Talking to Locals in Manchester, UK

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Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests.    

Kristin Wilson, Host:    00:01:24    Hey there, Kristin, from Traveling with Kristin here and welcome to episode 208 of Badass Digital Nomads. Today's podcast was inspired by a spontaneous outing that I had in Dublin, Ireland when I decided to go out and ask locals about their city because it was a place that I had never been before and I didn't have that much time there, I just had a few days there. So I wanted to learn as much as I could really fast and I had so much fun and learned so much from that experience. And you may have heard that here on the podcast. We'll link to that episode in the show notes as well as the video that I repeated the process in Belfast in Northern Ireland and then decided to do it here in Manchester in my neighborhood over here in the suburbs. And I can't emphasize enough how awkward it is to walk up to strangers in a new city and bother them in their front yards or on the street and ask them personal questions.  

Kristin:    00:02:32    So I really hope that, uh, you enjoy the outcome of these conversations. I found them to be very insightful and very interesting and I think that talking with locals is a great way to just get, you know, hit the ground running, like get those local insights that would otherwise take you weeks or months or even years to uncover organically. So we just dove right in here in Manchester and it happened to be the day right after King Charles Coronation. So I asked them what they thought of the coronation, if they watched it, what their opinions were of the royal family, because especially since um, Queen Elizabeth died, there's been a lot of talk over the future of the monarchy here and lots of valid questions as to why we have that at all. And I also heard that people in the north of England are, are less supportive than more of the royalists in the South.  

Kristin:    00:03:35    So I found that really interesting and also ask them what they liked and don't like about their neighborhood and greater Manchester region in general. So I hope you enjoy that and that's why today I wanted to introduce you to our featured partner, which is Tours by Locals, a very cool website that connects you with 5,000 local tour guides in nearly 200 countries around the world. And I just love this concept because it's a way to just get those local insights from the beginning, paying a fair price to get tours from real people that are experts in the area and not get like a cookie cutter tour that comes from some corporate office somewhere else. If you listened to my episode, um, on the Bali Digital Nomad controversy, I mentioned there that I was speaking with one of my friends who was born in Indonesia to parents who are from the US and he said that one of the biggest problems in Bali right now is tourists booking tours through international operators.  

Kristin:    00:04:49    And that money from those tours doesn't trickle down to the locals. And he said this is especially a problem with Chinese tourists who are booking through Chinese operators and all of the money is staying at the top of the food chain. So it's really important to book with people that are actually part of the community and are going to receive fair compensation for giving those tours. And that's why I wanted to bring this website to your awareness and also to support entrepreneurs and startups and small businesses that are creating these types of ventures and in marketplaces to exchange these services. So you can check them out using our affiliate link in the show notes. And it's really easy to book. You can look at people's profiles and reviews and you just put in your destination message, a couple tour guides that are offering tours that you're interested in.  

Kristin:    00:05:48    And then you can just book directly online and get 24/7 customer support from the site if you have any questions. So because we're talking to locals today in Manchester, I wanted to also share about that website so that you can get local tours wherever you're traveling in the world. And I first got the idea to look into this option because I downloaded an app called Spottedby, like Spotted by Locals that I'll also link to in the show notes. And you can download city guides and destination guides for like $10 or something like that, that are crowdsourced and written by real people that live in those areas that I think they're just volunteering this information. And I thought that was a really good jumping off point to visit the recent cities that I've been to like, uh, Dublin and Manchester here. But getting a local tour in person, you just get to go a lot deeper than reading a guide.  

Kristin:    00:06:52    So with these two sources combined, you'll be unstoppable and you'll get that local authentic experience, uh, that you can't necessarily get from the big booking sites. I also wanna thank Jillian from the United States who left a review recently on Apple Podcasts. We really, really value reviews because there's no sort of podcast SEO or search engine like there is on sites like YouTube. Go to lovethepodcast.com/digitalnomad and that'll give you those links directly. And you can also leave a review on our website, badassdigitalnomads.com. Jillian says, relatable and real. I love how Kristin keeps it real with travel and I often feel like she gets me in a world of people that don't understand the appeal of travel beyond the two week vacation on the beach. Don't get me wrong, I love the beach. She's honest about both the ups and downs of travel, the benefits and downsides of digital nomad life, tourism, et cetera. And there's always an informative takeaway or more from every episode. Thanks Kristin. Thanks Jillian and everyone, the 100 plus people who have left reviews for us over the years, really appreciate it. And let's jump into today's conversations with the locals in Manchester.  

