Late twenties I was worried about leaving my life in Manchester, my friends, my family, and my bank balance (although, maybe not the weather). People speak in a way I can understand, and I’m guaranteed to find a chip barm (a chip butty for all you southern folks) with gravy on my way home after a night out. When I arrived in London, it was certainly a bit of a culture shock. For starters, nobody knows what a chip barm is!
There’s a Pret on every corner, like every corner! I do like a Pret, but at heart, I’m a Greggs girl through and through.
As someone who likes to sit down as much as possible, this is not the case in London! You will stand up eating your lunch, drinking your pint, on the tube and on the bus. Yes, really!
If you have friends on the opposite side of London, it’s a mission to go and see them. This can involve lots of planning, but after a train ride, three different tubes, and maybe a bus, you have reached your destination. Sometimes I think it is quicker to commute to Manchester!
London is expensive, frustrating, and extremely divided in terms of wealth and opportunities. Yet London is also the most diverse and exciting place I’ve ever had the chance to live in, filled with more history, entertainment, and culture than I thought was possible for one city. Do I regret moving? Not at all, Do I have any money, no, but after ten years in London, I have a great circle of friends, a dog and a I job that I love.
Have you moved from North to South? Or South to North? If so, how did you find the change?
