• News
  • Lifestyle
    • Recipes
    • Video
    • Lotto Results
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Sport
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
Monday, March 1, 2021
Australian Times News
  • News
  • Lifestyle
    • Recipes
    • Video
    • Lotto Results
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Sport
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Lifestyle
    • Recipes
    • Video
    • Lotto Results
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Sport
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
Australian Times News
No Result
View All Result
Home Expat Life

Can I leave the Heathrow Injection at the departure gate?

It’s change-over time right now in the English capital. As a new flock of Aussies arrive to the joys of London life, many are also leaving. LIAM FLANAGAN found out that’s it is actually much harder to leave than it was to arrive.

Liam Flanagan by Liam Flanagan
05-01-2012 15:51
in Expat Life
UK departures

UK departures
JUST like the brilliantly animated movie about a man who floats away in his house using just balloons, my time in London is UP! (Puntastic!)

And with my departure imminent, I’ve had to clean out my cupboards both at work and home and make those difficult choices of what to keep and what to throw away.

I’ve also had to decide which arm and which leg to give up to pay for shipping my excess baggage back home. I’m astounded at the ability of humans to accumulate crap, it’s as though we’re scared that if we throw away that dog eared copy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or the charger for our old mobile phone we might find ourselves in a position where we actually need that stuff.

So I had to steel myself with a ruthless resolve as I sorted through the rubbish I’ve acquired during my two year stint and make the tough decisions.

Things I’ve decided to make room for and bring back to Australia:

–          Snowboard + equipment: Cause nothing screams “awesome two year overseas adventure” like sporting equipment that you are never likely to use again in Australia.

–          Notebooks: My personal thoughts noted down throughout my adventures will surely be of value to future historians. They will marvel at the illegible handwriting and wonder why most of the journal entries begin with “Hungover again…”.

AlsoRead...

The best storage ideas for students

The best storage ideas for students

18 January 2021
Australians in the UK are putting their ‘Ozzie Mentality’ to work - and it pays off

Australians in the UK are putting their ‘Ozzie Mentality’ to work – and it pays off

17 December 2020

–          My Winter Coat: I’m never likely to actually need this item of clothing in Australia. Its thickness and insulation would have me sweating up a storm in even the coldest of Aussie winters. But it single-handedly got me through the winter of 2010 and my heart would have to be as cold as said winter to through it away.

Things I’ve decided to leave behind/throw out/put on Gum Tree:

(Please note if you see anything in this list you like the sound of, feel free to swing by the house and pick it up and save me the “extra refuse” charge.)

–          My guitar: I bought this with the intention of becoming a virtuoso in a two year period. I no longer have a need for it as I’m pretty sure that being able to play the first half of ‘More Than Words’ by Extreme classifies me as a virtuoso.

–          My tent: My portable home during my travels, the tent has seen almost as much of Europe as I have but it never quite recovered from that last trip to Spain and the endless Sangria fights.

–          My Oktoberfest jumper: Seemed like a good purchase at the time. In reality, when is an item of clothing bought from a man in a caravan ever a good idea?

–          The Heathrow Injection: Is this something I can declare at customs? I guarantee you it’s not going to fit in the overhead lockers and I’m not going to pay an excess baggage fee for it. Surely they won’t let me back into Australia with this. The smell of two years worth of Yorkshire puddings and beer will have a sniffer dog ominously sitting next to me before I even hit the tarmac.

Some possessions provide us with a memorable link to our experiences and adventures. Others provide us a reminder of how we could’ve afforded a few extra weekends away if we didn’t buy so much crap. But we can’t take any of it with us when we die (unless you’re one of those ancient rulers who likes to bury your stuff with you) so who really cares?

London, it’s time to say our goodbyes but unlike Rick Astley (below), I am gonna give you up (Puntastic #2)… for now.

Tags: Australians in LondonGreat BritainHeathrow InjectionLiam Flanaganliving in the UKliving overseasLondonUnited Kingdom
DMCA.com Protection Status

SUBSCRIBE to our NEWSLETTER

Terms and Conditions

CURRENCY ZONE

Australian Forex

Don't Miss

Thunderball Results for Saturday, 27 February 2021

by Sonja Baartman
27 February 2021
Thunderball Results Lottery
Thunderball

Thunderball Lottery draw takes place tonight. Check the winning Thunderball numbers here!

Read more

Lotto Results for Saturday, 27 February 2021

by Sonja Baartman
27 February 2021
Lottery Results Lotto Numbers UK
UK Lotto

Are you ready for the National Lottery Lotto draw? Let's find out if you're an overnight millionaire

Read more

Ensuring the minimum wage keeps up with economic growth would be the best way to help workers and preserve FDR’s legacy

by The Conversation
27 February 2021
It may seem like a lot, but it’s not the most important change in the bill. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
News

The US$1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill that the House is expected to soon pass includes a gradual increase in the...

Read more

Tattslotto Results for Saturday, 27 February 2021

by Sonja Baartman
27 February 2021
Tattslotto Results - The Lott
Thattslotto

There's big money on the line with tonights draw, $5 million! Here are your Tattslotto results for Saturday, 27 February...

Read more

How FinTech Industry Is Disrupting Tradition Banking

by Alan Aldridge
27 February 2021
How FinTech Industry Is Disrupting Tradition Banking
at

You’ve undoubtedly come across the word FinTech, but pinning down a precise definition of the broad financial technology industry term...

Read more

‘Existential threat to our survival’: see the 19 Australian ecosystems already collapsing

by The Conversation
27 February 2021
Shutterstock
News

In 1992, 1,700 scientists warned that human beings and the natural world were “on a collision course”. Seventeen years later,...

Read more

Operators of restaurant face potential penalties of over $100,000

by Mike Simpson
27 February 2021
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
News

Fair Work Ombudsman is taking Federal Court action against an Italian eatery for alleged non-compliance during an underpayment investigation.

Read more
Load More

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status

  • About us
  • Write for Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • T&Cs, Privacy and GDPR
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Lifestyle
    • Recipes
    • Video
    • Lotto Results
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Sport
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status