What travel has taught me about home

During my holidays, I often begin to appreciate home comforts more. Being in a foreign country with a different culture, climate, and environment makes me realise just how good we have it here in the UK.

One of the biggest things I appreciate about the UK, especially when on a summer holiday, is the weather. I never thought I’d say this, but the rainy, mild, muggy summers we get are actually a welcome escape from the hot Mediterranean (other hot places also apply). I vividly remember being on holiday in these hot places unable to do anything during the day due to the sheer intensity of the heat.

One time, in Cyprus, I saw temperatures reach over 40°C! Too hot to even leave the air-conditioned sanctuary of our hotel. My holidays end up being just camping in the hotel or being in the sea or pool all day until night-time when the temperature cools down a bit and I can finally go out. But by then, all the attractions have closed for the day. So, unless you want to brave the scorching hot weather and do a very sweaty exploration of the area, you will just have to accept that you will not visit all the sites of a hot country.

Again, what seems like a little thing, is massively missed when you go to a busy non-UK area.

I unfortunately decided to explore Barcelona in this terrible heat. I was walking around in the burning sun visiting the sites, such as the Camp Nou stadium and the Sagrada Família. The heat was unbearable. Although the sites were amazing, I was just hunting for the closest bits of shade to try and get out of the sun.

At least in the UK, you never get this issue. For instance, just this week I was able to enjoy exploring the Peak District without any sort of heat-related issues. Back home, you can go out during the day without a hat, sunglasses and sun cream. A privilege that I truly miss when exploring foreign, hot countries.

Another big thing I miss when travelling abroad is the UK’s queuing culture. Again, what seems like a little thing is massively missed when you go to a busy non-UK area. Rather than queuing, what I tend to see is a massive hoard of people, bustling to try to get to the front of what seems to just be an unorderly laid out waiting system. I saw this the most in Cyprus, but I know that this lack of queuing also exists in other countries like Turkey or India. I am too compliant to complain when someone cuts in front of me in a queue, so I just let it happen. At least back home, I’d never have to worry about this. I think in general, the UK just seems to be more respectful than other countries that I visit.

Even with other things, like driving, I find that drivers abroad are less likely to say thank you to you if you let them out in front of you and are just generally less likely to help you out if you are trying to merge lanes for example. I also find drivers are more aggressive abroad – driving rather more erratically. I miss the little hand gesture to say thank you or the flash of the hazard lights when you let a car go ahead. I long for not having to stress about what other cars are doing on the road, and when I can just mind myself when driving.

Now this may seem like a wild one, but I have tried many bakeries abroad especially when I travelled to Scandinavia, and nothing comes close to a Greggs’ sausage roll.

A final thing that I miss from home when abroad is our food. Now, most people will think our food is boring and beige. And yes, I agree, I don’t miss our fish and chips or anything like that. What I really miss is our Greggs. Now this may seem like a wild one, but I have tried many bakeries abroad especially when I travelled to Scandinavia, and nothing comes close to a Greggs sausage roll (other bakery items from Greggs are available). Even my grandparents who live abroad admit that they would swap their local bakery chain for a Greggs in a heartbeat. But it is not even just the Greggs that I miss, I miss our quality Indian and Chinese takeaways and restaurants. I have tried these before in foreign countries, but again, the quality doesn’t even come close to the British equivalent.

So, I guess the more I think about it, the more I do miss the UK when abroad. I could have included lots of little things that I don’t really think about too often and probably take for granted that I miss when I am abroad. A classic example of this is drinkable tap water – you don’t understand just how much you miss this until you don’t have it. But for the sake of this, I’ve tried to limit myself to some big things I miss. I know the weather is a controversial one, but I do actually miss it when I am in a hot country. And I don’t think you can beat the UK’s culture, especially around driving – I just think the UK seems to be so polite. And again, the food is another controversial one, but when I go abroad, I do just end up missing my home comforts. But this list is very personal, and I imagine everyone has different things they miss about home when they are abroad. What sort of things do you miss?