News

Shoestring Adventure

• 19th Jul 2010

Mary Schmich, in an article for the Chicago Tribune, wrote a poem meant for consumption of advice in 1997. It is not until 1999, this poem is discovered by film director and producer Baz Luhrmann and turned in to the song (Everybody’s Free To Wear) Sunscreen. The record dispenses all kinds of advice from the optimistic to the pessimistic. However, there is one piece of advice that rings and persists in the memory, “travel”.

With this in mind it makes sense not to be a stick in the mud and engage with the wider world. The choice is quite simple, pick a city which can be got to in a couple of hours and which is worth visiting. These rules strike out anywhere other than the European Union or North Africa, even on a plane, Greece is out of the question. Also, this had to be done within the United Kingdom, the rules of the Job Seekers Agreement mean; if you travel outside of the UK you will lose some or all of your allowance. Understandable, but the feeling of limitations easily pulls the excitement down. Of course some readers might think that, one could always get a job and yes that is true, but life is never that simple with at least five applicants for every job. Still this is no reason to stop dead in the tracks. Birmingham, England’s so-called second city is the destination.

The income from Job Seekers Allowance is £103.46 and after a rent of £50 per fortnight, £22 for weekly bus tickets leaving just over £30 to play around with, some of the less fortunate have to pay for food with this amount of money, resorting to the emergency loan system to pay for anything urgently and unexpected. Anyway, a return trip to Birmingham would only cost £8.50 and leave £6.50 from the weekly budget for food, drinks and whatever else. Not exactly enjoyable, but it is better than nothing.

The excitement builds up as the Adventure day approaches. Final checks are made. The camera battery is charged up, the memory card cleared of any unwanted pictures. A reasonably sized travel bag is chosen and filled with a packed lunch, journal pen and some reading material for if the boredom becomes too much. It is impossible to think of anything else might be needed, but time is tight and there is a need to head for the bus.

As the air brakes of the coach give their usual hiss to relieve the tension on the wheels, the journey is off to a crawl as the streets of Manchester are chewed up at a pace comparable to a snail’s. Each lamppost on the roads and motorways progressively, passively and repetitively pass at a pace not much quicker but more consistently as entertainment is a world blurring at 60mph, magazines, newspapers, iPods or a book about the history of the environmental sciences. Some are going for a big night out with friends others are going to meet friends, others simply graduate from the university and there are many other reasons to travel.

Awkwardly and wearily the coach sneaks in to the city and its side streets away from the main drag. This is something that a purposeful walk to the nearest tourist map would solve. Seeing the sights is always a must when you first go to somewhere new. Art galleries and museums are not the most fun places to be when there is so much else to explore so they were quickly off the list of things to do.

However, the people of Birmingham are kind, benevolent and hospitable. The fact that they are quick to be of help is not usually a trait talked about, when it comes to Birmingham the typical conversation often centres on their thick heavy drawl. This is not the only accent to pervade the streets as Caribbean tones are distinguishable to those with a keen ear. With the sun and the clouds moving a pace it is hardly to see the graduation gowns flutter earnestly in the wind. Still, the warmth of the city grows and seeps through even to the coldest of marble statues. In this case it is a bull surrounded by a wealth of busy but hesitant shoppers.

As the day glides on through, it is obvious that a well earned rest is in order. Cafes and restaurants act as a refuge from the stresses of shopping as well as presenting an opportunity to spend those, as one old lady put it, “really annoying bits of change”. A charity box might be preferable, but there are very few of those in the chains of shopping malls dwelling in such affluent areas.

As the heavens open, St. Martin’s church is the most immediate shelter from this transient storm. The harsh pews offer little in the way of comfort, but the quiet offers sanctuary for the mind and allow contemplation to happen, spurring people from thought to action rather than dull aches in the physical world. It is closed before the offices though. This is not a criticism, but the reality that there is only so much time that can be offered. The sombre who have not had enough time to reflect, pour out on to the streets and with the pains of hunger and an unlikely turn of events mean that Burger King will do for a further rest and bite to eat. Again a place where stories are exchanged with the classics of shopping exploits, love and other general tales all happening over the cool, but slightly littered floor of black and white parquet.

The sun rejoins the deserted shopping area. Only a few stragglers are left along with some salespeople who are determined to sell piece of mind. What now happens as evening descends to make the rounding off nearly complete is a short in distance but lengthy in time journey back to where this adventure began. Circles have almost been a theme of the day. There are lots waiting to go their own way and countless more arriving in the bustling metropolis. Even the young and upcoming film directors of today and tomorrow have to make haste out of a city that can offer them no more. A remarkable feast would always come to a disappointing end that can, at least for now, not be repeated.

The journey back to Manchester is mundane and as predictable as the journey in the opposite direction as the soporific hum of tyre on tarmac combine with the efficient rattle of bus engine. Until Manchester there is very little to enjoy as dark takes over the light and what light is left are the florescent glow of nightclub entrances and the sparkle of the clothes.