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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
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Are they becoming more and more like city slickers? Especially as the line gets blurred: more wealthy city dwellers who buy 'escapes' in the country or even buy a nice country property within commuting distance of their place of work. To an Australian, the UK is absurdly small, and even the most remote country village is within close distance to a sizable city or town. The young people can't help but be influenced by city life and the media.
Is it getting rarer to find these traditional ways in rustic landscapes, and old-fashioned attitudes in the country?
Like the Kinks 'Village Green Preservation Society', sadly it seems the England of old is fading away to be a thing of the past.
Are they becoming more and more like city slickers? Especially as the line gets blurred: more wealthy city dwellers who buy 'escapes' in the country or even buy a nice country property within commuting distance of their place of work. To an Australian, the UK is absurdly small, and even the most remote country village is within close distance to a sizable city or town. The young people can't help but be influenced by city life and the media.
Is it getting rarer to find these traditional ways in rustic landscapes, and old-fashioned attitudes in the country?
Like the Kinks 'Village Green Preservation Society', sadly it seems the England of old is fading away to be a thing of the past.
There are still remnants of old England left if you care to take a bit of a drive into the countryside. You can still find sleepy villages, patchwork fields and quaint country pubs. The beauty of the UK is that still. to this day, it's not so hard to find (unless that's changed in the last decade?).
The UK is small, but the funny part is that it doesn't feel like that. I prefer to use the term "accessible". The US is vast in comparison, but that kind of "escapism" here seems harder to find, unlike the UK where you can just park your car anywhere and go for a random picnic or random walk, even at 1am.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonborn
There are still remnants of old England left if you care to take a bit of a drive into the countryside. You can still find sleepy villages, patchwork fields and quaint country pubs. The beauty of the UK is that still. to this day, it's not so hard to find (unless that's changed in the last decade?).
The UK is small, but the funny part is that it doesn't feel like that. I prefer to use the term "accessible". The US is vast in comparison, but that kind of "escapism" here seems harder to find, unlike the UK where you can just park your car anywhere and go for a random picnic or random walk, even at 1am.
I lived in a country town of 2,000 that was kind of 'English' like, three hours south of Perth. It was about the distance London is from Manchester, yet there were no major cities in between.
Perth to Adelaide is similar to going from San Francisco to Chicago. Imagine if the entire western 2/3rds of the US had one metropolitan area with more than a million people. The isolation of Perth is just ridiculous.
I think it depends on which part of the UK you're in. There are still some extremely remote areas that don't have easy access to the "big city" and continue a lifestyle that doesn't seem to have changed much in the past 50+ years. Just visit the Scottish Highlands, parts of northern Wales, East Anglia or the northeast.
I lived in a country town of 2,000 that was kind of 'English' like, three hours south of Perth. It was about the distance London is from Manchester, yet there were no major cities in between.
Perth to Adelaide is similar to going from San Francisco to Chicago. Imagine if the entire western 2/3rds of the US had one metropolitan area with more than a million people. The isolation of Perth is just ridiculous.
Difference is, if you worked in Manchester, you could still live in a country village just an hour commute away and you'd feel like you were in a different world than the city.
That's the beauty of the UK and the rest of Europe, IMO.
The distances between Australian cities look nuts! Perth looks so isolated.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by chilaili
I think it depends on which part of the UK you're in. There are still some extremely remote areas that don't have easy access to the "big city" and continue a lifestyle that doesn't seem to have changed much in the past 50+ years. Just visit the Scottish Highlands, parts of northern Wales, East Anglia or the northeast.
Remote in terms of accessibility? Even the most remote parts of the Highlands or North Wales doesn't seem too inaccessible, let alone far from a city.
I live in a state that is 10 times the size of the UK, 20 times the size of England, where perhaps 80% of the state is literally empty. You can go from Eucla, in the south, to Kunnunurra in the far north, and not cross a single sealed road. There is literally not even a TOWN of ANY size for over 2,000 kilometres.
Compared to Australia, yes "country folk are the same". The people you meet in the OZ outback live a very different lifestyle to those on the coast - that kind of extremism doesn't exist in the UK. You can find sleepy villages etc but they are still connected to a metropolitan area by short drive.
The US absolutely has that (I don't know what Dragonborn is talking about). Try Wyoming, Utah, Montana... I live in Vegas, a city of 2 million people and yet within a 30 minute drive I can be hikking in a place with absolutely nothing but nature - no people, cars, lights, nothing. Drive 2 hours and run out of gas.. you could be in real trouble!!!
