Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

How did everyone do on their first visit back?

We are going back for the first time this weekend.

We are landing at Heathrow in a few days. I think I will have forgotten how much traffic there is and marvel at the green grass.

I expect very much mixed feelings whilst being there and coming back. I am wondering whether the homesickness hits after the first visit or whether I will just be plain desperate to get back. I think a bit of both.

How did you lot get on?

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Can't remember. Sorry.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

I remember my son turned to me and said, "It's nice to hear the English voices, isn't it?"

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

I've been back 3 times. First 2 trips were for 8 days. What a whirlwind of catching up with everyone!

Thought the streets were really busy. I rent a car.
Enjoyed the wide range of food choices.
Enjoyed shopping
Hated the squacking seagulls day and night. .
Felt a bit like a stranger in my own city. I now live in a small town and am used to seeing lots of people I know when out and about. That doesn't happen in a large city so I felt like an outsider.
Felt a bit overwhelmed by all the new buildings and store changes the first time I went home after 2.5 years
Thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful architecture

Third trip home was for 21 days. I felt quite at home after a couple of weeks.

I haven't felt homesick although I do miss family and friends. Felt ok about flying back to NS. I intend going home fairly regularly and I am fine with that :)

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

I'm sat in YVR now, waiting for my first flight back. After 9 years, I'm not expecting much. Older faces. Fatter bellies.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Have you packed a mirror?

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

No need. I'm just reciting my OH. She's very perceptive.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

First time back was hard but we hadn't been here long. I remember looking forward to a bacon butty and then being disappointed in the taste. A few things disappointed but the lushness of all those greens was memorable. Even the road from Gateick looked pretty.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

I haven't been back yet but somebody I know who went back after quite a few years told me that the UK was like a lovely place he once knew but in miniature.

Small roads, small houses, small cars, small parking spaces, small shops and small fields. I will be interested to experience that when I eventually go back.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

First time back, the things I noticed were:

• The cars seem to drive a lot faster
• I enjoyed being able to flash my headlights at people and it meant something!
• people on the motorway had *some* lane discipline and the ability to merge properly
• Narrower roads with bends
• Everyone walking around the town centre had miserable faces
• The grass was really green, and I mean REALLY green
• It sounded weird to hear English accents
• Everyone, and I mean everyone, wanted to see us - we couldn't fit everyone in as it snowed and we got stuck at my Mum's for about four days!
• No homesickness - didn't feel anything on that front at all really. Just that it was nice to visit but we were still getting settled in Canada at the time.

We are going back this summer for the first time in nearly five years. :eek: Some of my closest relatives haven't met my two kids yet (partly due to the snowed in incident last time round!) I'm wondering if it will be more of the same. This time we are going for three weeks and I'm still finding it hard to get round everyone! One thing I am really looking forward to is being able to take the kids up to London to see some "proper culture" and down to the coast for a bit of good ol' bucket and spade fun!

Have a great time - just enjoy the experience as a "visitor" (if you can!)

Edit: Almost forgot to mention that every time I got in the car it was the wrong side!

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Have some curries and all will be right with world. :D

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Enjoy the fact that when you purchase an item and take to the till: the price you see on the label is the actual price you pay at the cash desk!

Enjoy buying your booze in supermarkets!

Two things I know I am going to enjoy after I have been in Canada a trip home :)

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

A piece of advice....

Don't try to see absolutely everyone you want to see or that wants to see you. Otherwise you spend your time in a frantic whirlwind of travel/visits/socialising and will need another vacation when you get back to Canada. It can also be very stressful. Better to see the key family/friends that you want to see and accept that some people you just wont be able to catch up with. We also used to say to friends "We'll be in such and such pub at such and such a time, hope you can come out for a pint/food/catch up if you can make it". That usually worked well.

Aside from that and not crying when you walk around Tesco/Waitrose/M&S Food halls, have a good time;)

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Yes its a good idea about the pub/restaurant meet-up otherwise its exhausting.

I got the shock of my life at my old local Tesco - they had added a full size top floor and nearly all the cashiers were Polish with more than a hint of Aberdonian accent :rofl:

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

We've always done the meet up at a pub thing. Doesn't stop people wanting to meet up individually still, but there's never enough time to get to everyone.

Enjoy the half price Easter eggs next week ;)

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Across the river from Haudagain roundabout?