Podcast: 

Anne:    00:08:16    I think you'll make a good king.

Jason: but there's a lot of negativity on Twitter, Facebook, and everybody's saying like people can't even buy food because it's too busy paying their bills. They could have put the money into that.  

Kristin:    00:08:26    I just landed here in the UK yesterday, literally during the middle of King Charles's Coronation. And from what I've heard, the people in northern England are a little bit less supportive of the Royals than you might find in other parts of the country, especially in London and the South. And so I'm gonna walk around the neighborhood and see if people watched yesterday and what they thought of the coronation and the royal family. What's your name?  

Phil:    00:08:54    My name's Phil.  

Kristin:    00:08:55    And how long have you lived here in Manchester or Salford?   

Phil:    00:08:58    So I've lived here for 12 years now, in here, but I've lived, other than being at university, I've lived in Manchester and Salford all my life.  

Kristin:    00:09:07    And what do you like about living here, being from here?  

Phil:    00:09:11    I love the fact that everyone's so friendly. You can talk to anyone if you catch someone's eye. Yeah, I lived in London for five years and I found it really strange that people didn't seem to like say hello or nod the heads at each other. Yeah. Whereas here, everyone's so friendly, you can have a good time. There's a lack of community spirit around here.   

Kristin:   00:09:30    So what would you tell people that have never been to Manchester? Like what, what is a good reason to come here besides the great people?  

Phil:  00:09:38    Oh, that would've been my main answer the people. Uh, also the, not just the nightlife, but the daytime life. There's so many cafes, bars, restaurants. Even when you're quite central, like in Salford or Manchester, there's lots of green, green areas and parks. Country parks. So there's a lot of wildlife.  

Kristin:    00:09:58    Oh good. So I picked a good spot. Yeah. And are there any problems around here? Like are there things that you would change or that the government should focus on?  

Phil:   00:10:08    I don't class myself as a very political person, but I suppose there's a lot of deprivation around Salford -- in certain areas. Uh, I suppose people that are on benefits I don't feel are supported enough. Mental health as well. But I think that's the same everywhere. I just think it's underfunded, things like that really. Yeah. 

Kristin:    00:10:29    And would you, you mentioned you lived in London and then Yeah. Also here. Would you say that people are interested in the Royals here or what is because since the coronation was yesterday? <laugh>,  

Phil:    00:10:41    I think, I think it's a mixture. Whoever you talk to, I think there's a lot of people that are monarchists and a lot that aren't. But I think people that I know that aren't monarchists even they got kind of into it yesterday. It's like a historical moment or the kind of, What you call it,  

Kristin:    00:11:03    The pomp and circumstance.  

Phil:    00:11:05    Yes. That's exactly the word I was looking for. Yeah. Yeah. And it's a part of history, so I think, yeah, most people got into it.  

Kristin:    00:11:11    Did you watch it?  

Phil:    00:11:12    I did watch it and I didn't think I would, I was studying ing at the time, so I had it on in the background. Yeah. And it was quite emotional as well.  But I wouldn't class myself as a monarchist really. 

Kristin:   00:11:23  Right.  I, I wouldn't say I follow the royals, but I did watch a lot of it. I thought it was interesting.  

Phil:    00:11:28    Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Interesting. And a historical moment To be part of.  

Kristin:   00:11:32    Yeah. Well good luck with all of your, your studying and thanks for sharing your experience of you're welcome perspectives here.  

Phil:    00:11:39    Welcome. Thank you. 

Kristin:    00:11:40    How  long have you lived in Manchester?  

Grandmother:   00:11:42    All my life. Oh, all your life. 64 years.  

Kristin:   00:11:46    Is it a good place to live?  

Grandmother:    00:11:47    It was. No, no, that's good. Now  

Kristin:    00:11:50    What's going on now?  

Grandmother:    00:11:52    Deteriorating a little in the--  

Kristin:  00:11:54    Really?  

