Travelling to the United Kingdom
In the previous article, I wrote a bit about how I adore travelling and how reminiscent I am about flying again since it brought back so many childhood memories. A reminder of a happier stress-free time. A little gem from the past.
However, in this article, I wanted to write a bit about travelling to the UK specifically and not just travelling in general. The reason behind that is that I always wanted to start a travelling blog since I was a little child due to my frequent travels as a child. Now that I have a blog I finally can make that childhood dream come true.
This article is going to be quite a mess. More than usual. It is a little bit about the general facts and figures, a little bit about my past experience and a little bit about my vacation there. Quite the combination and quite messy if I can confess.
Let´s start where I left off the last time. After meeting with my friend in the middle, we get into the car and drive off onto the UK highways. At first, I didn’t notice anything but when we got onto the highway, all alerts and panic start to burst out all at once. The car drove on the wrong side of the road.
After the panic and distress died down, I noticed all the cars were driving on the left side of the road. This leaves us with three situations. Either everyone on that freeway in that time decided unanimously that they were going to drive on the wrong side of the road (which is unlikely), everyone is a wrong-way driver and we got lucky nobody came from the wrong direction or we were driving on the right side of the road.
Spoiler alert, the third answer was correct, and I just wasn’t used to the opposite side driving, which is a valid aspect to be unaccustomed to since roughly two-thirds of the world are used to driving on the right-hand side of the street. Out of all 195 countries in the world, only 76 countries have left-hand drive traffic and cars accordingly.
Nevertheless, I was not surprised that it was left-side driving in England, but I was surprised by the fact that I was surprised in the first place. I knew that the British drove on the other side of the road so why was I that in shock?
Another thing I realized on the drive back to my friend´s home is how much the British loved their roundabouts. They were everywhere. Frankly, I believe that Germany already had many roundabouts but England… How many does a country need?
To be perfectly frank, I do see the advantage of roundabouts since they do not require traffic lights to function, however, I do not understand the roundabouts that need traffic lights. The whole purpose of roundabouts, in my eyes, is to avoid using traffic lights, inadvertently preventing using energy for the lights. Installing traffic lights before the roundabouts just beats the whole purpose of roundabouts and the city planners should just remove the roundabout and make the road easier to drive but enough about roundabouts.
Another thing I adore about the UK is its architecture. It never truly occurred to me until I sat in that car staring at the rows and rows of quaint little yet big houses passing us by. Each house with a similar yet very different interior.
Frankly, I can’t exactly put my finger on the reason and explain why I adore the British uniform houses but I just do and it bothers me quite a bit because I adore individuality and uniqueness just as much as I adore the uniform identicalness of British style in general.
I guess I just like how in England everything and everyone can look identical yet at the same time stand out in their own rather spectacular way. The methods used to stand out is, in my eyes, very fascinating as well.
This reminds me of my time in a school in England where I met my friend. In school, everyone wore the same uniform, yet we all managed to stand out without breaking the school uniform regulations. It was interesting what everyone would do differently.
During my little vacation away from Germany was not very social. Due to the current circumstances, I spent most days at home with my friend. As much as I hate to admit it, I also spent a few days binge-watching the newest marvel shows and movies I have not seen.
However, the days that I did go out, I still marvel at the cultural differences in countries that are spatial, in comparison, rather close to one another. It is just fascinating how some things could be so different even though it is the same thing.
Take shopping for instance. A regular grocery trip. Nothing too special. Even something this mundane can have so many differences. From the moment you enter the store to the time you pay at check out.
There is a small difference, for example how the layout of the supermarket is different. There are also bigger differences, such as the different brands available in the stores. Then there is the biggest difference, the checkout.
In Germany, I cannot say that I have seen as many self-checkout desks or any at all to be fair as in England. It just seems so typical and usual in England but in Germany, it just seems so unfamiliar and abnormal.
I am not even sure why the UK has that many self-checkouts in the first place. Let me rephrase. I am not sure why Germany does not have as many self-checkouts. As an introvert, I fully endorse anything that cuts social contact, especially during the pandemic.
It is not even as if self-checkouts are a new invention or anything because I already saw self-checkout counters when I lived in the UK a few years back and now the self-checkouts have just tripled in quantity.
