I’ve been back just over a week now and It’s been tough getting back into a routine. Knowing that the Sibirsky Extreme Project trundles on makes it all the harder.
It is hard to drive a desk having covered over 5000 miles and 23 countries in just over two weeks in the saddle. It changes you. You don’t look at things the same way.
Since getting back I have noticed that people in the UK obsess and stress over the most trivial of things. The country is positively anal when it comes to safety. Unlike the rest of the world you can’t have a light switch or power socket in a bathroom. When did you hear of anyone dying of electrocution because they 2 pins on their plugs instead of 3?
The country also feels like a Fortress. You can travel freely across Europe and even the former republics of Yugoslavia have less intimidating border controls compared to the UK. This country is CCTV obsessed and only this week Jacqui Smith wants to monitor all Internet usage of the entire population… Doesn’t China and Iran do something similar? I thought I had left a free country but clearly not.
I didn’t intend this to be a rant about blighty but its hard to ignore the fact that our quality of life in the UK is so much worse than that of our continental neighbours.
Longer working hours, less holidays, poor health care, poor transport systems, feral youth culture and a crippled economy. It’s enough to make you want to get back on the bike and keep on riding!
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Sam // Apr 28, 2009 at 20:02
I have to agree with you. We have a strange old country here we really do. We are not allowed to take any risks and learn for ourselves – everything must be regulated. I find myself being forced to worry and stress about – in the grand scheme of things – pointless things daily in my job and quite frankly it’s soul destroying.
Next time you are going for a trip, let me know and I’ll tag along
2 admin // Apr 29, 2009 at 23:19
Don’t get me wrong I think the UK is a great place and is as varied and interesting as anywhere I have visited but I feel the country has lost it’s way and peoples priorities are not where they should be.
Soul destroying is exactly right Sam.
You are definitely top of the list on the next trip Sam. It might be sooner rather than later if the swine flu takes off. I hear Siberia is pretty empty this time of year
I’ve heard that swine flu is a pig to get rid of…
3 Sam // Apr 30, 2009 at 16:33
Well I am in the early stages of planning a little jaunt around the northern most reaches of Europe if you’re interested
I’m thinking Denmark, Norway, Sweden (up as far as the arctic circle, Finland, a dip into Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and back into Denmark for the boat home. Need to do some research – particularly in terms of weather conditions in the most northerly places – and it won’t happen until next Spring/Summer. Plenty of time to plan properly
4 Sam // May 5, 2009 at 20:27
Hey Jon, drop me an email as I’d like to talk to you a bit more about the above trip idea. I am anxious to get something organised for next year….
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