Why are we fascinated with England

For Dee's hubby - A British actor, Robson Green recently did a series about extreme fishing for British TV you can read and see all about it on the webb (Extreme Fishing Robson Green) Here is a letter from a Thialand guide who escorted Robson during the making of a programme. I hope your hubby will now see that us 'Brits' know our fishing andeven the ordinary man here will have a go at anything, please read on-

Dear Sir, I am writing to you regarding the Channel 5 TV show - Extreme Fishing with Robson Green.

Each country Robson fished throughout the program he hired the services of a fishing guide. The new second series which has already been running for some weeks takes Robson on fishing adventures to Australia, Canada, Alaska and more.

On April 13th Channel 5 will air the episode of Extreme Fishing with Robson Green filmed in Thailand. I was hired to guide Robson for the entire Thailand show, and so the following is my personal account of the 6 days filming with Robson Green and the fishing which entailed. This is somewhat of an exclusive insight into the Thailand episode as it has not yet been released on TV, we caught so many fabulous fish that they may not all make it to the final 1 hour cut - and I too have no idea which will be included and which will not until the night!

I formed my guiding company Fish Thailand (www.fishthailand.co.uk) 5 years ago and since have guided globe trotting anglers from over 50 different countries fishing all over Thailand. IWC Media first contacted me about the filming 5 weeks prior to the shoot - I felt very honored that my Fish Thailand Team and myself was requested to guide the entire Extreme Fishing Thailand episode.
Out of 6 days filming there was only 4 days allocated to catch some of the wildest, biggest and most elusive freshwater fish in Thailand from 4 different provinces - a day for each venue!

Fishing and filming with Robson Green was a wonderful experience and I can honestly say he has a rare gift of kindness, honesty & humour coupled with a genuine interest in people & their experiences.

After meeting Robson for the first time it immediately felt as though we were not filming - nothing was staged like I had almost expected it to be and there were many times I didn't even realise they were filming Robson & myself; just two fishermen enjoying the moment. To me this is the purest kind of fishing program where there are no tricks, the test of a fishing show is not only the catching, but also the struggling & the occasional blanks. If I didn't manage to get Robson on the fish in the day allocated, there would be no 'extra time' it would have been a blank but it would still have made TV - and great TV at that because of Robson, the crew and how they capture the moment. For the Thailand episode however, every day of the four days fishing went perfectly. We fished on a river for freshwater stingray which the world has been hearing so much about recently and in just 1 day caught a gigantic fish around the 500lb mark.

A day in the jungle fishing for Indian Carp (rohu) in a vast dam 60km long 15km wide we caught some magnificent carp, also caught were Mekong catfish to 50lb, arapaima, redtail catfish, alligator gar, pacu and so much more.
What I think is very special about the Thailand episode and the venues I guided Robson fishing to, is that every past & future client of mine is given the same level of guiding and opportunities to catch the fish that Robson did at the same places as Robson fished with me. If anything other clients will catch more than Robson on a Fish Thailand fishing holiday because they will not be restricted to just one day at each venue. There were no setups, no staged fish - everything about Extreme Fishing with Robson Green Thailand episode was real life fishing & true fishing experiences.

Tight Lines Eddy Mounce - Fish Thailand www.fishthailand.co.uk

Thankyou Lancashirelove for that indepth letter. You are right the country is surrounded by water, so why would anybody think Brits don't fish!! I will show hubby this. Perhaps I can check out Robson Green's shows on the web. I'd love hubby to see the extent of outdoorsy activities available to him in the UK.

Krissy-it is a small world!!. Have you ever been to Lake George in up state NY? we used visit there when we lived in NJ. Well we were talking about it and Lake Champlain, which we never visited. Like I mentioned earlier, hubby likes fishing (lancashirelove), anything to do with water. Now he is ready to move back to NJ, just to see Lake Champlain, fish, boat etc. As you guys know I am desperate to move out of AZ, but financially it is quite tricky, unless we move back to NJ and live with the in-laws!! Then my hubby can have some of his outdoorsy life back, the kids will have their grandparents but as for me, my heart is for England and my family is all there too. The thought of moving to NJ and living with the in-laws really upsets me. No matter where we move in US, its not like home. If we do move back to NJ, the trips home will be a bit cheaper though (6 of us flying) but there will be no possibility to uproot the family again to move to the UK. Its even more expensive there than NJ. I am confused again.  Will regular trips to the UK help to get rid of my pining or will I keep thinking, wanting, wishing to be back home? What is the best thing to do, I suppose what is best for the whole family.

