To think England is a bit boring?

Do you live in a small town in Suffolk by any chance Savingthehedgehogs? 😄

(It sounds lovely!)

Sorry, it's just you sounded like my retired dad complaining about his busy exhibition and concert diary!

No why? I am very much a working person with dc 😂

Are you retired?

We have live music every weekend too, festivals in the summer, and a great itinerary of lit and art festivals. I have problems fitting everything in!

I really can not understand posts like this. After decades overseas there aren’t many places that compare to the variety of activities in the uk, especially in the winter.

Our beautiful market town has a theatre, cinema, bowling, horse riding, shopping, a cookery school, sailing, water sports, tennis and very cool wine bars. We take a train to London at the weekend which is a world city, and to Paris a few times a year.

I can’t fathom how you can be bored, however the thing that makes my life really happy are my friends, I guess you might not have any/many anymore and it is impacting you.

There is nothing more spectacular than a ride or walk through the forest in autumn. It’s genuinely amazing. It sounds like you have some deep rooted issues - definitely a perception issue.

Why not move back overseas?

@Mydogsleftearishalfcocked yep we do- the fact is that the previous gvt pissed away over £300 billion on a Brexit that serves no particular purpose and was designed to keep Reform votes down and didn't work and split their vote anyway because it starved the country of cash and actual governing - plus horrendous amounts of cash spent and a total lack of any governance related to covid expenditure.

We are now in a position where there is a will to improve things generally but very very large holes in the public purse

There are far too many illogical things too- the cost of renting ( particularly private renting) has meant for many on lowish incomes it doesn't actually pay to work full time , particularly if you have children - we also have a whole bunch of disillusioned folk in their 50s too getting out of the rat race early cashing in pensions, drawing down on equity ( and I don't blame them by the way) and the country is losing their tax and NI contributions as well

It's a whole raft of stuff and it feels like a country that has lost its way- personally if I was Labour and they could agree decent terms I would be seeking a Norway type deal asap at minimum - it would be a quick boost to the economy and ok the right wing press would have a field day but the fact is what we have isn't making economic sense

England is so rich in history and culture its surprising how much you can miss it when you live abroad

the bigger cities and particularly London are so diverse

I feel as we are building more shipping centres or those out of town shopping areas they lack interest

but life can be boring at times doesn't help with short days and the winter months ahead of us

I live in England and I can't honestly remember the last time that I felt bored. I can't remember these last time that my kids said the same thing either,and we live very rurally,with not even a shop or pub.I suppose if your hobby is shopping,seeing the same shops on each high st might be a bit samey.
It's horses for courses. The thought of spending my time shopping,at a craft group or doing yoga would send me screaming,but I wouldn't call them boring though.

This thread is a prime example of MN being a negative place!

I live in Cumbria @Crikeyalmighty - we get our fair share of miserable days but I don't let them ruin the good ones!

Not RTFT but came on to say that I don't find England boring at all, and where I live - London - is one of the greatest cities on earth.

However we are in a bit of a rubbish place right now - stagnant wages, confusion about identity etc. - and so I, like so many people I know, am emigrating very soon.

I'll definitely miss London!

It depends where you live... London absolutely not! Cornwall heck yeah, most boring place on earth

I was trying to say exactly the same thing Crikeyalmighty!

I meant past leadership really but obviously the current one hasn’t had much time to prime itself!

• *I think we agree with one another!

I would add on the plethora of Arts,( theatre, music and galleries) often free museums, history, outdoor pursuits etc. some great places to eat and of course the amazing British pub culture, what else do you want? What do you actually want to do? If you give us a rough area of where you live I’m sure we can help

I would also say when people find somewhere boring ( and I find plenty of the UK a bit of a dump if I'm honest both urban and rural ) but other areas excellent in varying ways - What is it you actually want to be doing that you can't do - it pays to have a think about this - because if it's that you want BBQs on the beach/lying around on beaches- you will struggle in the UK with that most of the year- it's rare we get long spells of beach worthy weather
If you want lots of food/theatre/ book/music festivals going on you need to be living somewhere that has plenty of this year round and be reading the 'what's on' locally

If it's just you think the high street isa bit boring- move somewhere that at least has a smattering of independents, and regular street markets be it craft/artisan etc - there are still places like this

If it's that you simply don't know anyone to be able to have a social life- use meet ups - don't let one crappy event put you off . Your feelings could well change if it's the social connection you are missing

Sorry about the weather though- it is I agree mainly utter pants

Luckily I don’t look to going shopping for my sense of excitement, cultural interest, etc etc.

England (and the whole UK ) are great. Huge range of history and culture, starkly contrasting landscapes within a relatively small area, quirky, eccentric, tolerant people (and others, obv). World beating theatre, galleries and museums all over the place (and so much free).

Hop on a train at St Pancras and keep going… cheap flights all over the place.

Weather’s a bit shit but we have appropriate clothing for that.

Find your mojo op, sort out what’s going on for you, get out there and enjoy it, and you might feel less isolated.

😂

I present BoatyMcBoatFace as another great example.

@MonkeyToHeaven 😂😂😂

How can you think a country that's voted Ant and Dec as their favourite TV hosts 20 years in a row could be boring?

Mmm i don't think this is my experience. I'm from northern England and I love in the south now and both communities were lovely with loads going on. I think I have a very varied life with activities and lovely people.... I don't mind the weather to be honest... I think I'd find 40 degree summers really tough.

You are talking about England specifically but mention only the general 'abroad' - in which countries did you live abroad?

I’ve travelled far and wide and in my opinion England is the best place on Earth and I consider myself very lucky to call it home.

Even if all the shops were the same (which they are in city centres) this is quite common across the whole of the developed world. Many towns have lots of independent shops though.

The English countryside is exquisite and it has some of the best coastline in the world. due to its size you are never that far away from either in England.

Our weather is changeable but not extreme , the plentiful rain is an asset, it provides us with fertile land. We don’t get extreme weather events on any major or regular scale such as droughts or hurricanes - this is good.

British culture is generally more reserved on the face of it, but actually something totally different beneath the surface, it’s got a cheekiness and intelligent humour behind it. People not brought up with it need to make a bit of an effort to understand it. Generally people are as friendly to you as you are to them.

Moving anywhere new takes a lot of effort to understand what is actually on offer and the idiosyncrasies of the people.

So you live in a particular spot that doesn’t have many activities? That’s the issue maybe?