Grandmother:    00:11:55    Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.  

Kristin:   00:11:57    What do you think has caused that?  

Grandmother:    00:12:00    People moving out. People moving on and all kinds of people in and out all the time.  you don't know, you know, so it's changed a lot.  

Kristin:   00:12:14    And have you lived in Salford your life as well? Okay. What are some of the good parts about Salford or Manchester? 

Grandmother:  00:12:21    Good --Good for commute. If you go into Manchester. Have you been to Manchester city?  

Kristin:   00:12:26    Yeah, just last night. Yeah.  

Grandmother:    00:12:27    So you know it's straight on the bus there and right back. So That's brilliant if you like city life. Which I did when I was younger. 

Kristin:   00:12:35    I know <laugh>, I, I, that's why I chose here cuz I'm like, it's a little bit outside of the--

Grandmother:   00:12:39    And it's easy for motor ways to Bolton and that way. So it's the area's good.  

Kristin:   00:12:45  Uhhuh <affirmative>. Well I, did you guys uh watch the Coronation yesterday?

Grandmother:  I did, yeah.

Kristin: Did you like it?  

Grandmother:   00:12:51    I loved it. <laugh>. She wasn't too bothered, was you not?  

Kristin:   00:12:55    I guess it could get a little boring at times. Right. Would you say that like in general you're very supportive of the Royals?  

Grandmother:    00:13:02    Um, not massively so, but I do, I am interested in watching.  

Kristin:   00:13:07    Yeah. You know,  

Grandmother:    00:13:08    You know. Yeah. So yeah, I watched it. My husband didn't watch it and I was the only one watching it, but anyway. <laugh>

Kristin:   00:13:15    Yeah. Uh, are you gonna do any of the like events or things around here?  

Grandmother:   00:13:19    Well there's um, a party, actually, I dunno if you know there's a park  

Kristin:   00:13:22    Today?

Grandmother:   00:13:23    Tomorrow.  

Kristin:   00:13:23    Oh, tomorrow.  

Grandmother:    00:13:24    If you keep going straight, there's a park called Light Oaks Park and there's the function there tomorrow.

Kristin: Oh great.

Grandmother:  Um, 12 till three.  

Kristin:   00:13:32    Oh good. I'll go. That sounds great.  

Grandmother:    00:13:33    There's a, a picnic if you take a picnic in, there's music. Okay. It's nice in that park. I don't know. If you fancy walk there. 

Kristin:   00:13:40    Yeah. I'll definitely go.  

Grandmother:    00:13:41    Well, that's where we've just been. haven't we.   

Kristin:   00:13:43    Oh Lovely. Well, thank you for sharing.

Grandmother:    00:13:46    You're welcome.  

Kristin:  00:13:48    Uh, what's your name?  

Jason:   00:13:49    Uh, name's Jason. 

Kristin:   00:13:50    And Uh, are you from Manchester originally?  

Jason:    00:13:52    Um, Salford. Um, actually Salford, Manchester's about another three mile down the road, but yeah, I've been in there Salford all my life. 

Kristin:   00:13:59    And do you like it here?  

Jason:    00:14:01    Don't really bother, stick to myself, really. 

Kristin:   00:14:05    What would you say to people who've never been to this area, like in Northern England?  

Jason:    00:14:09     Well, if you like football, you've got Manchester City, you've got Manchester United, but I don't like football. So there's, there's plenty of parks and museums and um, if you're into churches, there's plenty of churches, but there, there's lots to do here. There's there's all park. You can go roll me round have a look at .

Kristin:   00:14:26    Oh good. I just got a bike so --

Jason:    00:14:28    Oh yeah, you can bike. Yeah. Uh, Manchester's been very bike friendly, so if you go to Manchester, it's very bike friendly around there. 

Kristin:   00:14:34    And then how are you guys spending your bank holiday?  

Jason:    00:14:37    I've just been shopping now, but I'm gonna chill in a bit. 

Kristin:   00:14:39    Did you guys watch the Coronation this weekend?  

Jason:    00:14:42    Uh, it doesn't interest me.

Kristin: No? <laugh>

Jason:  Doesn't really interest me.  