I spent a month in a camper traveling around Australia (well parts of it) back in November - I drove from Brisbane to Uluru. That kind of remoteness and isolation is unlike anywhere I have ever been. Even though the US is larger it is still more populous and inhabited all over. I remember being in the outback and thinking "if something were to happen, I'm a thousand miles from the nearest metro area!!!".
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by ian6479
Compared to Australia, yes "country folk are the same". The people you meet in the OZ outback live a very different lifestyle to those on the coast - that kind of extremism doesn't exist in the UK. You can find sleepy villages etc but they are still connected to a metropolitan area by short drive.
The US absolutely has that (I don't know what Dragonborn is talking about). Try Wyoming, Utah, Montana... I live in Vegas, a city of 2 million people and yet within a 30 minute drive I can be hikking in a place with absolutely nothing but nature - no people, cars, lights, nothing. Drive 2 hours and run out of gas.. you could be in real trouble!!!
I spent a month in a camper traveling around Australia (well parts of it) back in November - I drove from Brisbane to Uluru. That kind of remoteness and isolation is unlike anywhere I have ever been. Even though the US is larger it is still more populous and inhabited all over. I remember being in the outback and thinking "if something were to happen, I'm a thousand miles from the nearest metro area!!!".
I live in a city of 1.7 million and the nearest metro is well over a thousand miles away.
Crossing the Nullabor was a really remote feeling. Is there anywhere in the US where you can drive on a national highway and not see a car for 2 hours? This is the ONLY sealed east-west route unless you go by the Top End, 2,500 km north. Roadhouses were spaced about 300 km (190 miles) apart so you had to fill up a full tank at each. If they were out of fuel, tough luck, you had to wait till they got some. If you ran out, it could be hours before anyone got to you, if not longer.
Driving across the Nullabor - dead silence. Not sure if you experienced TOTAL silence in the Outback before, it's eerie. You could here a pin drop a mile away. Total silence and total darkness, no wonder people talk about weird things happening on the paddock. Also the roads are so straight - you just see for miles and miles ahead - you see the road continuing for at least 5-6 km until it seemed to vanish into the horizon.
Compared to Australia, yes "country folk are the same". The people you meet in the OZ outback live a very different lifestyle to those on the coast - that kind of extremism doesn't exist in the UK. You can find sleepy villages etc but they are still connected to a metropolitan area by short drive.
The US absolutely has that (I don't know what Dragonborn is talking about). Try Wyoming, Utah, Montana... I live in Vegas, a city of 2 million people and yet within a 30 minute drive I can be hikking in a place with absolutely nothing but nature - no people, cars, lights, nothing. Drive 2 hours and run out of gas.. you could be in real trouble!!!
I spent a month in a camper traveling around Australia (well parts of it) back in November - I drove from Brisbane to Uluru. That kind of remoteness and isolation is unlike anywhere I have ever been. Even though the US is larger it is still more populous and inhabited all over. I remember being in the outback and thinking "if something were to happen, I'm a thousand miles from the nearest metro area!!!".
Sometimes I don't know what Ian is on about either, although at least we both agree that the monarchy sucks
Anyway, to elaborate on my earlier post, what I meant to say was that the UK countryside is very accessible, even if you live in a big city. Having lived in and traveled across many parts of the US, while there may be vast remote and beautiful places, nothing beats the accessibility of the British countryside and the fact that you are completely free to explore it at whatever hour, unlike here in MA, with all the stupid rules & regulations and "designated" state / national parks that close at a certain hour and charge you for parking.
I have to visit Australia before I die. I have a feeling that I'd like it a lot.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,029,399 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by ian6479
Compared to Australia, yes "country folk are the same". The people you meet in the OZ outback live a very different lifestyle to those on the coast - that kind of extremism doesn't exist in the UK. You can find sleepy villages etc but they are still connected to a metropolitan area by short drive.
The US absolutely has that (I don't know what Dragonborn is talking about). Try Wyoming, Utah, Montana... I live in Vegas, a city of 2 million people and yet within a 30 minute drive I can be hikking in a place with absolutely nothing but nature - no people, cars, lights, nothing. Drive 2 hours and run out of gas.. you could be in real trouble!!!
I spent a month in a camper traveling around Australia (well parts of it) back in November - I drove from Brisbane to Uluru. That kind of remoteness and isolation is unlike anywhere I have ever been. Even though the US is larger it is still more populous and inhabited all over. I remember being in the outback and thinking "if something were to happen, I'm a thousand miles from the nearest metro area!!!".
Indeed the US does...there are many remotes places in the Western US. But coming from where I'm from, even the Western US felt crowded compared to what I'm used to.
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