Hi Dee - your last line says it all doesn't it! 

If it is not possible to relocate to England then you will have to change your mind set and determine to make the very best of what it is you have and make that great for your family. 

Is it possible for any of your family to visit you (it would be a lot cheaper than 6 of you going to England) then you can show them all around where ever you are. 

Many thousands of people visit the US and find enough of everything to excite them. 

I think it is time to plan your life around your current situation, and maybe plan holidays to visit all the amazing places in the US - your kids will appreciate it!  Hey Ho - New England here we come in the Autumn - or the Grand Canyon - the Catskills - Rockies - Yellow Stone Park - Disney Land.  Gosh there are so many places to get excited about!!

LIVE in the now!  Who knows might be in the future?

You are right Cathyml, thankyou again, just don't know how to stop thinking about home. Lots of self talk does'nt help either! You are a strong lady to have lived away from home for 40 years. Did you adjust straighaway or was there a "mourning" period?? Did visits home help at all?

There are things to do in the US, but America is a big country, so lots of places require plane trips, hotels, sometimes car hires, eating out alot, so its very expensive, We did visit, Lego land one year, and disney land another year, Sea world another year, all in california, about a 6-7 hour drive from AZ, but each trip costs about $1000!!! that's why our trips are once a year for 2 days only. And kids don't get to buy any gifts either!! Believe it or not we also did a RV trip to Yellowstone Park, with my visiting sister and her baby (8 of us in a RV and to be frugal, we cooked everyday!! not relaxing at all!! Very nice but still can't beat the British counrtyside.

Just started a thread about weekend getaways, so that I can show  my American hubby all the things to do in the UK on a family friendly budget, not too far from my family home in Wycombe.

Oh Dee, we came to SA by boat (three weeks) then 2 days and 3 nights on a train to Pretoria from Cape Town (with a 4 & 2 year old), we arrived at 6.00 a.m. on a Friday, were taken to an hotel, where my children and I were left and my husband was taken straight to work. 

No car, no map, and didn't speak or understand the predominant language (Afrikaans).  Desperately needing to get nappies I left the hotel to find shops and got very lost.  No one I asked could tell me how to get back to the hotel - until someone suggested I wrote it down!  my pronunciation of the street name was so different that no one recognised it.

I knew we were here for at least three years because my husband was on contract.  Then you need a car - public transport was virtually non existent, a house - because I couldn't stand living in the flats, etc. etc. so no money to visit England. 

You just have to make the best of it when there are no options!  It was 16 years before I could get to England and only because my Dad sent the ticket!

You do what you have to do!

Having said all that, my children have benefitted greatly from the education, wide outdoors & great weather, so I won't complain (at least not too loudly).  And I still love England and proud of it!

That must have been a scary time Cathy!

I don't envy how torn you must feel Dee.

Why do I love England so much? I think for me it is because it is home, where I was born & grew up. The countryside is unique here and the beaches around the UK I think are still the best in the world even though I have been to Hawaii and other US places and some places in Europe in the past. I live in the industrial West Midlands and most people think it is a built up area best missed by tourists but I love the heritage and history and a 10 minute car ride takes you to beautiful countryside.

Thank you guys, definately a big step when it comes to moving abroad. Cathy, when you moved to SA many years ago it was obviously far more difficult to travel, find familiar products, take care of family, especially little ones, in a foreign country.

I remember a time when I visited a British/Indian grocers here in phoenix, I met 2 dear elderly ladies, perhaps in their 80's, I found out they were originally from England but had moved over to India in their younger years and now lived in AZ. They had the strongest Indian accents ever, I had to do a double take!! it was amazing to see British ladies with Indian accents!! How hard it must have been for them also, to have moved so far from England all those years ago and still end up away from home, here in AZ. I suppose you have to do what you have to do, with lots of compromises. Perhaps our compromise will be to move to NJ with the in-laws in order to be somewhat "closer" to home, at least I'll have the 4 seasons, greenery, rain, snow and keep in touch via POE!! (lancashirelove)