Six months ago, I arrived in London with two suitcases, a research project, and very little idea of what daily life in the city would actually feel like. When I first moved to London, and when I first began this project, I wrote a blog post titled “My Two Week London Anniversary.” Six months later, I reread that post and found myself wanting to respond to the version of myself who had just arrived, someone still figuring out what it meant to move abroad and settle into life in a new country.
Looking back now, I realized how much my perspective had changed in just half a year. I wanted to compare the takeaways I had then with the lessons I’ve learned since. With that in mind, this post revisits my earlier reflection and responds to it six months later, using the same subheadings I’d originally used:
London is Huge
One of the first things I noted in my original post was just how enormous London felt. I had spent time in the city before while studying at Cambridge, so I knew London was large, but I had no real sense of what it meant to live here and commute across the city regularly.
Very quickly, I learned something that still seems to hold true: no matter where I want to go in London, it is somehow always about a 45-minute journey. One of the best things I did after moving here was buy a bike (shoutout to Swapfiets). It has made my commute to rowing much quicker and easier, and it has also allowed me to explore my local neighborhoods in a way that feels far more pleasant and immersive than the Tube.
Otherwise, I’ve discovered that buses are an underrated way to travel around the city. Sitting on the top level of a double-decker bus lets you sightsee while getting across London for a fraction of the cost of the Tube. And when the Tube or National Rail is unavoidable, attaching a railcard to an Oyster card gives a discount on off-peak travel, something that has made navigating the city much easier.
Six months in, I’m still learning how to navigate the scale of the city, but that process has also pushed me to explore parts of London I might never have otherwise visited. I began tutoring in Walthamstow in January, which sits on the opposite side of the city in northeast London. I also try to go out in Hackney or Shoreditch whenever I can, even though getting home late at night often means a bus ride of more than an hour. Still, those trips give me a chance to see new parts of the city, and I try to stay open to social plans that might take me somewhere I’ve never been before.
Making Friends Postgrad can be Tough to Navigate
Another point I wrote about six months ago was how difficult it can be to make friends after university. That observation still feels completely true.
I was lucky to move into a house with five other social roommates, but living together isn’t quite the same as university life, where everyone studies or works in the same place and keeps similar schedules. One of my roommates works as a chef and is usually out of the house from nine in the morning until nine at night. Another travels several hours away every other weekend to see his girlfriend. Meanwhile, my own schedule revolves around research and rowing. All of that simply means being more intentional about making time to catch up, and giving both myself and others some grace while living in such a big, busy city.
Interestingly, one piece of advice from my earlier post turned out to be incredibly accurate: Facebook really can be a great way to meet people. Two of my closest friends in London are people I met through Facebook groups, and I’m still so grateful that I took the chance to message a random girl and ask if she wanted to hang out. Through those connections, I’ve built a friend group that extends beyond my housemates or work, and many of the women I’ve met are Americans or people from other countries. Because of that, they understand both the struggles (and the excitement) that come with living abroad.
I also think one big part of making London work for me has been staying connected to home. My room here is filled with reminders of Cleveland, through stickers, posters, and other memorabilia, and I’m one of the core members of the London Browns Backers group supporting my hometown NFL team. Alongside those reminders are statues of Mary, prayer cards, and other religious icons that remain close to my heart and were gifted to me by my grandma or friends. I also regularly travel to the Polish store, or the German cafe, or the Italian grocer to replicate all the foods I ate growing up, and that remind me of home (Cleveland loves a pierogi, which I’ve had the fortune of making for almost all my friends here). I try to find a bit of Cleveland everywhere I go, including London, and it’s done wonders for me.
Lastly, I wrote in my original post that I had a good feeling about joining a rowing club and that practicing together up to eight times a week might naturally lead to friendships. I was completely right. Through rowing I’ve met one of the loveliest groups of people I could have hoped for. We regularly spend time together outside practice, the club hosts parties and pub nights, and I’ve been able to build meaningful relationships with my teammates. Continuing athletics after university has meant a great deal to me, and I hope to write a longer post about that experience soon.
Research in London is a Bit Different than Research in the US
Research was, of course, one of the main reasons I moved to London in the first place. When I wrote my original post, however, I had just learned that the British Library had suffered a major cyberattack. As a result, many parts of the catalog system were temporarily unavailable, meaning that some of my research had gone analog, which stood in stark contrast to my research back at home. In some ways, it was great to return to physical catalogs, and to be in some gorgeous libraries, but in other ways, this obviously became a bit annoying at times.
More broadly, though, the biggest difference I’ve felt is working outside a university environment. As strange as it might sound, I sometimes miss the slightly stuffy world of academia. I miss talking about my research with peers and professors several times a week. I miss reading groups, long discussions about books or articles, and the simple routine of having a shared workspace.
That said, this experience has also been incredibly valuable. As I prepare to apply for PhD programs, I want to carry forward the lessons I’ve learned while working as an independent researcher abroad. Being outside the traditional university structure has pushed me to think more carefully about how research can be shared more openly and how academic work might become more accessible and democratic beyond the “ivory tower.”
The Weather is Truly as Unpredictable as it is Stereotyped to Be
Some stereotypes exist for a reason. The reputation of British weather is one of them.
The unpredictability is real, though the winter itself felt surprisingly mild compared to anything I experienced growing up in Ohio. The four-o’clock sunsets were tough at times, but when I returned home for Christmas, it snowed nearly every day I was there and temperatures regularly dropped well below freezing.
After months in London, I found myself complaining when the temperature dipped just below freezing, even though it was nothing like the cold fronts that regularly sweep through the American Midwest. It was a good reminder that the grass is not always greener elsewhere, and perhaps also a reminder that we shouldn’t complain too much about living in such a wonderful city.
That being said, I am very excited to experience a London summer, and the fact that sunset is already creeping closer to six o’clock has made a noticeable difference in my mood.
London is Expensive!!
Still true, lol! To make things work financially, I’ve picked up a few side tutoring jobs, which I genuinely enjoy. I’ve also accumulated a small collection of reward cards on my phone to help keep everyday costs down, and I’ve learned which grocery stores, train deals, and second-hand shops work best for my budget.
Even so, I’m looking forward to moving when my lease ends and hopefully finding a slightly cheaper place to live. In the meantime, I try to remind myself how remarkable it is to live abroad at all, and how proud I am that I’ve managed to create and stick to a workable budget while doing so.
Conclusion
Over the past six months, I’ve often caught myself smiling at the most unexpected moments – during the hardest rowing workouts I’ve ever done, while cycling through torrential rain, or while riding the bus for over an hour just to get home after seeing friends. Moving abroad has certainly come with its share of challenges: extra costs, distance from family, the process of building new friendships, and occasionally miserable weather. Yet when I step back and look at the bigger picture, every bit of it has been worth it.
Of course, there are still moments when I feel overwhelmed by the smaller details of daily life – moments when I get stressed, upset, or even cry. That feels perfectly human. But more often than not, I find myself remembering how lucky I am to be here, how grateful I should be for the opportunity to live abroad, and how exciting it has been to grow into myself in a new city, a new country, and an entirely new chapter of life.
