Moving to London from India

Yes, these were the sparkling words my eyes read and all my dreams about my favourite city in the world started to play on my mind – London. It felt like my dreams were finally coming true, living in this city all by myself and entering a new phase of my life. Even though everything seemed rosy in my head, there was still that fact I was coming from a completely different country, away from home. This can take you by surprise because now this is where you’re going to live, and it won’t just be a vacation where you can just go back to your comfort zone after a few days. But with all London’s cultural difference, with diverse people from various countries, all speaking their contrasting languages, I had a lot in store to explore.

Before moving to London, a lot of people back home had lots of advice and tips that they thought I could use, considering I was going to be living here on my own. The most frequent concern was how difficult it was to find good accommodation in the city. But since I had sorted out my accommodation beforehand, which was just a 10 minute walk from campus, I felt at peace and thought to myself, “I got this.” However, the night I first moved in to my room, I thought I couldn’t stay here and turned to mom and said that I wanted to go back. Since my room wasn’t set up, the amount of space that my luggage was taking in the room was making me anxious. However, right by the window was a cute ‘Welcome kit’ which had a bottle of water, an adapter, a sim, a portable coffee mug and a welcome letter which put a huge smile on my face and so I thought to myself that I can do this.

The next day was a bright sunny day and it seemed like a new beginning for me. So, my mom and I went shopping and got the essentials for my room and set it all up. It looks really cute now. If someone was to ask me to leave now, I would say, “NO WAY!!” And like this, everything started to settle down. I got all the cards I needed, from my Oyster card for travelling round London, to my Tesco clubcard for my supermarket shopping. From then to now, I already have a favourite pizza place.

My advice would be to walk around the city if you have any time on your hands. There’s so much that you can explore on foot. Be it that cute little ice cream shop or your cozy favourite café to read a book. There are so many hidden gems in London that can be found by wandering. Also, I would like to state a few facts about myself, One: I’m a big foodie, Second: I like to look for different unexplored places, Third: I’m a vegetarian (Yeah, okay! You can laugh!) But I have found such amazing places by just walking and exploring because you can never have enough of London, there is something new to see, to explore, to try, everyday.

Even if the city is amazing, there are some things that I learnt in my first few weeks of being here, and that is to be extremely cautious of your belongings especially your mobile phones, since we know how it can be the end of our world if we had to unwillingly part ways with our personal sidekick. Also, be aware of your surroundings. And yeah, one more disclaimer: Don’t forget to have fun!!