Kristin:   00:14:45    I have heard that in uh, Northern England it's like the royals are less popular than in other parts of the country. Would you agree?  

Jason:    00:14:55    Um,  

Jason:    00:14:56    It sort of mixed, but you can, you can see from the street some people have, but other people just, they're not bothered at all. But the people up the road, they've got the flags up. The flags are up there, the end of the road closed it. But it is like quite a few people I spoke to have just gone, I'm not bothered. But there's a lot of negativity on Twitter, Facebook and everybody's saying like, um, because the world's in --we shouldn't get run over <laugh> --because the world's in such problems with people pay --people paying for food. You've got, you've got your food, you've got your food bills and is spending God knows how watch on doing that.  

Kristin:   00:15:31    Yeah, that's a good point.  

Jason:    00:15:32   They could have put some of that into helping with the fuel cost or people can't even buy food because it's too busy paying the bills. So rather than having all this slap up big, um, doing that, they could have put the money into that. That's, that's what I think really it's-- the big gold thing, which was like ugh.  

Kristin:  00:15:48    Yeah, the gold carriage. 

Jason:    00:15:50    Yeah <laugh>.  

Kristin:   00:15:50    yeah, yeah. I caught a little bit of the end cuz I was just in the taxi on the way from the airport.

Jason:  Oh yeah. Manchester airport.

Kristin: I mean it's quite a show but yeah. Well great. Well thanks for giving me uh, some tips.

Kristin: <laugh>. And where are you from originally?  

Jess:    00:16:06     Adams from here. The same area. Yeah. And I'm from a little town called St. Helens near Liverpool.  

Kristin:   00:16:12    Oh, lovely. So what do you like about living in Manchester area? 

Jess:    00:16:17    Everyone's friendly.  Yeah. Really friendly. 

Adam:     00:16:20    It's good sized city I'd say. It's not, it's not too big. Not too expensive, but there's still plenty of stuff going on.   

Jess:   00:16:25    There's really good museums.  

Adam:    00:16:26    Yeah, music's good.  Um, I'm a Man United fan as well, so that's <laugh>, that's the best thing for football.

Kristin:   00:16:32   Are they playing today?  

Adam:    00:16:33    They are playing later. Uh, but they're playing away from home.  

Kristin:   00:16:36    Yeah. I ask one guy and he's like, the game's starting, I can't talk <laugh>. Okay.

Jess:    00:16:41   Yeah. People are very passionate about the football here.  

Adam:    00:16:44    Yeah.  

Adam:   00:16:45    Yeah. You can't interrupt that <laugh>.  

Jess:    00:16:46    No.  

Kristin:   00:16:47    And did you guys watch the Coronation yesterday?  

Jess & Adam:    00:16:50    No, I didn't actually. No. No. We caught up on some highlights today.  Um, but we didn't get involved in it at all. Yesterday I was doing an exam and Adam was doing housework, so.  

Kristin:   00:16:59    Okay. Yeah. <laugh>.  

Adam:    00:17:00    Yeah, it's quite long, so yeah,  

Kristin:   00:17:02    It's like two or three hours. Yeah.  

Jess:    00:17:04    Yeah. It's crazy.  

Kristin:   00:17:05    Would you say that like, people generally, like I see the, um, flags over there in the window. Yeah. But would you say people are generally like really enthusiastic about the royals or more like,   

Adam:    00:17:15    I think it depends on the age. I think older, the people are definitely more into it. Um, and the area you live in, I don't think cities like Manchester, not, not so much, but if you go down south to to like the posher areas, then they're a lot more into the family. Yeah.  

Kristin:   00:17:29    So maybe like working class neighborhoods, not so excited about it.   

Adam:    00:17:33    Not much. That's my general.

Jess:   00:17:34   Yeah. That's what I'd say as well. Yeah. But then like the older generations definitely. Like my grandma's very much a loyalist. I say <laugh>. 

Kristin:  00:17:44    Yeah. What, what about Megan and Harry? Do you take sides in that or indifferent?   

Jess:    00:17:49    No, not really  

Adan:    00:17:50    Sure. I'll be honest with you. No, no.  

Jess:    00:17:52    We don't care really. <laugh>.  

