I fell in love with England at 10:32 AM on the 12th of October 2001. I arrived on a morning flight to visit a woman I had met six weeks earlier while hiking in Ireland. This was my second trip abroad, and my first to Britain.
The woman’s father met me at the airport (she was at work) and we took the train to their town. The train was the first of many experiences I found both surprising and pleasing. The carriages were small and well-used, unlike American trains that are mostly, well, non-existent. And the doors operated manually with handles on the outside only so, when we arrived at our station, we had to put the window down and reach outside to open the door.
We then took a short walk to their home, along a road lined with houses of a strange, though fetching, architecture, passed a chip shop, something called a DIY and turned onto a pedestrian path. This last item was so totally foreign to me I had to ask what it was. When it was explained to me that it was a path for people to walk on where cars could not go, I was hooked: I looked around and thought, “I could live here.”
This turned out to be a good thing. Within 24 hours, the woman I was there to visit became my fiancée and let it be known that moving to the US would not be her first choice (I found this very strange indeed as, up until then, I thought everyone wanted to live in America). So it didn’t take long for me to decide I would move over there.
I returned to Albany, New York–the area where I was born and grew up–quit my job, gave up my apartment, sold my car and, on the first of March 2002, landed once again in the United Kingdom, this time for good. I have never had occasion to regret this decision.
The journey since that time has been full of discoveries. The United Kingdom is a land of astonishing beauty, unimaginable antiquity and many, many fine pubs. It is rich in culture and infused with long-standing, and oft times bizarre, tradition. And it is an accessible place, where any destination can be reached within one day.
I may not have actually planned to move here, but I am glad I did. The passing of time has only deepened my affection for this green and pleasant land, and I am looking forward to sharing it with you.
View Larger Map
About Mike
British Pound Exchange Rate
Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dreams of traveling to the UK whenever we want a reality.
Welcome to Anglotopia, Mike!
I’m not surprised your wife did not want to come to America Mike. Ian’s grandparents have never met him because we could not afford to go over and his gran has no desire to come to the U.S. despite him. I was very young when I first arrived in the UK so I guess I’ve known for sometime now that America is not the be all and end all for the rest of the world as some of us would like to believe. Today I will say I am glad to be here to witness this historic day and I hope you get good coverage of events over there. I don’t doubt that you will. May I also say how brave you were to give everything up for someone you knew for only a few week. I like it when someone takes the bull by the horns and goes for it. Carpe diem, as they say!
Hi Melissa, I was sorry to miss the coverage. I was on the bus home during the swearing in and have been quite busy ever since so I have only seen portions of the speech. It was a good day for America, however.
Yes, yesterday was a particularly proud day. I can’t remember the last time I was actually proud of this country and felt something other than disdain for it. Its been a tough 8 years. Obama just has to show up and he’ll already be doing a better job. I hope Obama doesn’t dissppoint and I hope that we don’t as well.
Still dream of living in the UK though.