Travel Broadens The Mind...Let's Play!

I've been travelling of late so it's time for another dip into BA's business:life magazine for a few fascinating facts to top up your dinner party conversation. And in the spirit of all work and no play making for a rather dull life (as the saying goes), I thought we'd delve into the subject of play and what makes a Brit get 'social'.

First it has to be said that the divide between work and play is ever-blurred with 1 in 3 Britons meeting most of their friends through work. I concur heartily with this generalisation, my own personal experience being that much of this friend-making occurs after work. And with one year in the life of the average Briton spent drinking in the pub, I'd suggest that if you are feeling 'lonesome tonight', the best advice would appear to be polish up your drinking boots.

Speaking of drinking boots, did you know that £2.5bn is spent annually by British women on uncomfortable shoes? Me neither. (Although now that Seattle-A has departed these shores, that figure may come down a bit.)

Drinking boots come in many different shapes and sizes...

Another £1bn a year is donated lost by British gamblers in slot machines - perhaps these are the same people - the 44% of Britons - who don't consider pensions to be a source of retirement funding. Hmmm sounds to me like there'll be no more Choo Shoes for Granny.... 

But there's still plenty of fun to be had on the cheap  All you need to do is listen to the voice within, 58 mintues a week being the average time Britons have a catchy song stuck in their heads - probably from listening to the tune some ear-plugged and oblivious dude is availing everyone else of in the train carriage/bus/general vicinity. Or you could hang out down at the farm. Yes, 77% of farmers play music to their livestock - although I would not suggest getting jiggy with...well anything...while you're down there.

And finally let me astound you with a little bit of amazing arithmetic. There are 28.5 million cars on British roads and 10 million fixed penalty notices were issued to British motorists in the last 12 months. That's...um...*screws up face*...erm...*counts on fingers*...er...*resorts to calculator*...a little less than 1 in 3 vehicles that earned themselves a little special attention for speeding, having a broken headlight, not wearing a seatbelt (that'd be the occupants of said vehicle) or parking in the vicinity of a really confusing sign.

And if you find yourself a little short of paying, you can ask your retired parents or grandparents to release a little equity from their bricks and mortar - 31% will do it to help their nearest and dearest.

I wonder what the percentage is Down Under?

Mum? Dad?

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Travel Broadens The Mind - Back Catalogue
...It's A Virtual Life
...The Euro Zone
...All About The Readies
...Flights Of Fancy
...Or So They Say

Travel Broadens The Mind...All About The Readies

Regular Gidday disciples may be expecting some travelling tales to make you green(ish) with envy. But I still have some significant photo culling to do - digital cameras definitely encourage much snap-happy behaviour - so it won't be the subject of this post. You'll just have to be patient a little bit longer.

But you know what it means when I do travel don't you - more facts of life courtesy of BA's business:life magazine. And this time it's all about the readies.

So the nitty gritty is this. 20% more needs to be earnt by families this year than last to maintain living standards.

Not the most joyous of equations is it?  But before we despair too much, let's take a little squiz at where the money is actually going.

Firstly £7.7bn is spent annually by Britons on maintaining their gardens. I can certainly attest to having admired the glory of British gardens since I arrived here in January 2004 so to my way of thinking, this is money well spent.



Next, 12% of British households pay for domestic help. Let's see: housework vs, well anything else. I think I'll be helping to push that up to 13%  real soon.

But then we are not watching the pennies everywhere, particularly where the kiddies are concerned with 66% of parents admitting to buying their children clothes they only wear once.  Although let's face it, Primark stuff doesn't last much past the first wash.

And how's this for a kicker. £50m is the annual cost of disposing of junk mail in England. That's getting rid of all of that mostly useless crap that comes through the mail slot. I recycle mine. Does that make a difference?

They say with age comes wisdom. 20% of UK car owners buy their first soft-top convertible in their 50s. 85% of British women over 50 spend more on their summer holiday wardrobe than they spend on their actual holiday and 71% of British grandparents are on Facebook. Sounds to me like grey power is having all the fun.

But with 6 million Britons having no savings - despite 43% seeking financial advice from family and friends (what does this say about the other 57%?) - and 30% giving investment in shares a wide berth, it's hard to see how we are ever going to fund these good times of the future.

Just as well 2/3 of households have one or more bicycles and 55% still haven't visited St Paul's Cathedral.

I predict a growth in staycations!

Travel Broadens The Mind...Flights Of Fantasy

As you know, I have been travelling over the last couple of weeks and you know what that means - more of my wry observations on the facts of life according to BA's business:life magazine! (Calm down peeps, I know you can barely contain your excitement.)

The theme of the June 2011 issue of business:life is 'If At First You Don't Succeed...why we all need to fail'.  Whilst I whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment (and in fact, the general tone of the articles), the 'stats sound bites' strewn throughout seemed to suggest that perhaps the realms of fantasy are society's preferred option.

