Home is where my heart is – I love my home (although I’m desperately seeking a double-fronted like below), I love my friends and tribe, I love life and the privileges it affords me and I love my little piece of England, I even love my job. Home is all of that to me and somewhere I could never leave behind for long!
I thought I knew what home was but waking up on the 24th June and hearing that 52% of the UK voted to leave Europe I’m not entirely sure, in fact it is quite clear from the vote that 48% of us aren’t very in touch with the other 52% whose democratic vote we must now embrace and move forward with to ‘make Britain Great’ again, just sadly outside Europe… And with a potential breakup of the United Kingdom…
It has my heart
What is it about home in the UK though that has my heart, I’m not sure what exactly, there’s plenty and most of this can’t change with Brexit thank goodness…
when spring feels like its arrived and the bulbs flower
when suddenly summer arrives and our green and pleasant land is a stunner overnight
those very British summer events like Cowes Week, the polo or Wimbledon that we happily attend come rain or shine
to be honest even the smell of wet concrete and the need to carry an umbrella everywhere we go in every season
and the fact that we always wear woolly hats in the summer.
I also like our Britishness – the bunting, London 2012 (can we get that feeling back please soonest), the events to do with the monarchy, that we always assume we will win the tennis/football/rugby and then don’t. What made me feel particularly proud to be British last year was attending a friends naturalisation ceremony and realising just what our country stands for and how welcoming it is. Much as I love cities like Washington DC, Tel Aviv and Singapore, I wouldn’t swap my home being in England for the world!
I am fiercely proud to be British and of my Cornish and London heritage. I shed a tear when Charles referred to the Queen as ‘mummy’ at her Jubilee party and everyone cheered for the Duke of Edinburgh to get well soon. And then wept again when Andy Murray gave that terribly emotional speech after he lost at Wimbledon… But on the 24th June I was more saddened by my country than I could have expected, I can only imagine what the rest of the world thinks about the reasons people voted that way, I hope they are wrong. Que sera sera, now the powers that be (that’s when the political parties sort out their own mess) need to get us out of a potential pickle and all of us naysayers need to embrace something we didn’t see coming and put faith back in our democracy and policy setters… This may be harder said than done, especially since the day after (AFTER) the vote the 2nd most googled phrase in the UK is ‘what is the EU’…
It’s my back-yard
So I guess we’ll be spending more time at home while the £ de-rails, but thankfully our doorstep has a lot to offer and we should make more of it:
The Solent for sailing adventures
The New Forest for pub lunching, cycling and beaching
The South Downs for more of that good stuff, but with bigger hills and bigger views
Fancy Hotels like The Chewton Glen for drinks, lunch or glamorous stays
The Sailing Club for fun with friends
It’s really very lovely
Taking a break in the UK is simple (have car will travel), cheaper (no flights) and easier (no need to speak another language embarrassingly badly)… And there are some beautiful places and many more still to find…
Cornwall – my favourite place in the UK, sometimes wet but never for long, always stunning and such a fascinating place
The north coast of Norfolk that has big skies like nowhere else in the UK
Cumbria for fun days on the fells with sheep for company
London for work and for pleasure, the best city I know to walk and wander
Anglesey and Snowdonia to visit our friends and always find somewhere new and stunning to explore
Pembrokeshire for absolute remoteness
And how could I possibly forget that English Sparkling Wine continually beats the French in major competitions (and that its available in Waitrose or the Wine Society)…
Hopefully the brains in the city that hoped we would remain will build us a life outside Europe better than inside. One thing is for sure, my little island home just did something momentous and the years to come are going to be quite some ride!…
I’ve written this as part of the Travel Linkup with Angie, Jessi, Emma and Polly and we are thinking about home this month – have you visited anywhere and it’s sparked off such a strong feeling in you that considered moving there? Are you an expat, when and why did your new city start to feel like home? Have you ever moved somewhere completely new on a whim? What makes somewhere feel like home? People, places, food? Just pop your post up over the first week of the month (the 1st – 7th July 2016), add it to the link up widget found at the links above from the 1st. As ever there are no real rules – basically all we ask is that you check out some of the other cool bloggers that are involved in that months travel link up; tweet a few of the posts out to your followers that you think they will love and make a few comments here and there. It really is a great way to meet some new travel bloggers and share some blogging joy!
Aww, you just made me realise – again – why I love this country so much. It’s so proud and beautiful!
I also loved that speech by Charles and cringed when Muzza lost.
Honey x The Girl Next Shore
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It is easy to forget when there is so much angst and uncertainty! Still wouldn’t swap it!
Love this post Anna. I think sometimes an ever growing hate for the wet weather comes around every so often and you forget how beautiful the UK is. This post definitely summed up the best things about living here. Proud to be a British Citizen, even if we are out of the EU.
Aftab
Fresh And Fearless
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And that wet weather makes it look even better in the end… although all my roses are without petals currently thanks to torrential rain…!
Lovely post, Anna, on why UK feels like home to you and some amazing photos! Thanks for sharing them at #travellinkup
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Thanks Ahila!
lovely post!
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Thanks Tanja!
I love the UK so much! Funny how Brexit ended up being an inspiration for these posts.
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It was kind of a prompt, I’d written it before hand and DID NOT expect that result so had to change it around!! Honestly!!!
Love this little photo tour – and I just went to the mining village in Cornwall (in your photos) today!! Coincidence!
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Ah – isn’t it just beautiful there, I love the mines against the coast, there’s some on the south coast too!
Beautiful! And I agree I think that the British pagentry (sp?) is the best, and there will be never be an Olympics better than London – even though I thought that about Sydney :). The stoicism … What’s not to love ;). Sally
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I wish we were having the 2016 olympics here instead of in Brazil – it was the best summer, ever, fact!
Even though the UK is only tiny there is actually so much to see! I’ve lived here my whole life and have hardly seen any of it!
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There’s so much to see, I really don’t think we scratch the surface!
I have so much of the UK yet to explore. My mission this summer is to go to either Cornwall or Scotland. 🙂
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Plenty of ideas on here for Cornwall if you need ideas! I have been to Scotland twice in 35 years, shocking!!
I think sometimes that with Europe on our doorstep, poor old England gets a little forgotten… that’s said you manage to adventure through a lot of it!
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In a way it was nice to have a reminder on the 24th just how much of England and UK/GB we take for granted!
Momentous is the word! But I love all the different places in the UK you’ve spotlighted – you’re so right that there are many amazing experiences to be had right here 🙂
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I need to see more new stuff in the UK – we are repeaters here, always going back to where we know and love!
Hard to resist!