A Real Day in My UK Life After Cape Town
After showing our day-to-day life in Cape Town, it felt only fair to show the other side of our life.
The UK version.
It is quieter. It is often greyer. It has alarms, coffee, work, gym, walks, and dinner at home. It does not have the same colour or warmth as Cape Town. It does not have the same social feel either.
But filming this ordinary day made me ask a bigger question.
Is UK life boring, or is it the part we might miss one day?
Morning Starts Small
Our UK day starts in our apartment in Eastbourne.
We moved here in January, between Christmas and New Year. It is smaller than where we used to live, so we have had to be clever with space.
James works in the spare room. I work in the living room.
When I am not working, my desk disappears behind cupboard doors. When I open them, there it is. My little work setup. It is not glamorous. It does the job.
That feels like a good summary of our UK life right now.
It is practical. It is simple. It works.
The morning is about coffee, a shower, emails, and a few hours at the desk. I still do training for clients, so part of my morning can be spent working on a presentation. Retirement is not quite what some people imagine. It is not always long lunches and lazy mornings.
For me, retirement still has structure. I like that. I need that.
After a couple of hours of work, I head to the gym. It is about a 15-minute walk away. I usually take the seafront route.
It is a bit longer. It puts me in a better mood.
Why Eastbourne Works For Us
Eastbourne does seaside life well.
There is the pier. There are old buildings. There is the sea. Even on a cloudy day, it still feels like a proper seaside town.
That matters more than I expected.
In Cape Town, we love Sea Point. We love walking by the ocean there. It feels bright, busy, and full of energy.
Eastbourne is not Sea Point. I would never pretend it is.
But it has its own charm.
The promenade is lovely. The sea is close. The South Downs are just up the road. That mix gives us something special. We can walk by the water one day. We can walk up into the hills the next.
By mid-afternoon, our workday is done. James finishes at 4 o’clock. We both shut our laptops. Then we head outside.
Since moving here, we have come to value these walks.
On this day, the sea was covered in mist. So we walked up towards the South Downs instead.
A few hundred metres from home, we can be at the start of the South Downs National Park. That still feels like a gift. We walk up the hill. I get out of breath. James points out how steep it is. The mist rolls in across Eastbourne.
It is not dramatic travel content. It is real life.
Maybe that is why I liked filming it.
The Small Things Add Up
On the way home, we walk through St Helens Gardens.
At the weekend, it is full of people having picnics. There are palm trees too. I always feel like I am somewhere more exotic when I see palm trees.
Cape Town has plenty of them. Eastbourne has more than you might expect.
James reminds me that Eastbourne is sometimes called the Sunshine Coast.
It does seem to have its own little climate. We have driven here before in grey weather. Then we arrived to find sunshine.
That is part of the appeal.
We do not live in the centre of Eastbourne. We live in Meads. It feels more like a village.
We have two pubs nearby. There is The Pilot Inn. There is also The Ship Inn. We have supermarkets, a café, a florist, and a Chinese restaurant close by.
It is all very easy.
That word might sound boring. Easy.
But easy becomes more important as you get older. It matters when daily life runs smoothly. It matters when you can walk to useful places. It matters when you do not need to get in the car for everything.
Dinner At Home
Once we get home, the day slows down.
In Cape Town, we socialise during the week much more often. In the UK, we rarely do.
That is one of the biggest differences.
Our UK evenings are quieter. On this day, James makes dinner. Salmon salad. Healthy. Simple. A normal weekday supper.
There is no big night out. No sunset drink by the ocean. No dinner with friends.
Just home. Food. Routine.
And yet, there is comfort in that.
That was the surprise for me.
I thought this video would feel very ordinary. A few daily routines. Some grey weather. A gym trip. A countryside walk. Dinner at home.
But filming it made me see it differently.
Is Ordinary Life Boring?
Ordinary life is easy to ignore.
You do the same things. You walk the same streets. You make the same meals. You complain about the same weather.
Then you stop and film it.
You notice the small things.
The first coffee of the day. The desk that folds away. The walk along the seafront. The mist over the Downs. The palm trees in the park. The local pub. The comfort of cooking at home.
These are not big travel moments.
They are daily life.
They are also the things that make a place feel like home.
The weather reminded me why we Brits talk about it so much. We can have three seasons in one day. The routine reminded me how much we build our lives around small habits. The quiet reminded me that UK life is often more comforting than exciting.
And that is okay.
Not every day needs to be full of adventure.
Some days just need to feel steady.
UK Life After Cape Town
This is where the comparison with Cape Town becomes interesting.
Cape Town gives us warmth. It gives us colour. It gives us a different pace. It also gives us a more social life.
Eastbourne gives us routine. It gives us familiarity. It gives us a home base.
At this stage of life, both matter.
That is the part I keep coming back to.
If you are thinking about retiring abroad, or spending long periods away, it is easy to focus on what you are going towards. Better weather. Lower costs. New places. New people. A different way of living.
But there is another question.
What are you leaving behind?
You might not miss the grey sky. You might not miss the weekly routine. You might not miss the supermarket or the local walk.
Then again, you might.
That is what this day showed me.
UK life may not always be exciting. It may not always look good on camera. It may not be as colourful as Cape Town.
But it has value.
And sometimes you only see that when you are about to step away from it.
