So, Yaz and I have been travelling through Central America for over 4 months now and occasionally (usually on a hangover day) end up have the “What do you miss about England?” conversation and thought it might make a good blog post to see if other travellers agree, disagree, or have more to add to the list.
1) The English accent
In Panama it’s not so bad, but in Mexico the only accents you hear other than Mexican are American or Canadian. There’s nothing wrong with Americans or Canadians but when it’s all you hear at the shop (not ‘store’), at the cinema (not ‘movies’), on the TV and everywhere else you go it can end up getting on your nerves. In fact, what really drives you crazy is when Americans hear you speak and say “I detect an accent… You’re Australian, aren’t you!?” (this has happened to us about 15 times in 4 months!)
2) English bread and butter
What is North and Central America’s obsession with sugar?!? Bread and butter shouldn’t taste so god damn sweet, oh man it’s sickly. All I want is some real English bread and non-sweetened butter!
3) Sofas
Why aren’t there any good sofas on this continent? We have not sat in one comfy ‘swallow you whole’ sofa since we left England. The ‘sofa’ in the place we’re currently staying in is so uncomfortable that we’ve resorted to sitting on the floor with pillows from the bed but it’s just not right. Next thing to try is to string up a couple of hammocks in the living room, but I know it won’t be the same as a good old sofa.
4) Marmite
After good English bread and butter, I miss MARMITE. There, I said it. I’ve heard lots of travellers say this before and always thought they were those extremist lovers that see it as more of a religion than a topping for toast, but bloody hell I’d do anything for Marmite on toast right now. Plus, it’s apparently quite good for keeping mosquitos at bay.
5) No mosquitos
I know you agree already so I won’t elaborate more than saying, Mosquitos are bastards.
6) Tea
I know it’s rarely below 30ºC and I spend about 8 hours a day sweating, but I really would love a decent cup of Earl Grey tea despite the heat.
Obviously there’s family and friends and so on that I’ve left off and I’m sure I’ll keep adding to the list as I travel but comment below if there’s more things you think should be on the list.
