Things I miss about the UK
19 February
In 2014 I packed up my life in the UK and moved halfway around the world to Perth, Western Australia. There were a lot of things I wish I knew when we moved; I even wrote a blog post about what it’s really like moving to Australia but I didn’t realize how many little things I’d really miss about Britain, so here I am now writing a post all about it for you all.
001. Music festivals and gigs.
If
you grew up in the UK I’m pretty darn sure you’ll have gone to (or wanted) Reading
/ Leeds, Isle of White, Glastonbury, Radio 1’s big weekend, Bestival, Download,
Slam Dunk or some other big music festival. I also bet you’ll have spent a
chunk of your teenage years begging your parents to buy you tickets to McFLY/Alexisonfire/The spice girls for Christmas. There are of course festivals but
they don’t come close to what the UK has to offer. Music gigs also cost a
fortune and seem pretty rare; we only get super super super stars and they play
for 3 nights if we’re very lucky.
002. Proper English tea and
biscuits.
Is there a brit in the world who doesn’t take immense joy in dunking
a chocolate digestive in their cuppa of an evening? No, there is not. Of course
we have tea and chocolate biccies here they just don’t taste the same.
003. Chocolate.
They put stuff in
it to stop it from melting, and it just tastes horrible and waxy, also no Galaxy. Each year I wait desperately for the celebrations tubs to hit the
stores for a little Galaxy hit. Also, no Dairy Milk with Oreo, which is
possibly my all time favourite thing.
004. Tesco.
Whilst I have a lot of
love for the other British supermarkets I have a special place in my heart for
Tesco. I used to waste hours (normally mid late night study session) wondering
the aisles deciding if I wanted to buy shoes, clothes, CDs, DVDs, cameras, a new
mobile phone, food, beauty supplies, homewares or alcohol. I didn’t realise how
much I took this for granted, most stores here aren’t open 24/7 (in fact you’re
lucky out of the city centre to find one) and they pretty much just sell food,
it’s a whole other store for all the other bits!
005. Twitter.
Blogging here is so
so different to back home (that’s almost a whole other post), but one of the
things I miss most is using Twitter! Twitter almost feels forgotten in Australia
which is weird because I love using it to engage with readers and other
bloggers. There’s so few active on twitter and we don’t have any twitter chats, and can't take part in the UK ones due to time zone differences.
006. British Comedy.
Name your
favourite comedian. I bet it’s Lee Evans/Michael Macintyre/Sean Lock/Jimmy Carr/Peter Kay/Jack Whitehall/Noel Fielding, someone from the UK. We
don’t get their DVDs, they rarely tour Perth (and like music, when they do it’s
expensive!) and they’re never on TV (8 out of 10 cats does countdown anyone?!).
Have
you moved away from the UK at any point? What were the little things you
missed?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR | Hannah is the author of we are dannah, a lifestyle and travel blog written by a Brit living in Australia. The perfect blog to escape into, Hannah shares her thoughts and experiences of living on the other side of the world, with beautiful imagery that'll leave you lusting after the perfect beaches and peaceful waters that Hannah gets to explore. I'm often left with life-envy when reading we are dannah! You can also find Hannah on Twitter and Instagram @_HannahBC.
Hannah is one of my lovely guest bloggers helping out whilst I settle into life as a new mum! I hope you enjoyed Hannah's post on things she misses about the UK, it's certainly made me appreciate a lot of things we take for granted that we can easily get hold off or enjoy here in England. I for one am a huge fan of festivals and gigs, what about you?
30 comments
I moved over to Perth in 2014 and came back 2015 to the UK. I miss Perth so made, It funny as I never thought I would get home sick from my home in Australia. Now looking to go back out there. Tesco and Radiatores were things I missed alot.
ReplyDeleteLeonie ♥ Lo On The Go
I love that you put radiators on the list...what on earth did you want a radiator for hehe! xo
DeleteWas there a particular reason you decided to move back to the UK? xo
DeleteI'm a British expat living in France and, to be honest, I hate it! I miss the UK desperately. I miss being able to understand the culture, the language, etc. It's so hard being an expat.
