The dark side of living in London
(Thinking of) Moving to London?
What can you expect from living in London? Expect the unexpected. And the iconic London cityscape in the background.
If you’re a millionaire, life in London can be really good. If you’re an Everyman, living in the British capital may not be easy at all.
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This is London
London is a city of opportunities. It’s heaven for job seekers, explorers, art admirers, culture enthusiasts and adventurers. In London everything is beautiful: buildings, monuments, bridges, parks and the classiest cabs on earth. It’s easy to fall in love with walks by the River Thames (but don’t look too closely at the colour of the river).
Your first days, weeks or even months in the London metropolis will probably be the time of unprecedented novelty, unlimited energy and infinite possibilities. The world is your oyster.
London is a marvellous city and a brand name. All the same, there are many aspects not presented on postcards and not read about in guidebooks and mags.
Big cities like London are amazing and exciting places to live, but all that glitter is not gold.
Here’s a few about’s.
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#1. About renting in London
- Properties for rent in London are no cheap business. When looking for a room for the first time, you may wonder whether prices are for a room or the whole flat, per week or per month. This simply seems too expensive to be true.
- You need to be at one with the whole ecosystem. Mice, bedbugs, spiders, cockroaches and many other creatures smaller than a thumb are regular tenants in London properties. Needles to say: for them the whole business is rent-free ;)
- Renting a flat in Notting Hill is more of an exception than a rule. Forget the British comedies where everybody seems to live there, not only Hugh Grant.
- Expect a high tenant rotation. First, moving from flat to flat is quite common. Second, people come and go quickly in London. There may come a time when you seriously question whether you’ll ever find a stable home environment.
#2. About working & commuting in London
- Working in the City may look cool and exciting on the outside, but many City workers are stressed, unfulfilled and underpaid. Take a walk in the City on a working day and try to look into their eyes.
- Be prepared for occasional acts of aggression that may be part of your daily commute to and from work, especially on the Central Line. You got punched in the face with a fist, a briefcase or any other available body part or object? Well, you may have been attacked by a person trying to eliminate competitors, trying to get on the train ;)
- There is an inexplicable paradox related to the importance of personal space in England and the actual amount of personal space one gets on the London Tube. The rush-hour train packed with human sardines is a place with virtually non-existent physical space. All the same, people create personal safety bubbles, avoiding eye contact and making travel time utterly personal with the don’t-you-dare-to-disturb-me policy.
- London is a macrocosm made up of diverse microcosms. Variety is its second nature. When you’re new to London, travelling underground is a source of surprises: you never know what you will see when you get off the Tube and reappear overground. It can be the posh Chelsea, the touristy Piccadilly Circus, the alternative Brick Lane, the semi-anarchist Camden, the business Canary Wharf, the historic St Paul’s, the overcrowded Oxford Street, the rustic Richmond or the wild, village-style Hampstead. It’s like towns within a mother-town.
#3. About people & relationships in London
- London is supposed to be a place of romance, but many Londoners feel disillusioned by the lonely city that takes their energy and sentiments away. This makes London a place of hedonism, one-night stands and the widespread commitment-phobia.
- Distances in London are so big and life so busy that you need to make an appointment two weeks in advance to catch up with a friend. When the day of the meeting arrives, either party is allowed to feel exhausted enough and take a rain check. Till next time, come rain or shine.
- Parties in Central London tend to be overcrowded and overrated, being gatherings of too many random people.
- There’s a pretty big rotation of people. There’s millions of them, they come from practically every part of the world, but they tend to come and … go.
- London is a city of no commitment. There are so many companies, males, females, flats, bars, temptations and places to hide. Sometimes it’s easier and more convenient to move on and/or go for a more exciting option than to make an effort to fix existing problems.
The people of London on the Tube
The London Tube is a wonderful human observatory, showcasing the beautiful, the exotic, the weird, the extraordinary, the colourful, the depressed and the depressing. If you like observing people, you’ll never complain about the lack of variety (btw, people in London tend to avoid eye contact, so you won’t be caught staring).
On the Tube you’ll see different face expressions, behaviours and body language. You’ll see a lot of tension and frustrated gestures. If you see people who are relaxed and with healthy glows on their faces, your guess is that they’re tourists.
You’ll see dazzling beauty on people’s faces and eccentricity in their clothing. You may want to do some guesswork and analyse their identities based on what they read, watch or wear.
There may come the time to leave
When the initial excitement wears off, you may start to feel anonymous and displaced in London. You’ll probably miss a quieter life. You’ll long for less traffic, less anonymity, less stress, less competition and less emotional indifference. At the same time, you’ll want more money, more stability and more kindness.
Life in London can be really exhausting but to leave this city may mean to give up a lot. So at some point you may face a dilemma: to stay or to leave and … procrastinate in the meantime.
London speaks to our hearts, we may either love it, hate it or both. Yet we rarely become indifferent. In many cases, love prevails, but often far away from London :)
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