Travelling post-pandemic has been a welcome reminder
I am currently doing this weird thing called travelling abroad. People used to do it all the time, but it has fallen out of favour the last couple of years for some reason.
Being something of a contrarian, I went from sunny Thailand to London. In March. I hadn’t left Thailand since 2019, so I had forgotten about things like ‘cold weather’ and ‘drizzle’. I had occasionally travelled up north in Thailand during winter, but didn’t venture to the far northern mountains where it can be genuinely chilly.
Instead, I had mistakenly thought 23 Celsius in Chiang Mai was preparation for the UK in Spring. After all, the Spring is when the flowers bloom and animals come out of hibernation and so on.
I was wrong. England is bloody freezing. And I mean that literally – on Friday it will dip into the minus.
There are some huge positives to this travelling malarkey
The main reason for coming back was to see family and friends, and that is always nice.
Also, as a Londoner, I miss the place. There is so much to do. Bangkok is great, but when it comes to seeing art, music, comedy, theatre, etc., London is the best. We have already been to see world-leading art, live music, and an incredible exhibition about Stonehenge, and so on. On tomorrow we will see a Francis Bacon exhibition followed by Hamilton at the theatre.
The actual travel part was pretty easy too, as the UK seems to have decided en masse to say ‘bollocks to Covid’ and pretend like it is done. Compared to Asia, it is shocking how only around 1 in 50 seem to wear masks. And I think that might be an exaggeration, it might be more like 1 in 100.
As a consequence of this mindset, landing in the UK was free of all restrictions. Nothing. It was like it was 2019 all over again.
The world is opening up again and I can’t wait to get out there
I have missed travelling more than anything else. I am both massively social when I’m out, but am also a hermit. I love meeting people but am happy to stay in for days at a go. So, lockdowns are fine. But going to other countries and exploring was a sad thing to lose.
I have only gone from a city where I live – Bangkok – to a city where I used to live – London – but it has still been a stark reminder of what we have lost with the world shutting down. I am aware that air travel is shit for the planet, but I do try and offset it and ideally travel by train or boat when viable. I once took the train from London to Rome, stopping along the way, and it was one of the best journeys I have ever taken.
The world is starting to open up and I can’t wait to get out and see more of it. My current concern is that Thailand is being somewhat reticent about dropping entry restrictions and they adore paperwork. Hopefully, it will continue to get easier – not just there but everywhere.
The clouds have just cleared slightly and the temperature has shot up to around 8C, so I will take this opportunity to go outside. There are even rumours the sun might come out and I will celebrate with real ale and a steak pie. I love exotic travel.