Adam:   00:17:54    Yeah. The whole celebrity thing doesn't really interest me on the list

Kristin:   00:17:56    Yeah. It's always in the papers in the US so I just feel curious like, but I didn't--

Jess:    00:18:01    Yeah. They're obsessed over there, I think  

Adam:    00:18:02    Most people do have opinions on it. Um, but yeah, not, not really,  

Kristin:   00:18:05    But I did hear that in the north, like in northern England it's like not as big of a thing as in London for example.

Jess: Yeah, yeah.

Adam: Yeah. Definitely.

Kristin: Yeah. And are there any downsides to living here? Like things you would change?

Adam:    00:18:17    The weather. Weather.  

Kristin:   00:18:18    Weather.  

Jess:    00:18:18    Yeah. It's the rainist city in the world. I'm sure.

Adam:    00:18:20    The weather. and uh, litter as well. There is far too much litter. 

Kristin:   00:18:24    Yeah.  

Adam:    00:18:25    That's the one thing that really annoys me.  

Kristin:   00:18:26    I actually was picking some up in my front yard today. 

Jess:    00:18:29    Yeah, We've got all the time. we've commonly refurbishing so that's--

Adam:    00:18:32    Some blown into --

Jess:    00:18:33    I know. It just blows in off the streets like --

Kristin:   00:18:36    You should make a complaint to the government <laugh>

Jess:    00:18:38    Oh yeah. Sometimes people do say, they report it to the council, but I don't think it goes anywhere.  

Kristin:   00:18:43    Yeah. There's a sign on my trash can in the front and it says, um, yeah if this bin is full, like go to this website. But it's always full and and people put their trash next to it.  Like I'm like oh use your own trash can cuz it's right outside my window. It's annoying. But yeah. Anyways,  

Jess:   00:19:01    What do you like about being here then for the, since you've been here?

Kristin:   00:19:04    <laugh>? Well, if the weather's like this every day, I'll be okay.  

Jess & Adam:    00:19:07    No. don't get your hopes up. Yeah, don't <laugh>.  

Kristin:   00:19:10    Um, I actually came because, well my ancestors are from like northern England and Scotland, so I wanted to just explore, I I have this travel channel but I've never been here. I've only been to London and like south of England. So -- 

Adam:    00:19:25    You get a better experience in England outside of London I would say.

Kristin:   00:19:28   Yeah. yeah. But already like last night I went out, uh, for the first time.  And I was blown away. Like I'm from Miami. The people are not nice there. Like, I would say not friendly and okay, where do I start? Okay. A girl came up to me and she was like, you have beautiful hair, what color is it? can, can you gimme your hairstylists number? <laugh>? And I was like, well she's in a different continent. 

Adam:   00:19:55    <laugh> quite expensive to get over there. Yeah.  

Kristin:   00:19:57    And just like everybody talked to me like just not, not like guys hitting on me or anything, just like talking and girls and girls with boyfriends and --

Jess:    00:20:06    people  are genuinely --People from the north, our friend were more intrigued by like foreign, like for example, people from America were like, one of our best friends is married to an American, she's from North Carolina. Oh. And we find it fascinating hearing about how like different it is over there compared to here. Like we're like, oh it traveling an hour away. It's so far. And she's like, Jess, it's like five hours is  --it's, it's far for us, I'm like, oh yeah.

Kristin:   00:20:30    Oh yeah, It's an hour to go anywhere there. Yeah. I met a girl last night, she was like, I think I should have been born American because she's like, I love hot dogs and <laugh> all this stuff. But I was like, well go for holiday but not to live. Yeah, well I was standing at the bar and, and a girl was standing next to me and she was like, I was just thinking about what a nice jawline you have <laugh>  

I was like at the most random compliment <laugh>. And then my other friend who was there, he's like, oh yeah, that's just a compliment. Like that's normal here. People will just say stuff to you like nice--  

Jess:  00:21:10    Like especially girls from up here, they're so nice that you'll go to the bathroom and you can be gone for four hours. <laugh>, you just making best friends. Everyone's so friendly.  

Kristin:   00:21:19    Yeah. That there's a little bit more competition. I think in Miami it's like not as friendly, but like even the fact that um, just being to walk down, being able to walk down the street and like talk to strangers has been great. <laugh>.  

