Hello from London!
FOR ALL THINGS LONDON CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING POSTS:
Five Things to Do in Notting Hill
47 Things to Know About Moving to London
How to Spend Ten Days in London
13 Tips for Applying for a UK Spouse Visa
So I Finally Made my way across the pond,
For the second time.
I’ve relocated to London permanently as of December 2017, after a temporary relocation to San Francisco for six months whilst I applied for my UK Spouse Visa. Saying goodbye to the US for the second time was harder the second time around, but a bit romantic since I was joining my husband in our new life in the UK. Over the past few months, I’ve celebrated my second Christmas in London and have been readjusting to London all over again.
Related: What to Expect When Moving to London
Moving to a new country is fun and exciting but it is hard.
I’ve lived in two countries within the past year and a half! (More on that here!) I know people’s lives on Instagram can seem very glamorous and even when I lived in the Bahamas people used to tell me that my life was “so hard” because I lived on an island. But moving to an entirely new country with different culture, customs and ways of doing things is no easy feat. Doing it AGAIN so soon has been much harder.
Related: My Ten Tips for Moving Abroad with a Partner/ 13 Helpful Tips for Moving Abroad
At times I have felt my loneliest in the busiest parts of London. I’m human, it happens! Read my feature on You Need Tribe, where I describe my troubles with the Expat Life.
I’ve gotten lost multiple times (with Google maps), had difficulty grocery shopping (because English English is different) and have even accidentally walked into the men’s restroom in a main London train station. If you’re planning on coming to London in the near future, make sure you have plenty of contact lenses so you don’t repeat my mistakes;) More tips here
Also, the signs here in London are not posted in plain view. You can walk down a street and have no idea what street it is because the sign can be hidden on a gate, placed on a random side of a building or simply just not there.
Related: Five Things to do In Notting Hill
London is huge!
I’ve been in central London and it could still take you 30 minutes to get to another part of central London. Example: travelling from Liverpool Street to Notting Hill Area can take 20-30 on the tube.
20 Things I’ve learned while Living in London:
- Lots of tea!
- I still haven’t gotten used to looking right when I cross the Street. So sometimes I look both ways and just run
- Laundry takes forever due to use of front-loading washers
- People don’t smile or say hi to you in public and especially not on the Tube
- Everyone in Central seems to always be in a rush
- No one knows what a restroom is (they are called toilets here)
- Putting a duvet cover on is the equivalent of hell on earth
- There is A LOT of walking
Related:23 Things Every American Should Know About Moving to the UK
More things I’m adjusting to:
- Celsius
- People say “You alright?” instead of “How are you?”. I actually still don’t know how to reply to this
- Minding the gap
- Eggs will not be found in the refrigerated section
- Some of your American appliances won’t work here even with a converter. I nearly blew up my Nutri Bullet
- They love our accents!
- Getting an Oyster card is cheaper than getting a one-way ticket on the tube each time you travel
- The Indian food really is quite good!
- Digestives are cookies you have with tea and not actually for your digestion
- The Electrical Outlets have on/off switches
- You need strong ankles from all of the walking
Read the Continuation of my story here.
Follow me on Instagram to see even more pictures of my Life in London 🙂
I’m a California girl living in London
Fitness, Lifestyle,Traveling and Living Abroad.
I’m sprinkling sincerity on it.
