I Hate the Bother of Travel But Love Where I Go: See It, Say It, Sorted, UK Visit 2025 Part Three

Phil and I

I love to travel but I hate the traveling part. Heavy luggage. No wifi, spotty wifi, low batteries. Waiting for cabs. Looking for the right train. Hungry again. Need the toilet. Have we got everything? Where's the other bag? Can you hold this? On Friday we had to gather our belongings drag them downstairs catch a cab to the train station and bid adieu to Edinburgh.

The train took us to Oxenholme in England’s Lake District where my longest-serving friend, Phil, was waiting. He lives in the hamlet of Sedbergh nestled in the cold, foggy, rainy climes of Northern England. It was sunny, clear and warm. Atypical just as had been the weather in sunny Scotland. Once there the hassles of travel seemed a small price to pay.

I’ve known Phil since high school though we were out of touch for nearly thirty years until the magic of the internet brought us back together and we’ve seen each on numerous occasions for the last twenty-two or so years. 

Phil has a lovely home in a lovely area. His wife was traveling in Japan with their son so it was up to Phil and his dog Suki to entertain us and they did a wonderful job.

It was grand to have an extended time to catch up and re-live high school days. We were in Berkeley High’s first small school within a school called Community High where we were divided into tribes. It was all very Sixties and the forerunner of many such attempts to make the high school experience more manageable and relatable. It also provided another way for me to think of myself as special. Phil had a copy of our yearbook, mine had been lost or destroyed in a fire many decades ago. It's pictured on the right. It brought back many memories that washed over me like a warm wave. 

We discoursed on other topics far and wide from baseball to the books of Robert Caro to Trumpy. I can number on one hand all the people I've personally known who are Phil's equal in the art of conversation. I can't number any who would be his superior in that category. 

Phil provided both car and walking tours of the area. We saw many more sheep than people and a lot of green hills, trees and stone walls. Phil’s house was built in 1743, the same year, Phil proudly pointed out, that one Thomas Jefferson was born. Next door was a Quaker meeting house that dated back to the 1600s. 

We dined at the golf course where I feasted on fish and chips.

By yesterday afternoon it was time again to schlep our luggage to a train station and struggle onto another train. Three hours later we were back in London and soon thereafter made our way to another cab. We're now staying in the same Air B&B we did last year and the year before.

I’m off to Emirates Stadium this afternoon to see my beloved Arsenal Football Club in action. Hoping that it will be one of the main highlights of the trip. Seeing Phil, Suki and the area in which he resides is already a highlight. I hope to visit again. Indeed there are many parts of the UK that I want to make return visits too and many more that I want to explore for the first time. We'll be making our first-ever trip to Oxford tomorrow. Happily looking forward to what is yet to come as I also look back at what I've enjoyed to date -- such as Phil's warm hospitality.