Adam:   00:21:33    No, especially if people hear you've haven't got an American accent. We don't hear many of them around here. So definitely more willing to speak to you. Yeah.  

Kristin:   00:21:40    You guys I can understand perfectly. But last night I was struggling a little with the music.  I was like what <laugh>  

Adam:    00:21:47    We've got some very strong accents around there.  

Kristin:   00:21:48    Yeah. Well this looks like a nice park. What is it called?  

Jess:    00:21:52    This is Light Oaks Park.  

Kristin:   00:21:54    Oh. This might be where um, that they're having like a picnic here tomorrow or something like a community picnic I think

Jess:  We do have things on. Yeah.

Adam:    00:22:02    I saw there was doing something for the Coronation. I dunno--

Kristin:   00:22:05    Oh, that's what it's for. Okay. Because I was like, what could I do on the bank holiday? And she's like, oh, there's a picnic over here so I'll have to come check that out. Well, enjoy your walk. It was really nice to meet, meet you guys.

Jess: Nice meet you. Enjoy.

Kristin: I might come knock and bother you another day. Just say Hi, I'll bring you some wine <laugh>. Okay. Bye. Well it definitely seems like more of the people that I've talked to are less excited about the Royals than being pro royal. So only one of the people was actually a fan. The rests were pretty indifferent about it except for Phil who watched because it was a historical occasion and it was, you know, maybe a once in a lifetime experience. And so, uh, that's kind of how I felt when I was watching. I'm not, um, someone who follows royal gossip.  

Kristin:   00:22:57    But I did think that it was pretty stunning and intriguing to watch that ceremony. I, I felt a mixture of feelings during it. Part of me thought it was boring at times. Part of me thought it was impressive at times. Um, part of me kind of questioned the whole point of it at times and I was like, why do we still have uh, these monarchies? And then part of me thought it must be fun to be riding down in that horse and carriage to a palace. But that's probably the fairytale programming that we have in all of us. So I decided to come to the park today to look for that coronation picnic that my neighbor was telling me about, but I can't seem to find it. I've walked all around so maybe it's not happening or maybe it got rained out. But either way I'll walk around and try to talk to some locals and see what they have to say. Um, I actually came down here cuz I heard there was a picnic for the coronation, but it looks like maybe it got rained out or something. Did you hear about that? 

Jeanette:    00:24:00    Um, Was that maybe --might have been yesterday. Yesterday, Yeah. Some of them had them on the Sunday, didn't they? Yeah. 

Kristin:   00:24:06    Did you guys watch the Coronation?

Jeanette:  Yes.

Kristin:  Yeah. How did you find it?  

Jeanette:   00:24:11    I love it.  

Kristin:   00:24:12    Yeah.  

Jeanette:   00:24:12    I, I love the olds--of the theatrical of the, you know, everything about it. Yeah.  

Kristin:   00:24:17    Would you say you normally like follow some of the happenings of the Royals?  

Jeanette:  00:24:22    Um, yeah, to a certain extent.  

Kristin:   00:24:23    Yeah. Yeah. Did you watch it Kath?  

Kath:   00:24:26    Yeah, I watched it. I, um, yeah, I thought it was really good. I watched it with my mom who's another seven. I'm uh, son who's 19. So it was a good like, family moment, so.  

Kristin:   00:24:34    Oh, good. Wait, so your mom would've been a baby during the last time? 

Kath:    00:24:37    So 1953  

Kristin:   00:24:39    She was born.  

Kath:    00:24:39    The Coronation happened, she was born. So yeah. The queen got born. Yeah.  

Kristin:   00:24:44    Yeah. Would you say that um, like it made you proud to be British or --

Kath:  Yeah, definitely

Jeanette:   00:24:49   Yeah it's always a good showcase isn't it, for the whole world really. It's what we do best, I think. 

Kath:    00:24:54    Exactly. All the um, the military operation and all that. Like the soldiers in the street. No, no other country would've pulled that off. 

Kristin:   00:25:01    Did you, was uh, Harry at the Coronation?

Jeanette: Yes.

