I can’t believe it’s been four years since I moved to London on the UK Youth Mobility Visa! Since then, I’ve received thousands of comments and emails, and met with a dozen people who moved to the UK or wanted to. Over the years, I have read their stories and responded to their questions.…
Travellers often complain that London is so hard to get to know. Believe me, I’m with them on that! The place is so big you’ll find that even seasoned expats only know their own little corners of the city [big ups North London!]. But with a bit of research and a few [or all!] of these…
Yes, the ever-elusive ‘how to make friends in London’ situation. It’s funny when you think about it: it’s one of the few things we actually get worse at as we get older. Since university I’ve watched my circle of friends dwindle1 with no signs of it abating. So, when I started writing this post, my first thought…
For your next trip to the UK, you should stay away from the crowds in London and the hipsters in Brighton. It’s time to forge your own path. This collection of some of my favourite under-the-radar destinations in the UK should help spark your imagination. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England To most, Newcastle is a student town and…
Flat hunting in London is a harrowing experience. I get a lot of questions about it from readers but I have put off writing about it because it’s an elaborate issue and it requires a lot of attention to detail. There are so many factors involved that this post will have a lot of little…
We really just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Two weeks ago my partner and I had planned to visit a friend in Bristol for a surf trip in Devon. On Thursday, the news broke that Banksy had opened a ‘Bemusement Park’ exhibition in Weston-Super-Mare, just 30 minutes away from Bristol.…
Hi Alyssa! I got my visa in June and I’m due to leave first week of September. I’m just wondering, should I mention that I have the Youth Mobility Visa on my CV or cover letter? How did you go about doing this? Additionally, I’ve got an honours degree in Sociology from the University of…
Just because a city isn’t on the tourist map doesn’t mean the place isn’t worth your time. In fact, that should only make you keener to go! Many major tourist destinations have their so-called second cities: places that are often just as interesting as the key location but overshadowed by its popular neighbour. Personally, I…
Fish and chips? Please. Real Londoners save all their calories for beer and half-price cocktails at Dirty Martini’s happy hour. That means the days are spent drinking kale and cucumber juice while shopping for new yoga pants before dining at that new paleo diet restaurant. Your New Year’s Resolution to eat healthy and lose weight…
Like many itinerant workers, I spend a lot of time in coffee shops (though I recently started branching out to pubs!). When I started freelancing I read a lot of lists about the best places to work for freelancers in London. The one thing they all had in common was that there was almost…
