The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

I applaud Jill for her services to humanity in realising what sort of habits you’d fall back into should you be away from her civilising influence for more than five days. Her sacrifice is our salvation.

“Travel helps make sense of life”

That’s one of the best reasons I’ve ever heard for visiting other countries but do you think a 2 week package tour on the Costa counts?

What are you trying to say John?

My lawyer will be watching. And sadly, probably agreeing with you at the same time.

And Andy – are you feeling OK? I’m not asking because of the passion of your rant, but because you must have wasted so much time writing it, and quite frankly, I didn’t think I was worth that. It’s almost a compliment, ha!

This is a very nice post Robert. It warmed the cockles of my heart knowing how generous I am.

In the interests of continuing your orgy of travel, I believe it would be prudent to never show me your passport nor mention the speed in which you fill it.

It’s nearly remuneration review time. I can hardly wait.

But you can also travel inwardly as well as outwardly, and “see the world in a grain of sand”. Just going to the next town or village (or borough if you live in London) can be as rewarding as going to the other side of the world and for “ad people” will tell you enormous amounts of information that you will find useful.

And when we do go abroad how much do we really see? An American coming to the United Kingdom, even if he/she came here 50 times, is only going to get a very superficial view of our society and what makes it work. The same is true when we go abroad.

Everyone who lives in London should have made a conscious effort to visit (and properly look at) every London borough (even Mill Hill) before gadding off on foreign tours.

I realise this makes me sound a crank.

You’re right Andrew – you can learn, experience and see huge amounts just by walking down a different street – however whilst that may help you absorb more from a personal perspective [that is if we are actually able to let our senses experience things without the inherent blinkers we all have coming up] the beauty of visiting another country is that you not only get to see/learn/experience a different culture and how they think/act/view “life”, but you get to re-see those everyday things we often ignore because more often than not, the way they use/think of them is very different to our own.

And with each country being made up of more and more cultures, I personally think having a greater sense of where others are coming from, not just yourself, is a good thing … but I appreciate I may sound a crank to you with this, ha!

Hi Rob and Lauren,

The reason I put forward inward exploration as an alternative is that it is coming whether we like it or not. Mass air transit is not sustainable (unless like George Bush you hope there is going to be a miracle technological solution). I am gently pointing out that exploring the next street can be just as satisfying as going to Singapore, Pimlico is just as fascinating as Paris.

But we are conditioned by marketing (we of all people!) to think that globalisation is the future. Hello foreigners (we say), we’ve come all this way to to get a greater sense of you, oh and by the way we’ve just dumped tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, and don’t mind us while we corrupt your culture with western materialism (having already corrupted our own).

Who knows what the future will make of us. Maybe they will regard mass air transport as a crime against the world (or maybe not, in which case you can dismiss me as a crank).

Can’t you do some of your journeys overland/sea Rob? – you would really get a sense of the places you were in.

Hi Andrew … thanks for the comments.

Whilst I agree that mass air travel under its current guise is unsustainable, the fact is the industry is too big for it not to seek viable alternatives and if my client [Virgin Atlantic] can work with organisations to identify viable, safe and ecologically positive alternatives, you can bet the oil industries have been doing it for longer and with more resources.

Only time will tell I guess – but a change will happen, I just don’t know if it will be as dramatic as you have painted.

I agree with you that exploring the next street can be just as satisfying as going to other countries but in my previous comment, I’ve also highlighted how quite often we are blinkered to what is around us and only really let our senses be turned on when we are engulfed in new lands, cultures and experiences. That’s a sad indicement on society but sadly true … and for the record, I do think an appreciation of other cultures – especially with the World getting smaller – is more valuable than simply knowing how your personal community ‘ticks’.

I would love to make some of my journeys overland and sea … and there have been occasions where I have been able to do that … but the majority of my travels are not ‘social’, they’re work and as such, travelling to and from continents means a plane is the most practical means for face-to-face interaction [and yes, we/I do huge amounts of video conferencing as well, we’re not really environment destroyers], though you’ll be happy to know that when we’re doing our cultural safari’s, it’s trains, busses and boats all the way.

Hi Rob, OK you win, we’ll put our trust in the big corporations to sort the environment out. I know we can trust the oil companies.

Hi Lauren. I know you have been to the UK at least twice, but you seem to have the idea that England is a white monoculture where we all speak the same and think the same and eat the same bad food. This perhaps reinforces my argument about superficiality. I would guess that in Pimlico there are more different languages spoken than in the whole of the continent of Australia. Also we know statistically that at least 40% of the population of London was born outside the UK, and for inner areas like Willesden or Pimlico this ratio is going to be higher.

Plus last time I was in Paris (two years ago) everyone spoke to me in English. I was trying to practice my French, but even buying tickets at the Comedie Francais they were saying “have a nice day”.

andrew, you’re probably right. i’m naive, have a superficial grasp on london, a narrow-minded view of the world and come from a place which is white, white, white. and anyway, language is a silly place from which to assess the merits of travel.

