pensions

[Gregor]

If you retire somewhere warm, while you're young enough, you could be doing this every day

That's your dream retirement, not necessarily everyones.

Looking at that scenery every day would drive me to getting the razor blades out.

Ban him

[weeksy]

If you retire somewhere warm, while you're young enough, you could be doing this every day

That's your dream retirement, not necessarily everyones.

Looking at that scenery every day would drive me to getting the razor blades out.

I could ride there everyday. Close up you feel the power of the volcanoes and the lava flow. I'll take you one day and it will blow your socks off.

I've done a fair few of the trails there if you recall, back when we were staying on the island i did a couple of MTB tours. POtentially not as high as you went or as close to Timanfaya (assuming that's where it is) but certainly in the surrounding areas. It was interesting as a day out, but that's really where the appeal ends to me. For me it needs trees, it needs dirt, actual dirt, mud and slop even. As much as this country at times drives me insane, some of the things you find/see are just unreal. A day playing in the woods on MTBs with leaves turning yellow, the mud being sticky... yeah i'll take that all day, every day.

[Count Steer]

Oi loiks trees. No volcanos but has some good bike roads. Shame about the MTBers

[slowsider]

blow your socks off

isn't that the other island?

[Dodgy69]

Sorry Yorick, couldn't resist.

[Yorick]

Oi loiks trees. No volcanos but has some good bike roads. Shame about the MTBers

That's lovely. But needs lots of rain

[Gregor]

Oi loiks trees.

Me too

[Yorick]

Oi loiks trees. No volcanos but has some good bike roads. Shame about the MTBers

That's lovely. But needs lots of rain

Lol. Just as I typed that, this song just came on my headphones from Planet Rock.

[Yorick]

That's your dream retirement, not necessarily everyones.

Looking at that scenery every day would drive me to getting the razor blades out.

I could ride there everyday. Close up you feel the power of the volcanoes and the lava flow. I'll take you one day and it will blow your socks off.

I've done a fair few of the trails there if you recall, back when we were staying on the island i did a couple of MTB tours. POtentially not as high as you went or as close to Timanfaya (assuming that's where it is) but certainly in the surrounding areas. It was interesting as a day out, but that's really where the appeal ends to me. For me it needs trees, it needs dirt, actual dirt, mud and slop even. As much as this country at times drives me insane, some of the things you find/see are just unreal. A day playing in the woods on MTBs with leaves turning yellow, the mud being sticky... yeah i'll take that all day, every day.

Gran Canaria is as green and wet as Yorkshire.

[Couchy]

Iccy mentioned it don’t wait till you retire to do stuff, as for work I’ve still no idea what I want to do. 5 years back in my late 40’s I went part time almost semi retired. That lasted less than a year when I started another business. Now 4 years on I’m full time again and it’s been a journey doubling turnover each year but I’m bored again now, still don’t know what I want to do lol. Lockdown was fun fir two weeks then I’d done all the jobs on the house and ridden loads so not sure full retirement will ever be something I want. Basically I have no idea what I want to do or whether I want to retire. I’ll just keep doing stuff now and see where we get too

[JackyJoll]

If you retire somewhere warm, while you're young enough, you could be doing this every day

That's your dream retirement, not necessarily everyones.

Looking at that scenery every day would drive me to getting the razor blades out.

Nah- a view of the sea does a person good.

[Count Steer]

Oi loiks trees. No volcanos but has some good bike roads. Shame about the MTBers

It's very false though right?
We've got woods and trees, manicured golf courses and some stunning wadis and oases, but the cliché is that it's "false" - so now when I look at pictures of the UK all I see is man made fields, woods and hedges, there isn't anywhere on that picture that hasn't been shaped by man.

If you want natural....

It's the result of a few thousand years of continuous habitatation by several earth species including humans. There are dinosaur bones, evidence of Iron Age communities, Roman temple remains etc etc. All of them (inc. me) lived there because it was a benign environment. Most of the tree species are native (ie were here before the land mass split from the main continent). If humans vanished it wouldn't change much for quite a while (how long would your golf course last?), fields turn to scrubland and tree cover increases. It's not particularly productive land like Norfolk so not intensively farmed so it's a bit of a patchwork I wouldn't say it's false, it is what it is.

Do I want 'natural'? No, only for holidays. I want to live in a house and use roads, shops, electricity and stuff in a pleasant environment. Happily, not everyone wants the same thing and the less people that want it in this little spot the better*.

*Unfortunately being not far from London and jobs being reasonably plentiful, quite close to the coast and an international airport, quite a lot of them do

[Mr. Dazzle]

It does make me laugh a bit though, when people say "you can't destroy this natural beauty by building X-Y-Z here". Wind turbines is a popular one of course.

Iccy is right, there's nothing natural in that photo. It's a man made landscape. It's not a bad one, but it's also a result of human intervention, generally by humans far less concerned than we are about protecting the environment too!

[weeksy]

If you want natural then try the jungles of central and south America, look at the difference when man hasn't done anything to the land, I took this from a ridgeline...

How far to the nearest Waitrose though ?

[Count Steer]

It does make me laugh a bit though, when people say "you can't destroy this natural beauty by building X-Y-Z here". Wind turbines is a popular one of course.

Iccy is right, there's nothing natural in that photo. It's a man made landscape. It's not a bad one, but it's also a result of human intervention, generally by humans far less concerned than we are about protecting the environment too!

I'd argue that the South Downs ridge wasn't put there by humans.

PS I've lived and really enjoyed living in big cities and they don't come much more man-made than that. (Don't want to be retired in one though. A short train ride away is near enough ).

PPS Natural beauty...everyone loves the natural beauty of the Lake District

[Mr. Dazzle]

they don't come much more man-made than that.

You won't be saying that when we're all forced to live in a computer simulated dream world to power a race of sentient machines.

[Count Steer]

they don't come much more man-made than that.

You won't be saying that when we're all forced to live in Facebook to power a race of sentient machines and billionaires.

I can never remember which colour pill I'm supposed to pick.

[Cousin Jack]

I can never remember which colour pill I'm supposed to pick.

Green if you like trees.
Blue if you like the seaside.
Simples,

[Count Steer]

How far to the nearest Waitrose though ?

It's a fair trek, but you can wander a short distance into the jungle, shoot a wild pig, gut it in the field and carry it home to cook on your BBQ, collecting bananas and mangos on the way.

Sounds like a new concept for a restaurant in Shoreditch by a hip Danish chef.

[Taipan]

If you retire somewhere warm, while you're young enough, you could be doing this every day

That's your dream retirement, not necessarily everyones.

Looking at that scenery every day would drive me to getting the razor blades out.

Nah- a view of the sea does a person good.

A sea view is just different shades of blue/green/grey broke by the horizon line and is the most dullest view ever. You need landscape, beach, cliffs etc to make it anything. I love being near the sea, but need countryside within equal reach.

If I had to choose, I'd take walking in Count Steers green and pleasant land over riding in Yoricks more barren landscape. Not slagging that off by any means, as its looks great fun, but I could never be permanently away from walking through woodlands and across fields, admiring all the different trees and wildlife in the hedgerows, and of course ending up in a beer garden...