BACK IN THE UK

Back in the UK

In late Autumn 1975, we arrived in London with very different concerns to those we had when we left the UK some 9 months earlier. I can clearly recall how on our return, our parents' generation seemed to be constantly worried about their personal finances and the changes sweeping the UK. We on the other hand had little to lose, and were excited about restarting our careers as Londoners.

VW Kombi to Chelsea bedsit

We eventually rented a tiny flat consisting of one room, a small kitchen and a toilet above the Nat West Bank, directly opposite the 'Rocky Horror Show' in London's trendy Kings Road. It was very basic, squalid even considering the house we had left in Devon, but it was absolute luxury after living in a VW Kombi. We were without jobs and our savings were all but exhausted, but we were in London, and that was all that mattered.

After about a year we purchased a part renovated flat in Lexham Gardens, an up and coming part of Kensington, W8. During the next 4 years I gradually completed the renovation and modernisation of the flat, while also working and studying for my higher degrees. We even managed an overland trip to Morocco and Mauritania between December 1976 and January 1977.

Then in 1979, our lives were changed forever. Just as the renovation was finished, Gail without any warning, flew to Poona, India to become a Sannyasin or 'orange person', a follower of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho). I was left to explain the unexplainable to family and friends, possibly one of the most difficult challenges of my life.

Over 40 years later at the request of my son, the 'time capsule' chest was reopened and the memories of our trip to Tibet were set free. The contents of the chest, particularly the diary and photos, told of cultures that were soon to be destroyed by revolution or invasion. Yet the insights gained in 1975 nurtured hopes and aspirations within us that are not unlike those of today's millennials.

We had been shown extraordinary friendship and hospitality by total strangers, many of whom came from counties with different belief systems, religions and interpretations of democracy. Yet we all shared that basic instinct of wanting to communicate and help others, regardless of colour, race or religion.

This gives me hope that despite the unsettling and bizarre times in which we currently live, a better world can be shaped through education, awareness and travel.
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