What I Love About Living In London

So 6 months ago I made the big decision to move to London. Prior to that I had been living in Plymouth. Two VERY different cities. 

London was certainly not somewhere I had a desire to live, in fact, I despised London but I wanted to move there to push my career and push against my anxiety disorder. 

I was constantly being invited to events in London but the 4 hour train journey and expenses always got in the way. There is a blogging community in Plymouth but it's not on the same level and I do believe that London bloggers get a lot more opportunities.

Surprisingly, London isn't as bad as I thought. I can't say I've fallen in love with the city but I would say I'm 'enjoying' it so far. I think there is a transition period and that it will take some time to become a true 'Londoner' but below I'm going to be sharing all the things I do really like about this city!

Socialising

I've upped my socialising game by a good 90% since moving here. I did have my group of friends in Plymouth that I typically became very close to just before moving but I still spent the majority of my time in bed wanting to be alone.

Since moving my social life has upgraded a lot. I go out quite often now and actually struggle to fit in seeing everyone because I'm always bloody busy. My April was insane. Not only do I socialise more around London, but I also travel outside of London more now. In April I visited friends and family in Wolverhampton, visited Stratford Upon-Avon, had my sister-in-law come to visit, explored the museums, attended a wedding, met a new friend from off the Internet, went out for quite a few evenings out / meals, had Miles move in and now May is already shaping up to be just as busy, if not busier. You'd have been lucky to see me do all that over the course of a year in Plymouth!

I've got so many plans! As you're reading this, it's actually my birthday today so that should have been fun, I'm having a friend come visit from Wales, one of my friends is staying for a while from Plym, and we're doing Wireless festival, my parents are coming to see the new place and I plan on taking a trip down to Brighton area very soon to which I'm excited for.

SO many fun plans! 

Working from home

I'm very fortunate to be in the position where I can now work from home. It's hard to keep motivated but I try and typically stick to a 9-5 Monday to Friday type week. It never works though. It's Saturday afternoon as I'm writing this. 

I'd so much rather work from home though. I can put my all into my blog now whereas I was working 4 jobs in Plym to pay the bills. Believe it or not, London actually works out cheaper for me. 

I also love my home here. It's a lot nicer in the flat than my old one. I hate the area. That I'd change in a second. But the flat itself is very safe, secure, modern, airy and beautiful. If I could have this flat in Plymouth scenery I'd be set. 

Working from home means I can do what I want, when I want. I can work from where I want and work my social life around it really quite nicely. It's not easy though. You have to work really hard to get anywhere with it. 

The doctors

This sounds silly but the situation here is so different to anywhere else I've lived. I can do everything online. Although most places do offer online services, a lot of things you still have to go in for. I can even have face time sessions with my doctor if I prefer, or just a telephone call. Perfect for us anxious people! Also, trying to get an appointment at my old surgery was ridiculous. Literally a month or 2 of waiting or simply being told 'we have no appointments'.

I get an appointment within 2-3 days here. I can also choose online when I want it and who I want it with so I can choose the doctors I like. The doctors are all very lovely and helpful too. 

Content creation

The ability to create content is SO MUCH BETTER here. Although Plymouth has beautiful nature to photograph, it's surprisingly difficult to be inspired by the things around you. In London there is always something to do! Everything is about 15 minutes away on the tube and this makes my work a lot easier. My home is a lot more 'grammable' now and it's not as difficult for me to come up with something to write. I felt my posts could be forced before living here but now it tends to come naturally. 

My balcony

I have a balcony here. In fact, no, I have two balconies here. And both are big ones! My first home in Plymouth had a balcony that served no purpose. It was very cramped and got no daylight on it whatsoever. I had no balcony at my second place and so when it was sunny I was literally having to sit on my windowsill to try and catch some rays. Now I have a real sun trap with space for my 1001 plants, a BBQ, table and chairs, somewhere to hang my washing and even space for a bed or little paddling pool should we want one in the summer. And that's only the back balcony! Lucky, lucky, lucky! 

Contactless everything 

There is literally no need to carry around cash in London. Unless you need 20p for the toilet, found that out the hard way didn't we Bec! 

But seriously, everything is contactless. My face when I realised the buses were contactless, I didn't understand how they knew how much to charge you and that's when I found out how cheap it is to travel in London!! Everywhere else you're looking for upto a fiver for a day ticket. Here you can go anywhere you want, all day, as far as you need for £1.80. Amazing. 

The only issue I now have is that I keep trying to get into my pincoded front door with my contactless card when I'm tired, LOL! 

My anxiety

I've suffered with chronic anxiety since I can remember but honestly, I don't feel I really suffer at all anymore. The thought of even visiting London was incredibly anxiety inducing just a few years back, never mind travelling around within London.

When I first got on the tube I freaked, couldn't breathe, teared up and wanted to get off, now it doesn't faze me at all, I can quite happily get on a route I haven't been on before by myself and have no worries. In Plymouth I wouldn't even get on a train to see my family because there was one change over on the journey and that was just too much stress. I can laugh at that now. Travel doesn't bother me. Nor does my lightning phobia. I'm alright around bees now. I'm pretty independent these days and I like it! 

Exercise

There are so many options for exercise here. I'm a yoga enthusiast and do tend to stay home for that but there are classes nearby, one in the park opposite my house, perfect for summer, yoga outside sounds dreamy. There are numerous gyms, we live near a rock climbing place which is within a cute little castle like building and they have outdoor walls too. Two big parks for running. I tend to run every weekend. I'm awful at it but I'm trying to build my fitness levels. There really is something for everyone here. 

Those are the things I love the most about living in London. It's a big change but I'm starting to see that's it's not all that bad and maybe now when people ask, I'll stop saying 'I hate it' and upgrade to 'yeah it's alright actually' 

Do you like London? Where are your favourite places to go? I still need to up my exploring game!