Nevertheless, in the UK I don’t mind social contact because I do adore listening to people speaking with a British accent and their extraordinary expressions. It is the little things I miss about the UK. How they greet people, how they talk and how they say goodbye. It is all so different yet so familiar.
After going on a few shopping tours during my vacation, I noticed that some things are similar around the world. The shopping centres are filled with the same stores and same items. The only difference is the people and I guess that is what makes England so charming.
The previous passage is a bit of an oversimplification since there are many other aspects contributing to the uniqueness and idleness of travelling to the UK. It is sometimes hard to find words when one is so mesmerised by the fun of travelling and the beauty of the UK.
There was nothing that truly stood out to me when I was out with my friend because I already knew everything, just tiny things that have changed since the last time I was there. Most of the changes occurred due to corona or gentrification.
Some part of me is still torn by the fact that things are changing since stores are closing, new ones are opening and sometimes it is something completely new. I like things the way they were yet I also like change, so I am somewhere in between sadness and excitement.
However, one thing that stood out like a sore thumb was the Christmas sweaters. It is winter and there is no doubt that some would go all out trying to spread Christmas cheer. Since my old Christmas sweater somehow mysteriously disappeared, I desperately wanted to get a new one in the UK since the ones in Germany just seem bland by comparison.
My holidays consisted mostly of studying for my uni exams, binge-watching movies and shows, and shopping. There was no sightseeing on my agenda since I already saw everything, or at least nearly, when I lived there and secondly, I am not the biggest fan of sightseeing especially when the day is gloomy, and I happen to forget my camera.
I guess my ideal vacation would consist of going out and having fun by doing something active, so being stuck at home due to corona precautions just seems a bit too mundane for me. During the time I was there, the corona incidents numbers just kept rising and the fear over the new variant grew as the country already started enforcing more and stricter regulations.
Even with all the corona stress during my vacation, I still enjoyed it very much since it was nice to kick back and relax once in a while, especially after the whirlwind of a uni start, I had.
To be frank, the corona stress I brought upon myself since I knew that the UK was a high-risk area yet I still decided to go there and spend my vacation there instead of Germany where corona was still a risk but not as big of a risk as to the UK.
At the end of the day, I had a fantastic vacation with my friend in the town where I used to live. It was so nice to go back there even though the town underwent more than a few changes in the two years I was gone.
During my limited time there I did the things I wanted to do, bought the things I wanted to buy and ate the things that I wanted to eat. However, it still felt as if something was missing, and the feeling of missing something only strengthened when the end of my holidays approached.
A sense of longing to stay and not go back to the stress-filled life awaiting me back in Germany. The life awaiting me in Germany was not all too bad but worse in comparison to the relaxed way of life I had there.
Stress filled my life in the last few days. Arranging everything from the COVID test to my luggage packing method. It felt a bit shitty when you are not sure if you can get everything done before the early flight the next morning.
The night before the flight, I passed by spending most of my time revisiting and going over the to-do list for the hundredth time. Every time I finish the list mentally check off everything, something felt as if it was missing or was actually missing. The feeling was pretty persistent and bothering but distractions helped.
Nevertheless, I am proud to announce, due to my overplanning, everything went smoothly the next day. Everything from check-in, security check and finding the gate went by in a breeze. It was going so well, which made me doubt the easiness. Was I forgetting something?
After a wonderful flight filled with nostalgic memories, the plane touched down in Germany. After many controls, I got my luggage and left for my dorm again. Coming back feels like a ton of bricks slammed into your face. Reality hitting you square in the face.
My vacation quickly ended when I set foot in my dorm room. There was so much to do. Unpacking, laundry, cleaning, and so much more. Seeing my university books didn’t make anything easier. Quite the opposite.
The whole corona situation died down a bit since Germany became as a high-risk area as the UK so I could nimbly and easily avoid a fourteen-day (no exception) quarantine, which would have ended me mentally.
After a day or two of rest and restocking everything, University started again. The day before I spent by mentally preparing myself to go back to the tonload information podcast recording studio i.e., the all work no play university.
Going back to uni felt as if I never went on a vacation. As if I had never been to the UK even though the treasures I brought back would say otherwise. Everything felt normal at the uni and the trip to the UK just felt like a very vivid dream. Maybe it was…