Haven't been back yet, but terrified myself the other day by getting up to the same speed on a highway that I used to happily do on a country lane, so I'm not looking forward to the driving. Ridiculous really.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Things that struck me were how green and pleasant it is in April, with hedgerows in bloom and the like.

Then we landed and I was struck by the fact that far too many people are crammed on that island, and that I much prefer the superficial if insincere polite customer service experience of Canada over the UK customer experience of clearly inconveniencing employees from having to pause from texting their girlfriend or whoever to serve me.

The expense of eating out as a family was an eye opener, but conversely the cost of supermarket basics was much cheaper and an eye opener too. Driving was much improved though by the use of average speed cameras, I was surprised by how disciplined drivers seemed to be now regarding speeding on the motorways.

Glad to visit and see family and friends, and experience some history and beautiful green scenery, but glad to leave again too.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Yes the dreaded Haudagain :eek: If you are driving you will notice the parking spaces are so tiny!

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Another thing that was blatantly obvious when home was the 1000s of CCTV cameras watching your every move. Also, bank cashiers are behind glass. I remember being very surprised to walk into an open-plan bank here in NS.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

I've been here 4 years now and about to go back for my 4th visit in June.

The thing that always gets me is how foreign the accent sounds now, I find myself actively listening. After about a week or so back this disappears but in the meantime its very strange.

Oh and also CHOCOLATE & SAUSAGES.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

I do remember my local bank back home being "open plan" back in N.Ireland until relatively recently. These days it's a lot of talking through tiny gaps in perspex.

As you say cameras are everywhere back home including in neighbourhoods. There are quite a few military/government intelligence programs that have always operated in N.Ireland so it was "always there". I'm just about old enough to remember when you couldn't really enter the middle of Belfast without "going through the gates" (example) nor could you get near the airport without having your car x-rayed and searched.

Here there seems to be a distinct lack of surveillance. Which is nice I guess.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

My trips back are just drunken blurs that involve a few Cornish pasties, Sun Newspapers and a good portion of Fish with real Chips. If I can squeeze in a Spurs game they are optimized.

Oh and I also pick up as much decent spray deodorant as I can.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

You mean you don't like AXE? :rofl:

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Hadagain roundabout :lol: sorry my hubby is fae the deen, haven't heard that in years

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

My first visit back was 7 years ago and I hadn't even done a full year here! I had a major bout of homesickness in September 06 (6 months in) after my parents visited and left saying "don't know when we will be back" :(

I had injured my knee a couple of weeks before flying back which threw all my plans into chaos! I was on crutches and in a buttload of pain which made for a very uncomfortable flight, however I was still really excited to be going back, until I was held in a holding pattern over LHR for half an hour. It was then that all the memories of why I left in the first place started to surface.

Woman at LHR who met me a wheelchair couldn't be less interested in me and a couple of times almost rammed my bad leg into door frames as she was too busy talking on her mobile to pay attention. I walked back to my dad's car as I wanted out of the chair as quickly as possible.

The weather seemed very dull and grey - it was January though. The parking spaces seemed tiny, I wanted to get in the wrong side of the car all the time, you seem to drive everywhere really fast, people would not make allowances for the fact I was hobbling around on crutches and expected me to move when I was out and about, it was actually colder a couple of days back there than it was in Calgary and the fact that BA had threatened strike action actually made me realize I wouldn't mind staying indefinitely......

I was happy to come home to Calgary; I was signing paperwork for a new house while in the UK, so I had that to look forward to, but I hadn't got over my home sickness and little did I know it would take me until 2012 to actually start feeling properly at home here.

Enjoy your visit, eat lots of curries and fish & chips, go to pubs and remember you have to actually go up to the bar to order your drinks, marvel at how crowded the place is, how small the cars/house/beds etc are, see people but don't do all the running around, make them come to you to. Your trip back will likely not feel like a holiday, but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Aye but that just increases the chances of a shoot-out between the robbers and the security guard before being taken hostage and then having pizza delivered.

:rofl:

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Ditto on the deodorant used to come back with enough to last 6-8 months..would over indulge on things like nice Indian takeaway..driving a manual car...sitting in a beer garden etc...never got homesick as i have moved around all my life

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Totally agree with this...but its hard to execute, I find it hard to say no to people, and I hate the thought of people thinking Ive snubbed them, but none of them really know what the pressure and stress your under when you visit.

