I recently went on a short holiday to the Isle of Man (specifically, Ramsey), and I decide to travel using public transport. The journey involved a bus from Minehead to Taunton, a train from Taunton to Lancaster, another train from Lancaster to Heysham, a ferry from Heysham to Douglas and finally a bus from Douglas to Ramsey. The entire journey takes around 13 hours. Now, I don't really mind that journey time, as I am used to it and I just spend the time reading, watching movies and playing games on my laptop, but when you take into consideration that for the same price I can get a flight from Bristol to somewhere in the south of Spain in a third of the time I feel that I'm being let down a bit.
Now, true I could get a flight from Bristol or Exeter to the island, which would take just under an hour, plus a couple of hours on a bus or 2, but then the price goes up from £105 return to £340 return including the buses and trains to get me to the train station and from the airport to Ramsey. Is there any real reason why the cost is so high? It isn't like they run the planes empty or anything, they are nearly always full.
However, as I have already said, I do use the time to some advantage - this time I caught up on some reading.
For the journey I usually pack a couple of books, else I end up finishing one and spending too much money on train food and this time was no different. My first read was a brilliant novel by the contemporary author Nick Hornby, entitled 'A Long Way Down'. This novel is simply superb, drawing you in to the sad, painful and eventually happy (well, happier) world of a group of suicidal Londoners. Not many books have made me feel happy, sad and also made me laugh and cry, but this one did. If you haven't already read it, you should go out and buy it (and all Nick Hornby's other books too, as they are all similarly excellent).
The other book I took was one I have read time and time again, and never gets old. It was the Red Dwarf Omnibus. Humorous and dark, it keeps you reading for hours, regardless of how many times you have read it before. Perfect for a long journey too, as it is 2 books in one and people don't think you are weird for reading it.
Well, that was a random post, but the main point is that if you don't have those books in your library, get them!
1 comment:
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