Pedantic point of infomation – the non white population of the UK as defined by the last census still stands at below 10% – that includes people who define themselves as being of mixed race.

The UK is a very white, essentially monocultural country. We Londoners should not fool ouselves otherwise – even if as of Sept 2005, 25% (not 40%) of the population were born outside the UK.

Hi Andy,

I lived and worked in Los Angeles for 6 months – and ever afterwards EVERY American I have met has told me LA is not the “real” America.

I lived and worked in Israel for 3 months.

I would never use this as an argument that I know what I am talking about.

I’m just saying that mass air transport is unsustainable and we need to consider alternatives and actually looking in your own back yard is a good alternative.

If anyone doesn’t believe me I am willing to lead a guided tour of Willesden for all interested parties.

Regards,
Andrew

I used to spend an inordinate amount of time in Leicester – one of the UK’s key Asian hubs – but having also spent quite a lot of time in India, I can tell you that whilst there’s some similarities in attitudes and culture, when you look under the superficial surface, you realise there’s a wealth of differences … and when you pass through different regions of that same country, you realise there’s even bigger differences in terms of attitudes, values, tastes and even religious beliefs.

I accept you can learn some stuff by looking around your personal World … I accept that many different cultures live in the UK … but to say this is enough to get an understanding of how other societies live and think is bordering on arrogance.

There’s way too much generalisation of other cultures … and often its bred on myth, legend and prejudice rather than fundamental facts … so I’ll happilly take your Willesden if you take my India, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Australia – you name it.

As for the business of airline sustainability – I agree with you, in its current guise it stands no chance – but I also think if the World ends up staying in their own back yards, there’s not much chance sustaining a positive humanity either.

I still think your argument is transportation based – because if there was a environmentally beneficial way for people to explore, I would imagine you would accept the benefits of international exploration [accepting you can still learn/see lots by walking around your own community]… am I right or are we completely at odds?

Why would you regret commenting Andrew except for the fact you are very quick to judge people you don’t know and might not like having a spirited response.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion and believe it or not, I am glad you have expressed it – but then so am I, and I think you’re making quite a few accusations that are neither justified or accurate.

Am I proud of all the flying I do?

In all honesty, yes and no.

Of course I like the fact that as part of my job, I get to see, meet experience interesting things and people – things and people I would never get to do if I was still living in Nottingham [which I am not claiming is good for society, that was what I think mass cultural exploration could achieve – though I waSN’T advocating ‘plane use’, I wasn’t advocating any transport actually] … but I do also hate the fact I travel so much and so often.

Is this because of personal and selfish reasons?

Yes, because I don’t like being away from my wife … but it’s also because I know – and have always known – it has a terrible impact on the World I live in. And whilst I am sure I could never achieve the dizzy heights of your environmental conciousness [or guilt] I do try and counter the damage I am doing through a number of environmental programs, of which I won’t bore you with because no doubt you’ll find some fault with them as well.

I don’t live in Australia. I used to and I spent much time travelling the country and meeting various people but you probably think I could of met an Aboriginal tribe at Nottingham’s Victoria Centre so no doubt you’ll think this is another example of my blatant disregard for the planet.

I know I could do things that are better … I know I am not perfect … I know there are wonderful things on my doorstep, things I’ve never discovered … but you know what, I also know there is great joy in exploration and discovery. The sort of exploration and discovery that 10 years watching the National Geographic channel [another client of mine] could never achieve and something I don’t think should only be available to the privalidged or the Alan Whickers of this World.

I appreciate there has to be some balance in all this – and I appreciate that I can/should improve it, given all the flying I do with for work – but if your attitude to society and culture is representative of someone who only stays in their own street, then you’re in danger of encouraging me to get on a plane even sooner.

I would be happy to have a proper conversation with you about this, either via email or better still, Skype … it’s up to you.

does everyone like the new mature me?

I’ve lived in Germany for well over 16 years now. That’s proper living and not “visiting regularly”. I have no English friends here, all my friends are German. With the exception of two companies I’ve always worked in German businesses. I married and divorced a German woman and my three daughters carry German passports (they do not carry UK passports). I speak German.

Now you would probably expect me to think of myself as somewhat of an expert on Germany and the Germans, and I suppose I know a thing or two, but you know what? I haven’t got a clue what makes them tick. 16 years of living in Germany has only really helped me to understand what it means to be English/British and why I probably will never live there again.

What I have also noticed about being a foreigner is that, when I visit another country, I spot the differences/similarities much quicker and I spot them in a different way. I may even be spotting different differences because I’m comparing them to other little things that I’ve noticed and picked up over the course of the last 16 years.

This was really helpful when I used to business travel.

Coming …

[that is not a euphamism]

you think thats dangerous. what about arnie. the daft fuckers probably think hes got a speech impediment.

they dont even know he used to make vauxhall fucking novas