ReplyDeleteAw no sorry to hear you're finding expat life hard Olivia! It definitely took me a good year + to start to feel settled :) xo
DeleteI hope it gets easier for you Olivia! xo
DeleteI was just going to start like "wait, you live in Australia?!" then I realised it was a guest post haha. I've always been fascinated by Australia, but could never take the plunge myself as I'm terrified of spiders and I'm a natural redhead so burn in the UK nevermind Australia!
ReplyDelete--
Pretty Mad Things .. x o
haha definitely a guest post! The spiders aren't that bad..I probably saw more in the UK that I do here ;)
DeleteHannah from
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
xo
Haha! Yup, I am definitely still living in the UK Courtney! Spiders are the reason why I couldn't make the move, and tbh are probably enough of a reason for me not to even go there on holiday. I'm terrified of them! xo
DeleteI live in the UK at the moment and I'm from Brazil. I could list many many things I miss haha
ReplyDeletePam xo/ Pam Scalfi♥
What DO you miss from Brazil?! I bet Steak is one and the sunshine hehe ;)
DeleteHannah from
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
xo
Ooooh, I love steak - is steak particularly good in Brazil or something?! I'd love to visit Brazil! xo
DeleteI live in Perth too! But I was born here so it doesn't really count :) I really want to move to the UK sometime, I love the culture and most of the things I love are British, I live for Noel Fielding and Misfits! 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown is also the best thing ever! xxx
ReplyDeleteLauren | Dose of Wardrobe
Ahhh no way, hey Lauren! Always AWESOME to meet other Perth bloggers! I am SO with you on Noel Fielding and 8 out of 10 cats. We should grab a coffee together some time :)
DeleteHannah from
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
xo
Have you ever visited the UK Lauren? xo
DeleteI love London and Australia really much! But with all the things that Hannah said I thing I'll have to go and take a plane to London right now haha
ReplyDeletewww.blossomikebana.com
They're both such amazing places to live, but sunshine wins every time for me!
DeleteHannah from
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
xo
London can be an amazing place to visit - especially in Spring and Summer! xo
DeleteI started reading this as you and got so flustered about missing the info on you moving Down Under!
ReplyDeletePersonally I don't think I could move that far across the world; much as there are gripes here in the UK it's home and I'd miss so many little things far too much.
x
winterxlife.blogspot.com
It definitely wasn't easy!
DeleteHannah from
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
xo
Ha, I am still in the UK! :) I think I agree with you there - the only place I would realistically move to is Cyprus, but that's also 'home' so wouldn't be as hard I don't think, and certainly not as far xo
DeleteI can't imagine my life without a good old british festival ft. wellies and lots of mud! There's something magical about it, somehow.
ReplyDeleteYou have to come back for them hehe
Lizzy | by Lizzy x
UK festivals are SO magical...seriously nothing compares!
DeleteHannah from
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
xo
Festivals and mud just makes me think of Download... or should we say, Brownload!! xo
DeleteI'm Italian and I've been living in UK for the past 6 years. Funnily enough I don't miss 'home' at all as I think of the UK as my home now :) But it took me a while to go from tourist/lost puppy to feeling settled. And I totally understand your love for Tesco haha
ReplyDeleteCreepers & Cupcakes
Ahh I never knew you were Italian Kris- you live in Bournemouth where I'm from originally right?! My dads side of the family are italian :)
DeleteHannah from
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
xo
I'd love to visit Italy :) xo
DeleteYup, at first I thought it was you and I was wondering, when did you move to Australia and I just realised. It's a guest post. Silly me. Anyway, love this post and I only visited both UK and Australia once but there's tesco in my country so I totally understand about it. xo
ReplyDeletehttp://www.marsyajauzi.blogspot.my/
Haha good old tesco! Where are you from Marsya?!
DeleteHannah from
We are Dannah | Australian lifestyle blog
xo
Would love to know where you are from Marsya - and don't worry, lots of people thought I had moved to Australia secretly! xo
Delete