We start with that perennial favourite, the body beautiful.  According to business:life sources, one third of UK women would be prepared to trade at least a year of their life in exchange for an 'ideal body'.  I have news for them.  Obsessing about the ideal body and what constitutes this has probably shortened their lifespan already.  Particularly since Britons don't start worrying about their health until aged 39 - I suspect the additional 4 inches around the waistline is probably the first clue.  And then a third think that they will grow their own fruit and veg this summer - a healthy and noble ambition, no less. Does digging up garden beds gone to seed cover the 'needing to fail' bit?  Might also count as exercise...two birds with one stone there.
 
Next we take a look at what we've been doing other than worrying and planting a few carrots and strawbs - watching telly.  One fifth of Britons have been motivated to start their own business after watching programmes such as Dragon's Den and The Apprentice. So I have a question - does this mean they actually started a business or just got a nice, warm feeling about it?  Reports that business failures are actually down 7.9% across the UK for Jan/Feb 2011 versus the previous year would appear to be an encouraging sign. However, the Welsh have clearly not been paying attention - with business failures up 23.9%, I suspect that the nice, warm feeling has passed them by.  Although there's 2.2 million potholes in Britain - perhaps that repesents a business opportunity in the offing or at the very least, an episode of The Apprentice.  Oh, sorry they already have that - when the candidates lug their shovels with them into their interviews and proceed to dig deep, deep, deep holes... 

On the subject of starting one's own business, 53% of Britain's entrepreneurs put their success down to their innate talents, rather than learnt skills or education. (Perhaps pot-hole identification is genetic?)  So I ask you this - what are Mums-and-Dads (M-A-D) doing paying squillions for privately educated children (£360,000 apparently) to then attend fee-paying universities?  And then spending an average of £772 to bail their little darlings out on their gap year?  No wonder 38% of Britons would use a discount voucher on a first date and 23% of British readers are attracted to e-books because of the cost.

And as to the value of all this education?  Well, one in five Britons thinks Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple are historical figures.  I rest my case...

And finally, in light of my re-entry into singledom this year, let's look to the state of romance here in the UK:

16% of British adults are planning a holiday with their parents this year.

312 is the number of times the average couple argues each year.

72% of young British men never buy flowers for their loved ones.


On the other hand, let's not.

Travel Broadens The Mind...Or So They Say

They say travel broadens the mind.  So it is in this spirit that I would like to share what I learnt during this week's excursion into the pages of one of British Airways erstwhile mags, business:life.

Firstly, did you know that 65% of British adults have no idea how to wire a plug? No? Well, I figure that as long as we have some competent electricians in the remaining 35%, I'm pretty comfortable with leaving this task out of my repertoire. Aren't you?

Then I turned the page to discover that 83% of smartphone owners regularly play games on them (I am not one of them - a game player I mean!) and that 26% of all mobile phone apps are only opened once after being downloaded (usually because they're free and pretty rubbish - you get what you pay for in this life).  This all seemed little bit like stating the obvious but trotting out some 'proper' stats at the next do I attend should up my 'street cred' no end.

On the subject of travel, I found out that £860 is the average cost of a holiday per person and that one third return to the same spot for their annual break.  Also, one third of Britons admit to imbibing five or more alcoholic drinks  a day while on holiday - not an amazing statistic in and of itself as I think this is commonly known as chillin'. But 10% of the British population also show some signs of dyslexia. Probably because we like to behave like we are on permanent holiday when it comes to alcohol consumption. (By the way, does this mean that the remaining 90% just can't spell?) 

Things then took a disturbing turn. 

70 is the number of times the average Briton is caught on CCTV daily.  All I can say is I hope they are getting my good side.  And a small note to self here: pay a little more attention to the details on the back-side - I don't like my chances of a 'positive' response to 'does my bum look big in this?'.

But even worse: apparently 1 in 5 UK motorists surf the internet while driving.  What the ****!? Is this somehow related to the 83% of gamers on smart-phones? Is this a rebellion against not talking on the phone whilst driving? Where's that CCTV when you need it!?

By the end of the magazine, Britain's good ol' bastion of air travel had resorted to calling us all liars. 1 in 6 restaurants lies about the 'fresh' or 'organic' origins of its produce  (another 'no s**t Sherlock' moment). And apparently, 27% of Britons admit to lying about what they do on their weekend in order to impress others. Hey, you guys know what I am doing for at least a few hours each weekend as it appears right here - let me tell you it takes time to craft such thought-provoking and witty prose.

So I reached the end of the mag, and having enjoyed all of these titbits of knowledge, am smiling a little to myself as I close it, ready for its reinsertion into the seat-back pocket in front of me, when something else catches my eye and I just couldn't help feeling that the question that business:life posed on behalf of BA to all we readers on the last page was somewhat ironic...

May we offer you something to drink?

God I love travelling!