Regrets, no. Looking back at how I spent my teenage years it is a miracle I passed my A-levels, got to Uni and completed my degree. On graduating mid-1980s I joined the 20-strong graduate programme of a yuppie-boom investment manager, and was one of a handful still there when the bubble burst. I stayed 25 years, buying company stock whenever the chance arose. If I'd made any other choices, I'm sure I would have screwed it up.
There is one thing I wish I had done. In the Summer before leaving for Uni, I'd already split with my girlfriend of a couple of years, and had met a girl called Julia whose parents' house was at the end of the runway of West Malling aerodrome. One Summer Friday she invited me over to watch the practice for the air display from her garden. We were sat on a blanket with a female friend of hers, a bottle of wine and Marc Bolan on the tape player. The girls weren't into the planes and announced "we're too hot, we're going inside for a bath together - if you get bored of the planes, come join us". I don't even remember what the aeroplanes were now, I bet I would have remembered that bath if I'd gone inside...
