in 2000 and the change hit me like a ton of bricks. People seem to be living without hope; everyone seems to be depressed, and every second building looks like a maximum security prison. Even train stations are fenced in nowadays, with fences topped with barbed wire.


Like you say, times change, places change, and etc. The reality I have to face is that if Thailand goes tits up, I'm pretty much screwed because there is just no way I could ever adapt to life in the west again. I guess I've just grown to love the chaos of Asia too much - the good and the daft side of life here.


Anyway, welcome back, and please, don't destroy anymore bread by polluting it with cucumber.

[MrPlum]

Thanks for taking the time to report, Richard. Much appreciated. Looks like you had a very interesting trip and packed quite a lot in.

No matter how hard you try, I'm not going back! 12 years away and no thoughts of returning. Living abroad has spoiled me and is still a great adventure! I enjoy other cultures, sunshine! and the fact that as a motorist, I'm not driving in fear of flashing lights and extortionate fines.

Nostalgia does have me fleetingly miss village cricket, Sunday roasts in country pubs and careering around leafy lanes on my 2-wheeled Ferrari but I know it will only take a few days home, for me to realize Thailand still has the edge. Just this morning I went to a local school and the Thai children were laughing at trying to speak English to me. It was one of those joyous moments that light up your day.

[lomuamart]

I always enjoy going back to the UK but I think that that's because I'm not working and know that it's only temporary and I'm coming back to Thailand.
I split my time between Lincolnshire (family) and London (my property and old friends).
The thing about this thread that has prompted me to post is buksida's comment about the Skytrain.
One time I was back in London, I was traveling the central line and passed through the station closest to The Thai Embassy. Two Thai chaps in suits got on the tube and were sitting next to me. I started speaking basic Thai to them and they thought I was a lunatic (which I undoubtedly am). I shut up after that every time on the tube.
Some people just can't loosen up, eh?

[Big Boy]

Apart from the humungous cost of it,

Exactly. I've only been here 5 months, but friends in the UK keep asking when we're going to visit. None of these friends are offering to give us a roof over our heads, or provide transport.

Therefore, to return to the UK, as well as flights, we'd be looking at:

- Hotels - if we got in early, maybe £29 per night, but we'd have to budget on £50+ per night (and this is for budget hotels out in the sticks).
- Hire Car or public transport - generally, I wouldn't want to use public transport, so for a car suitable for me, I'd need to budget for at least £75 per day + all of the extra insurances required to actually insure the vehicle.
- Fuel - currently £1.37 a litre.

Then there are general holiday costs such as warm clothing (we dumped our wardrobes of warm clothing before coming here), eating out most days, entertainment etc.

I'd much rather spend my money exploring Asia.

I said that when I left the UK, it would take something very special to get me back. I won't say never, but I sincerely hope that I don't return.

I can live quite comfortably on my pension here, but the kind of money required to visit the UK would be a significant drain on my meager resources.

I'd much rather spend my money exploring Asia.

[migrant]

Working on my budget for our eventual move, one of the larger items is return trips to the states here. Both my kids are here, and being young and starting work, it will be hard for them to come here, even with our financial assistance.

Airfare now is just over $1,000 each and by the time you add auto, presents, some hotel, it adds up!