Kristin: He was? I didn't see it cuz I flew in on the day of the coronation, so I only saw the second half. Did they show him in there?  

Jeanette:   00:25:12    Um, I didn't see much of him but I did when we were in Westminster, um, he was back--a few rows back--back with all the main royals.  

Kristin:   00:25:18    Oh, okay. So you guys have an opinion on like the hearing in Megan exit <laugh>?  

Jeanette:   00:25:23    Um,  

Kath:    00:25:24    I don't agree with ---

Jeanette:  00:25:25   We have a saying. It's like you don't air your dirty laundry in public and it's just like, oh yeah, it's too much. We don't need to know. Get on with it.  

Kristin:   00:25:32    Yeah,  

Kath:   00:25:33    Harry did. He was my favorite Royal. He really was. But then just, I don't understand why he's coming out. Like everyone's got a private life and it seems like he's met Megan and he's just changed into this person and he thinks the opinion, opinion and it's just like, no, I, I understand you've gone to America, you've got a new life. Why do we all need to know? Yeah. Crack on with it. Bring your kids up, be a good dad. End off the whole world isn't need know.  

Kristin:  00:25:58    Yeah. TMI, Too Much Information. <laugh>.  Okay. Well cheers. Thank you so much for sharing your local knowledge.

Kath & Jeanette: Okay, thank you.

Kristin: Bye. Are you from Salford?  

Anne:   00:26:12    Originally? South Manchester.  

Kristin:   00:26:15    Okay.  

Anne:    00:26:16    I, I love living here because I find that the people of Salford are very friendly and just generally very nice people.  

Kristin:   00:26:23    Yeah. Would you agree Dave? 

Dave:    00:26:25    I can vouch for that cause I've lived here for 83 years. <laugh>,  

Kristin:   00:26:28    You know, everyone I've talked to is like born and raised here, so I feel like I'm in a good place. 

Dave:    00:26:34    You never move out <laugh>.

Anne:  Are you? Yeah. You are born and bred up?

Dave: Yeah.  

Kristin:   00:26:38    And uh, so is it a very close-knit community? Like does everyone know each other? 

Dave:     00:26:43  They don't, uh, too soon actually. You know, they're friendly. Yeah,  

Kristin:    00:26:45    Yeah, yeah.  

Anne:   00:26:46    Yeah. I find when I come in the park with my dog,  

Dave:    00:26:48    You're always friendly talk 

Anne:   00:26:49    People just say hello and you tend to have park friends.  

Kristin:   00:26:53    Yeah, I made a few today <laugh>. Now I have some more. Have you spent much time in London or in other parts of the country?  

Anne:   00:27:01    Um, not living. Visiting.  

Kristin:  00:27:03    Just visiting?

Anne: Yes.

Kristin: Is um, would you say that the UK is very diverse, like from north to south, is it?

Anne:  Yes.

Kristin: Does it feel like a different country?  

Anne:   00:27:12    Yes. Northerners are more friendly than the Southerners.  

Kristin:   00:27:15    Okay. So--  

Anne:   00:27:16    I have been told that.  

Kristin:   00:27:18    And did you guys watch the Coronation this weekend?

Anne:  Yes.

Kristin:  Yeah. How do you feel about it?  

Anne:   00:27:23    Oh yes. I'm very much a royalist. I, I think, uh, I think he'll make a good king. Maybe not for too long because he's older. The oldest king has ever been. Yeah. You know, but he's saying again, his son William, he will take over and he'll --him and his family will be absolutely brilliant.  

Kristin:   00:27:41    Yeah. What was your favorite part about the ceremony or the whole thing?  

Anne:   00:27:47    Well, I personally like the concert last night.  

Kristin:   00:27:50    Last night?

Anne:   00:27:51    The she-- last night? Yeah. There was a big--

Dave:   00:27:53    Did you see the concert last night?  

Kristin:   00:27:54    No, was it here? 

Dave:    00:27:55   Oh, you miss that.  

Anne:  00:27:55    It was just, um, where was it? Windsor Castle

Kristin:   00:27:58    Oh was it on tv? 

Anne:   00:27:59    Windsor Castle. 

Dave:    00:28:00    Windsor Castle, yeah.  

