I’m on the road today, paying a visit to York to interview the chief executive of a software and web firm specialising in the property industry. It’s nice to be traveling again. It used to be a major part of my job, but my time out of the office has declined sharply in the last 18 months. Spending four hours or so on a train is a surprisingly relaxing experience.

I made a little mistake on the way up, though. It was foolish, but easily done. After all, how was I to know that the carriage I chose was a Quiet Zone, which bans the use of electronic equipment? To me, it was just the quiet carriage with plenty of seats free. It was only once I was sat down and comfortable that I noticed the discreet sticker informing me of the restrictions. So, for two hours I was deprived of the use of my iBook, iPod, Visor and mobile phone. I rather enjoyed it. I read the paper, stared out the window for a while and just let life pass me by.

Of course, it couldn’t last. Here I am on the way back, iBook open and iPod playing. And yes, I’m writing a journal entry in the rather nifty offline application YaxJournal, which rocks for this sort of thing one of the major advantages LiveJournal has over Blogger at the moment.

These journeys out of London go a long way to reminding me just how pleasant a country the UK can be at times. London is so different to the rest of the nation that you forget how easily you can reach the countryside, how much slower the pace of life is and how beautiful everything is once you escape the terrible pull of the capital. I’m maybe an hour away from hitting London again as I write this (Grantham station on the edge of Lincolnshire if you’re interested) and I’m not much looking forward to being back there, especially as I have a tube journey ahead in just pre-rush hour traffic. Bah and indeed, Humbug.