Living the London life...
Sunday, April 01, 2018
Hi loves,
For this week's blog post I wanted to tell you a bit more about my time in London.
A year after I graduated from university, I managed to land my dream job as part of a graduate scheme working within finance for a huge British clothing retailer based in London.
I was so excited when I heard the news that I had got the job, I told the HR lady I could start anytime. I was given a start date of 10th Dec, and I decided to commute for the remaining two weeks of the year that would take me up to the Christmas break to give myself time to find my feet in the new role in a new city.
The commute wasn't as bad as it sounds (Birmingham to London) and although it cost me pretty much the same as rent would have, it was comforting to come home to my family after being in a brand new environment during the day.
I found a house-share via the Spareroom website in Finchley, North London and I moved down on New Years Day ready to go back to work from there after the Christmas break.
The house was shared between 4 girls including myself, I was the youngest at 23 and the others were about 28-29 but I thought the age gap wouldn't be a big deal. They seemed lovely, and the house seemed warm and cosy.
I had never moved this far away from home before (I went to university in Birmingham and my halls were a 5 min drive from my family home!), and I was also relatively newly single so I found the move quite a big adjustment to get used to.
A few people said to me 'London can be a lonely place', and that was definitely true for me for the first few months. I was homesick, more so because my sister was getting married in April so lots was going on at home in preparation for the wedding that I wanted to be a part of.
I loved the job, but I wasn't enjoying London as much as I thought I would. I think this was because the girls I was living with were very 'in and out' of the house, and we didn't socialise much as a result. Also I was so broke! (Rent is absolute killer!!!) So it was hard to be out and about all the time whilst also living within my means.
But I persevered with it. I was doing a job I absolutely loved and I was meeting more and more people and building my network slowly. If there was no-one to meet up with, I would take myself to Westfield for a day of shopping, or I would take myself for a coffee, or I would reach out to people I wouldn't usually. I really discovered the joy of spending time with myself and slowly London began to feel like 'my city' and more like home.
Moving into a brand-new 2 bed 2 bath flat in East London definitely helped too! I was now living with 1 girl who was my age and instead of just being flatmates, we were also friends.
I also experienced London in the summertime - lazing on a rooftop bar with friends as the sun sets made it easy to forget I was still in the UK, and definitely made the sweltering tube journeys worth it.
3 and a half years later I had met my soon-to-be husband and I decided to move back to the Midlands to help with the wedding planning. Moving out of London was a necessary decision for me to make but also sad at the same time!
I remember thinking, when I first moved here I was so shy and timid on the tube with everyone barging past me with such purpose as I checked my route on the Tube app and now as I get ready to move out of London, I'm the one walking purposefully and confidently towards my destination, completely and utterly comfortable in my surroundings.
There's so many things I miss about London, it will always be a special place to me.
I miss how there is ALWAYS something new going on somewhere, how diverse it is, how eclectic. I miss walking down Oxford Street and seeing so much style inspo! I miss the independence of living in London. I miss having more time to myself. But of course there are upsides to leaving; I am saving tons more money and I am loving being much closer to my family.
Although London is not an easy to place to live in, in my opinion, it was so so worth it and for now, I will always be able look forward to the next opportunity that I can go back and visit.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post...
Don't forget you can check my Instagram @thestylecount to see more of what I'm getting up to, besides blogging! xx
Skirt - Mango
Knit - H&M
Pumps - Topshop
Sunglasses - Zara
Bag - Gucci
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