Anne:   00:28:00    Yes, it was on tv. 

Kristin:    00:28:01    Oh okay.

Dave: On tv.  

Anne:   00:28:02    BBC one for two hours.  

Kristin:   00:28:04    Okay. I could probably find it  

Anne:   00:28:06    Fantastic acts.

Dave:    00:28:08    Lionel Richie was on and  

Kristin:  00:28:10    Oh  Lovely?

Dave:    00:28:10   Katy Perry, Isn't it

Anne:  00:28:11    Katy Perry. 

Kristin:   00:28:13   Okay. I'll have to watch  it.

Anne: Take that. 

Dave:    00:28:14    Take that. I don't really know these-- 

Kristin:   00:28:17    I don't, I don't know many of the songs but--And well how do you feel then about Harry kind of leaving the royal family or-- 

Anne:   00:28:24    Oh, sad.  

Kristin:   00:28:26    Yeah.

Dave: Sad in it.  

Anne:  00:28:27    Yeah. Very sad cuz I really liked Harry.  

Kristin:  00:28:29    Yeah. Do you have an opinion on Mags-xit? <laugh>,

Anne:  Megan?

Kristin: Yeah.  

Anne:   00:28:34    I don't think she was the right woman for him. Truly. He's got a family now on and there's no way in a million years, even if the marriage broke, he would leave his children.  

Kristin:   00:28:44    Yeah. Do you think there's hope for reconciliation with his dad and brother? 

Anne:   00:28:50    Oh I wish. I wish there was  

Dave:   00:28:51    Eventually might do. He might.  

Anne:   00:28:52    I really do wish they were--  

Dave:    00:28:54    For the moment. There's a lot gone under the bridge now, aren't they? Before they can get back to--  

Kristin:   00:28:59    Well, having such life experience. Um, what, what advice would you have for people that maybe are in like a, like a situation, like a problems with someone or argument?  

Anne:   00:29:12    I would say to them life is short and to fall out with your family is the biggest fallout really. And make up, make up,  

Kristin:   00:29:24    Make amends and--

Anne: make amend.

Kristin: Good advice. Well thank you so much. Enjoy your walk and--  

Anne:   00:29:30    Mike and the mechanics, the living years. Have you heard of it?  

Kristin:   00:29:34    No. The what?  

Anne:  00:29:35    It's a song called The Living Years.  

Kristin:   00:29:37    The Living Years  

Anne:   00:29:38    By Mike and The Mechanics.  

Kristin:  00:29:40    Okay, I'll look it up.  

Anne:  00:29:41    Yeah, you got, you'll know it there. All right. And listen to that song because it's so meaningful.  

Kristin:   00:29:47    Okay. I'm gonna look it up when I get home. <laugh>, thank you so much.

Anne: You're very welcome.  

Kristin:    00:29:51    Bye!  

Anne:   00:29:52    Bye. I was a bit dubious at first <laugh>.

Kristin: I'm just a normal person. 

Anne:    00:29:57   and I hope you'll be very happy and speak again.

Kristin:   00:30:00    Thank you. Thank you. I hope I'll see you in the park.

Anne: Yeah, <laugh>.

Kristin: Bye.

Anne: Bye-Bye.

Kristin: Well, one thing's for sure, the people are very friendly around here and I don't think that's just Salford, but it's probably all of Manchester and the north of England. I mean, they're just nice people wherever you go when you travel, but there's definitely a community feel here and it's just very laid back and I really like it. And there's an ice cream truck. Um, but it does seem that the more people that you talk to, the more opinions you get and the more royalists and royal supporters you will find. So even though people told me that in the North people aren't as interested in the royal family, I did find that about half of the people that I talked to watched the Coronation and were very supportive.  

Kristin:    00:30:57    I hope you enjoyed the conversations I had with my neighbors today. And remember that you can connect with locals very easily in 187 countries around the world by going to toursbylocals.com or using our affiliate link in the show notes and supporting the show and connecting with up to 5,000 tour guides in all of these different countries. Real people that will give you real insights and the real story about the destinations that you're traveling in. So check that out in the show notes. Leave a review. If you enjoyed today's episode, share it with a friend who's headed to England soon and see you again next week.