Musings about the North

I've been living in Cumbria for about a month now. In most ways it was what I was hoping for, in others, surprisingly different.

Green and Blue

It took moving to Finland for me, a city-boy, to finally get an appreciation of the countryside. Long summer nights at the lake cabin, Saunas no matter the season, sailing to a "local" pub, and hikes through ever-green forests were regular events that opened my eyes. The place is magical. I felt at home there.

Coming back to Fareham was more of a culture shock than I realised, and worse, I'd not appreciated how much I'd detached myself from the area when I originally left it, back in 2006. It wasn't home, these weren't my people, the place was dirty, and everyone was struggling.

It's early days, but waking up to see rolling, rugged hills – even out of my office window – shades of green everywhere, and [occasional] blue-skies reminds me a lot of being in Finland. The scenery’s different, but the feeling of being somewhere old, beautiful, and connected to nature is the same.

We’ve been going out at every opportunity to appreciate it.

People

Cumbria is far more cosmopolitan than I expected. There’s literally every accent crammed into one place. A lot of tourists, a lot of people like us, who’ve escaped, and “locals” from all over the North East and West. And 10 minutes up the road everyone speaks Scottish.

People are friendly. Everyone says hello. It’s not uncommon to end up stopping to talk with a complete stranger because, well, no reason really.

It’s so much more relaxed, it’s almost a weight-off in itself.

Local stuff for local people

A lot of big brand-name shops are missing, or a few hours away. I wasn’t expecting that, but I should have. In their place are loads of local companies and smaller brands I’d not seen before. Reminds me of Scotland, in a way. Everything’s there, it’s just not what you’re used to. And in some cases you might have to hike a bit to get to it.

Mental / Physical Health

I wasn’t miserable in the Southeast, but I wasn’t exactly bouncing around with the joys of spring. I wasn’t enthused about much – been there done that – which was made worse by lockdown. There’ve been some dark days, which I’m sure you’ve all felt.

Physically, the move’s already had a dramatic effect: I’ve lost just over 1kg, my bodyfat % is on a nice downward trajectory, and I’ve not been doing much more beyond some “warm-up” hikes and indoor weights. I’ll be pushing myself a lot harder once the bike-rack arrives, but I can already feel a dramatic improvement.

--

We’ve made quite a few compromises to get up here, and it’s early days, but I’m already of the opinion that it was worth it. My Saturdays are now filled with this:

https://youtu.be/OT6ZNJgP6DA