The cost of getting older.

With age comes responsibility and with responsibility come bills! Lately every single bill I pay has increased. Gas, electric, water, food… just the cost to live day to day taking every penny earned. I am not talking treats or holidays, just the cost to survive!

Sure, there are areas I can save money, but I am not someone who spends lots of money on clothes or makeup or beauty treatments, I am way past that! and I don’t live extravagantly.

This year though I feel angry. I am angry because the cost to travel in the UK is so great now, I am feeling trapped. I live in the north of England. And ‘she’ lives on the south coast. England is not a huge country. With 270 miles between us, meeting should be easy; but it is over 5 hours by car and nearly 4 by train.

We usually meet in London, as that is easier for us both to get to, but this year the cost has shot up. For a 3-day trip it is costing several hundred pounds which is just not affordable this time of year. The reason I am angry is because we meet so rarely and now even the few trips we usually have, have had to be cut.

I understand hotels need to cover costs but double seems excessive. As London draws a large number of tourists all year Christmas is usually even busier. This is nice as it adds to the festive atmosphere and post covid it is lovely to see the city thriving again but soon they will be pricing people out completely.

This time last year, to the day, I was in London. Laughing at her panicked face when she realised we were going to be searched going into winter wonderland in Hyde Park, knowing she had a meat cleaver in her bag… (contrary to what my mother would have believed all those years ago, it was nothing sinister, just a little purchase from the restaurant we had eaten at earlier)

Having escaped arretlst 🤣we wondered round the Christmas stalls and watched people ice skating. We visited the Natural History Museum, went out for dinner and saw a Christmas film at the cinema. All normal things a couple would do and things we are not able to do every day like most people in relationships.

I will miss being able to see the city’s Christmas lights, visit the Christmas markets, see the tree at Trafalgar Square and exchanging presents in person (we saved the opening until Christmas day, but it is nice to actually give someone a gift when you see them so infrequently.)

This year it is back to relying on the postal service and WhatsApp messages. No Christmas films together, no lights, no hot chocolate while walking in the cold winter air..

So yes, I am angry. Angry and sad. We will meet up in the new year, we will make new memories and do something fun I am sure, but this Christmas is another spent apart.