Ive been back 3 times in almost 5 years, the last time was Christmas 2012, although there were bits of that I enjoyed, I said I would never go back on my own again....it was just way to stressfull, exhausting and being single too expensive (if I wanted to do it right...with car hire and hotel room etc) last time to keep costs down I was relying on public transport, or anyone that would give me a ride, and sleeping on couches and even floors at friends houses! Not willing to do that again, its their turn to come and see me.

The only way I would go back for a visit now, is with a future girlfriend or a couple of Canadian friends, as this would drastically reduce the cost, and this way I could say im showing whoever this or doing that with whoever, and it would be up to my friends to join me in what im doing.... a bit like what you said we will be in a certain pub at a certain time if you can make it etc....everyone saves face then.

My overall feeling about being there was a bit like id never been away, but at the same time didn't feel like I belonged there either! Very strange.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Here in UK right now on a visit. Certainly no homesickness and no thoughts about moving back. Seeing family, especially older members who are having health issues and new babies is a great bonus and main point of the trip.

Shops are crowded, streets are busy, most roads are busy and speed limits seem to have gone down all over the place. Many local roads i used to travel on are down to 30mph and school zones 20mph, when you do get a 40 or even 50 stretch its so short it seems pointless.
Cars are all small hatchbacks and people drive faster (where they can) but seem to adhere to limits probably because of the abundance of cameras and speed traps. Merging and roundabout discipline is excellent compared to Canadians but noticed lots of horn blowing, impatient drivers pulling out or pushing in without much warning. As in BC i noticed lots of people staring at their crutches whilst in traffic and a few blatant cell phone users too.

Prices to me seem more expensive than i remember especially as the exchange rate isn't favourable when changing dollars to pounds. I keep looking at a basic 10 pound T shirt in Tesco or Primark and thinking that's close to $20 in fact most things seem to be same in pounds as they are in dollars, even wine which i considered to be expensive in BC is not much different now, a bottle of Shiraz in supermarket was 5 pounds which is just over $9 at current exchange rate so no real difference at all.

Having a car has been great and soon got used to the driving again and we are able to see different people easier, its also a small hatchback and very very good on fuel and easy to park in the small spaces.

Getting stuck in a massive jam on M25 reminded me of all i hated about driving here then cruising around some twisty empty back lanes reminded me its not all bad. Pot holes seem to be everywhere and everyone moans about them and round every corner is another temporary traffic light and some construction happening so you never know when your journey is going to be rudely interrupted by a queue of some sort.

All in all i have enjoyed it and would do it again when we can afford it but Britain as a tourist is way better than living here for me anyway.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

...All 29 of these

http://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/th..._medium=social

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

We are going back in May. This will be our first trip back that doesn't involve a funeral or a last something before a death, so it's going to be very different to prior trips. We will visit some key people, other than that we want basically see if the UK should be our home or wether we have moved on, we've timed our trip to coincide we some days out we used to enjoy and reminisce about.

We will be surprised by green, traffic, speed and crowds as well as English voices. We will see if a donner from the Silver Jubilee in Potters Bar is still yummy and partake in testing various other foodstuffs, I will endeavour not to burst into tearsbin Tesco in the cake aisle as I did 2 years ago much to my sister amusement:rofl: we will go to the seaside and London. Hopefully I'll be relieved when its time to come home;)

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

:blink: Your BC wine must be cheap. (don't mean that in a cheap and nasty way:))

Just took a look at Sainsburys. There are a lot of reds for £5 or £6 that I'd be happy to drink but they're a minimum $15 here. :eek:

Jacob's Creek Shiraz £6 but $15 here according to the price list. I'm sure I've not seen it that "low" here before or else I'd have bought some.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

$10/$12 dollars here in New Zealand. Cheap by NZ standards.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

My McDonalds exchange rate / cost of living indicator is Cellier de Dauphin Cote de Rhone, $12 in Ontario, 3 euro (C$ 4.50) in France.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Loving this thread! Keep it up :p

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

Damn. Makes me proud to be British.

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

:rofl::rofl:

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

That why I said earlier: buying your booze in supermarkets!!!

My dream would be to find somewhere in Canada (when I am there) selling a big bottle of kingfish, tiger and cobra beer and get all 3 bottles for the same exchange rate as a £5!

I love that deal!

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

I haven't really thought of a reason to go back yet that's compelling enough to shell out the cash! Family that matter seem to want to come here on a fairly regular basis. The rest....meh.....

Re: Thoughts on first visit back to Blighty
 

That sums it up nicely. The first of our visitors start arriving next week..... A steady stream of them until September!