trendpreneur

It’s strange being back in Edinburgh after six months away. The city feels comfortable, like an old pair of shoes you forgot you had; the weather isn’t a patch on the South Bay, of course, though it’s not too dissimilar from San Francisco. Minus the wind.

I’m fortunate enough to have lived in and around three lovely cities in my lifetime; Brighton, Edinburgh and San Francisco. Cambridge was pretty nice, too, inspiring yet overwhelming (and suffocating) in its way. Recently, my management coach (for I am growed up and have such things) advised me to travel as much as I can now — to visit the places I’ve always wanted to visit, to live in new countries, to have these sought-after experiences.

So, I shall.

Living in a different country is a fun experience, no matter how similar the country to your own. Even living in Scotland was a change from England — accents, customs, friendliness, the health service… America is a step beyond, a strange mirror country where things are sort-of-but-not-quite the same. On returning to the UK, I see it clearer than ever before. It’s not just that cars drive on the wrong side of the road, it’s the traffic customs around crossing in certain places. It’s not that the health service is totally different, it’s that doctors’ offices have credit card terminals at the front.

Stephen Fry puts it far better than I ever could, and hits the nail on the head — it’s not just that things are superficially different, but under the skin, that’s where it’s interesting.

The next adventure is to go somewhere totally different. In a way, it seems that it would be easier to learn a completely new culture than to do a botch job of assimilating one slightly but not quite the same. But we shall see. For now, I am enjoying the comfort of an old friend in Edinburgh, and secretly plotting my eventual growing of roots here.