: About Me

Tony Payne is a freelance writer who lives on the South Coast of England with his wife Debbie.

He has worked in the IT Industry all his life, and has been writing on various sites for the last 10 years.

Tony has traveled extensively, both for business and leisure, and has lived in New Zealand and the USA as well as his native England.

He enjoys writing about many different topics, often writing about something that grabs him impulsively at the time.  Ancient History and Humor are just two diverse topics that he has a passion for, and he also likes to write about his travel experiences and to share his love of photography.

Tony would love to write a book one day, but so far the closest that he has come to finding a topic is an autobiography.  He is not confident that there is a large enough audience for a 12 volume book entitled "I Only Wanted An Simple Life".

My passion is ...

My passion is Ancient History - I mean REALLY Ancient History

I know too much about ...

I know too much about a lot of things.., and too little about even more...

My parents always told me ...

My parents always told me to eat all my food. It's been my downfall...

My childhood ambition ...

My childhood ambition was so long ago I forget...

My favorite memory ...

My favourite memory is of when I first saw my true love and we both knew that it was real...

Why I write ...

I write because I enjoy expressing myself, and enjoy the feedback that I get...

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Right now I am reading Tribes by Seth Godin, Been at it for six months though, because I have little spare time for reading. I am watching nothing right now. Listening to PFM Live In Japan 2002. Great Italian Progressive Rock...

My first job ...

My first job was washing glasses behing a bar at the age of 15... Actually 7 bars in one building - slave labour...

My best moment ...

My best moment, This is a hard one to answer, but maybe realising that this once shy little boy CAN go off and have REAL adventures...

My inspiration ...

My inspiration is my fiancee Debbie. She makes me incredibly happy and is always there to support me...

Society & Lifestyle > North American Culture A foreigner's guide to living in the United States

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I returned to my native England a year ago, having spent the last 15 years in the USA. I don't think that visitors to the USA, or for that matter to any other country, really appreciate the many cultural differences that exist, however once you become a resident of that country, over a period of time you begin to recognize the differences, and it's natural to make comparisons between the country that you are in and your homeland. I have visited many other countries around the world both on vacation as well as for work, but it's the cultural differences between the UK and the USA that reall...

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