I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the London of six months ago: bustling streets, sardine-packed tube trains and overflowing pubs. At first, lockdown felt like a dreamy way to press pause on day-to-day life (when you allowed yourself to forget about the global pandemic). We spent our hours outside of work playing video games, binge-watching Netflix’s most coveted series, navigating home workouts and reading an endless supply of books. Eventually, however, the days started to feel long, Netflix conquered and our flat smaller – so what better time to look back at our adventures over the past two years.
I remember landing at Gatwick Airport at 9 am on 1 June, 2018, and upon walking through the exit doors, felt a wonderful sense of home. The drive into the city saw us pass rolling hills, forests and European-made cars. As we edged closer to London, the greenery started to fall away until the ‘big smoke’ was in perfect view. Living out of a hotel on Liverpool Street for the first week was an exciting combination of flat hunting with our ‘leasing agent’ (in the UK – and especially as expats – you’ll find having an agent helpful), and exploring Shoreditch and Covent Garden while purchasing the every-day essentials (UK adaptors and chargers). We later moved in with my cousin just outside of the city while renovations on our new flat finished up. There, we made the most of quality family time and weekend adventures to Camber Sands and Brighton.
When we finally moved into our West London flat, life got a lot more real. Culture shock set in and I spent more time crying that we made a mistake than actually properly moving into our place. Moving in with two extra-large duffel bags and two suitcases (packed to the literal max) gave me a true shock of all of the work to come. In fact, I was in such denial about remaining in London, I didn’t unpack our closets for almost two months. In retrospect, this likely didn’t help my overall anxiety – there’s nothing like rifling through suitcases and duffel bags every time you need to get dressed to make you feel like you’ve lost all control of your life.
That said, over the past two years my attitude about London has changed drastically and I’d credit that to meeting (and reuniting with in some cases) really great friends, properly exploring London and learning more about the history of this incredible city. While I’m not sure my love of London is matched to Chicago, I can definitely say that the past two years have been such a fun learning and growing experience. I’ve discovered the things I really love (and really don’t) while exploring a continent I’ve wanted to live on for years.
In the past two years I’ve gotten a job in quite possibly the most quintessentially British heritage brand, met people from across the UK and Europe, and found a really fulfilling routine. While my favourite part of London is still it’s proximity to all of the other great European cities, I am so thankful to live in such a culture-rich, exciting city.
Since moving to the UK, we’ve visited France, Greece, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands, and our European bucket list grows exponentially with every night-bus trip to an airport. I’ve discovered my love for the South of France quite possibly rivals the passion I have for the Amalfi Coast (but I should probably go back to Italy to really decide), nothing tastes as delicious as a sun-soaked morning eating a breakfast of Greek yogurt, honey and fresh fruit under the mediterranean sun, and similarly beer in Copenhagen tastes even better after a day of sightseeing the Little Mermaid statue, Nyahvn and Rosenborg Castle.
I also think the endless stream of visitors from home helped us settle in quickly. At one point last year, we had back-to-back visitors staying with us for two months (as in, changing the bedding the second one couple left in time for the arrival of another that same afternoon). Our best friends and families hopped ‘across the pond’ to stay at our little West London abode and soak in all of the culture of our new city. We even managed to squeeze in three holidays of our own while having visitors, including one trip to Amsterdam for Easter weekend with some of our best friends from home (one of which who currently lives in Saudi Arabia and whom we hadn’t seen since our wedding reception!), a whirlwind trip to Copenhagen with my mom, and a long weekend drinking wine in southern France with my bff from uni and her boyfriend.
We have been so lucky to truly take advantage of London’s travel opportunities and embrace the very-British long weekends jet-setting to places I’ve only ever dreamed of. If the recent coronavirus lockdown has taught me anything it’s that I’m much happier when I’m planning weekend trips and packing my bags for time out of the city. I promise to never take another flight delay or picnic lunch in a new place for granted.
While I’m yet to embrace all of the British slang, I’d be lying if I said I don’t refer to the bathroom as ‘loo’, trash as ‘rubbish’ and vacation as ‘holiday’. Another favourite for living in London? Pub culture. My favourite thing is piling into an already-packed pub and getting cozy in the retro décor with a freshly pulled pint. In the summer, the excitement is almost palpable with crowds gathering outside the pubs with their drinks, sipping from the sidewalk. When we first moved to London, I just thought every pub was incredibly busy… but it turns out Brits just like to make the most of good weather, opting to stand outside versus cozying up indoors. Who can blame them? (Spoiler alert: it doesn’t rain nearly as much in London as you’d think though winter is infinitely grey).
The craziest part about London? Despite having lived here for two years, I still feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of things to do and see, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. Stay tuned for more adventures!
Krista Thurrott 
Great post 😁
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