It is scary, but living in the UK it is a move which everyone should do at some point in their lives. Scratch that, it is a move which everyone should do at some point in their lives no matter where they live!
Living in the epicentre of Britain isn’t like living in any other city in the world, as the atmosphere and modernity of the culture mixed with the historic architecture gives off a vibe which cannot be duplicated.
London is certainly unique. However, it isn’t always rosy and for this exact reason the move can be difficult to transition into. The pace, the size, the people are all different to anything you will be used to which can make the first couple of months difficult to say the least. But, you will never experience the transition or what makes the city so great if you don’t dive in head first or play it conservatively. It could make or break you but one thing is for sure; your life will change.
Here are the top five things you will have to learn when you move to London.
Moving into a flat or any property in London is one of the most stressful processes you will ever experience, and that is not an over exaggeration. It doesn’t matter if you have one of the best estate agents in the city like Leo Newman, property moves fast and if you don’t move faster you are going to be without a place or living in a horror flat. It’s not like being at home where a home has been on the market for ages so you are going to have to learn quickly if you want any chance of moving into a decent area and a decent building. That means making tough decisions, but as long as you keep your wits about you everything should go fine.
Change is always difficult to embrace, whether it is a big change like moving to London or even a tiny one like choosing something different from your favourite restaurant’s menu. Let’s face it, humans are creatures of habit and when this habit is broken the results seem catastrophic. One change you will soon learn to love, however, is the fact that no one knows your business because the city is so big. If you come from a small town or city then the gossip and chronic rumour mill that you have been involved in for the past god-knows how many years, is exhausting. He did this, she did that, they did it together – who cares? It might take a little bit of getting used to but soon you will realise that not a single person has a deeply critical opinion about you or your life!
It isn’t all about adjusting to changes as you are going to have to learn some new moves as well. These new moves are not the shapes you would throw on the dancefloor of a nightclub on a Saturday, but more like a little jig to avoid the streams of people coming your way. What with the relatively tiny footpaths merged with an amount of people that a salmon run would be proud of, space is at a premium so you’ll have to learn the new ‘avoiding oncoming pedestrians’ dance if you don’t want to be barged and jostled all over the place.
If you want to become a true Londoner then you need to raise your anger levels, especially when it comes to the Underground. The stories you have heard about the amount of people squeezed onto a Tube carriage are not myths and getting on your way home a minute or two before the next Tube is life or death. Seriously, until you have done it you cannot understand it. This means waiting an extra couple of seconds for the next one is unthinkable so you have to give it your all to make the earliest possible train. You can probably still remember the time you missed your bus at home and had to wait twenty minutes for the next one. This won’t happen in the ‘Big Smoke’.
Plastic is essential in the contactless city but one form of plastic ranks higher than any other – the Oyster card. Honestly, without it your life is ten times harder than it has to be because cash is somewhat looked down upon. Even buses don’t accept cash anymore. Imagine that!
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