If the title seems just a bit off the real estate track, well, you’re right! It is off the track… And not a thing wrong with that either!
You see, Brian and I have decided to take a much needed—and well deserved, I might add—trip to the old country for a bit of rest and relaxation. I say ‘old country’ because the U.K. is, after all, the mother country to Australia.
Now, truth be it told, Brian may have twisted my arm just a bit to take a nice chunk of time off, but I’m glad he did! Actually, I was looking forward to this trip, and so far, it’s been quite bit of fun…
Relaxing and chilling out on the River Thames
As always, there are a few surprises
Still, nothing goes as smoothly as planned, does it? I guess few surprises are in to be expected for any trip, aren’t they? But that’s part of the adventure…
One of the first surprises we got was being locked out of our house. Still jet-lagged, we were getting up at 2am and waiting till the sun came up to go for a walk/jog. We headed out around 4:30am, got back at about 5:30am to find out that we were locked out form our accommodation.
Which, incidentally opened at 7am.
Now, it is summer in the UK, but at 5:30 in the morning I can tell you it’s freezing!
What we had to do was wake up a neighbor to get the phone number of where we were staying so that we could ring them up to come and get us.
Not the most exhilarating experience when you’ve travelled a few times zones and spent a long chunk of time on a plane…But it’s all in the spirit of travel and taking in a new experience.
And why not?
What’s the use of working hard, buying real estate and earning passive income if you’re not going to take some time to enjoy life and do the things you want to do? Traveling with Brian and taking in new experiences together is one of the things I love to do.
I was excited to visit the home of the great billionaire industrialist, Andrew Carnegie, the forefather of many of today’s success principles
London calling
As you might expect, we have first spent a good amount of time in London. The energy of that place is something you have to feel firsthand to understand. A very confused energy, as I said on my blog page, but an undeniable energy, for sure. As one of the great capital cities of the world, I wouldn’t expect anything else.
Still, it took us over two hours to get through Trafalgar Square! Part of the cause, other than the normally heavy traffic of cars, people and double deck buses was a gas leak of some sort. I don’t mind telling you that after two hours, Brian and I had both had enough of it.
He ended up driving across a footpath and going the wrong way down some one-way streets just to get us out of there…
And believe me, I have no regrets of him doing it whatsoever!
But London isn’t all traffic, crowds and utter confusion. It is also full of fantastic 19th Century architecture that you find in rows of quite expensive flats, offices and government buildings and lovely, quaint pubs that serve beer in the traditional British fashion—warm and flat. Can’t say I’m a fan of that, but when in Rome–or London…
But there’s no denying the magnificence of The British Museum, for example. You can spend several days just there, if you so chose. Also, the beauty of Marble Arch and the impressive presence of Parliament, Big Ben, London Bridge, The Eye, and all the rest of historic London are there for the seeing.
But after taking all that in, I needed a break from the city! But no worries–easily done… And we didn’t even have to leave London to find it…
We took a leisurely day to explore the natural beauty to be found in both Hyde Park and Kensington Park. The natural spaces, footpaths, ponds and wildlife within these parks are absolutely wonderful. Serenity away from the craziness of downtown London is not all that hard to find. And boy, did I need it!
Big cities are not for me
As many of you know, I live on a 54-acre farm on the Sunshine Coast. That’s is not by accident. Other than for a short period of time, big cities are just not for me.
Not much to this place, as you can see. But a strange and calming energy.
Of course, I’ve been in many big cities, but in Australia in particular, there’s just not the density that you find in a London, Tokyo or New York. I have my farm because the relaxed, natural energy flow there is what I need in my life.
Normally, after spending a few days or even a week or so here and there on my seminar and boot camp tours, I get to return to the farm and get back to nature. I have become used to returning to the more natural rhythm of things on a regular basis. But fortunately, as you can see in my photographs and my blogs, not all of Great Britain is in London…
After visiting London, Brian and I rode our motorcycle down to Cornwall and took in the sites along the way. Of course, I couldn’t pass be too many “for sale” and “for lease” signs before I had to stop and see what the real estate market in the U.K. is all about…
Real Estate in the U.K.
Even in small towns where there is plenty of land to build, the density is amazingly high. A sign of things to come in Australia, I think.
The U.K. real estate is actually pretty healthy. The key is using the resources that are there, to their full potential. In fact, there are a few things to do, and a few more to avoid, when you’re considering buying property in the U.K.
But I’m just about to tuck into a nice dinner, and Brian is waiting for me, so that will have to wait until next time.