Backstory

(Where the author waxes nostalgic about his time living in Britain as a young man.)

It seems so long ago now -- the mid-1980s.  Those three years when I lived on an island called Britain were the most exciting of my life.  I had grown-up on a different kind of island called Kansas City, which is an island in the sense that you have to travel very far to get anywhere really worth seeing. My family did no travelling and I stayed in town for college, so I didn't finally get off that island until after graduation when I joined the Air Force.  It seemed like I was really venturing out when my first assignment was in Tampa, but that was nothing compared to my next assignment in England.  It's like a whole 'nother country there!

I lived in Basingstoke which isn't a particularly interesting place in itself but is surrounded by many incredible places just within a short drive.  In my free time I could jump into my car and drive in any direction and quickly stumble upon castles, stately homes, cathedrals, ancient ruins and beautiful landscapes.  The English Channel and London were both only an hour away and the rest of the country was chock-full of regions that each had their own unique character.  I spent as much of my free time as I could exploring and took an entire month just before returning to the states to make one last grand tour.

I had intended to return frequently to Britain but I had only managed to go back once in 1994.  Marnie and I got married in '98 and I've been telling her ever since how I would someday take her there.  But year after year various complications prevented us from finding at least two weeks that we were both free. Finally we decided we would make it happen in June 2013 and this is my journal of that trip.