Looking Back on London

Where do I even start?I’m officially back from my trip to London and let me tell you: I think I did more in that week than I’ve done in the last six months. Not even kidding.In the upcoming weeks, I’ll be posting articles that will go more in-depth about every aspect of this trip from food to expenses to tourist traps. But for now, let’s just talk.This trip was one of the first times I have truly traveled solo. On most of my trips, I go to stay with someone or see someone for the whole time. And, to an extent, I did that on this trip too. I got to spend the weekend with one of my best friends, as well as some of the time during the week. But this was my first experience staying in my own accommodation by myself and making my own itinerary. To everyone around me, I was killing it.Between you and me, I was actually flying by the seat of my pants.Needless to say, I learned a lot. 

What I Would Do Again

The Mind Palace - I got to go to a bar that was completely Sherlock Holmes themed. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love BBC’s Sherlock. I went on a Tuesday night so the place wasn’t crowded at all, but I kind of liked that. I got to walk around and take in the meticulously curated environment in relative peace and quiet. The drinks were incredible and creative. I’m honestly sad I didn’t get to go back.Carnaby Street - This place is so CUTE. Between the colors, and the little shops, and the restaurants, I could have spent most of the afternoon here. I found that, while Regent Street had a lot of high-end shops that I couldn’t even afford to look at (never mind shop in), Carnaby Street was much more laid back and cozy. While I definitely wouldn’t call it cheap, it is affordable.

This was just a small alcove off the main street, but isn't it just the cutest thing? If I didn't have an afternoon tea reservation, I would have stayed for hours.

Theatre - I went to see a production called Youth Without God, and it was absolutely amazing. I’m strongly of the opinion that everyone should see English theatre because it’s honestly a whole other calibre. It’s so hard to put into words, but this show left me speechless. Nearly every production I’ve seen in London has. That’s not to say you can’t get bad theatre, because you obviously can, but TodayTix has never really steered me wrong with shows. Get Off My Phone - As much as I wanted to be able to take everyone with me on this trip, more often than not I found myself wanting to simply put my phone away and be present in the moment. The thing about memories is that you only have one chance to make them before the moment is gone forever. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the breadth of emotions I felt on this trip that couldn’t be captured in any photo - freedom, peace, excitement, frustration, exhaustion. They all melded into seven exhilarating days. Take a Nap - I know. I know. I’m the last person anyone would be expecting to hear say “hey, you should rest” because I never do. But during this trip I got run down so much that sometimes I just needed to lay down for 30 minutes. And it worked. The thing about London is that you’re on your feet a lot. And if you don’t leave yourself time to recharge, you will get burned out.

I planned to do a whole shoot in Regents Park and then decided to scrap the whole idea to just walk around for an hour. Sometimes self care is knowing when to just scrap your entire plan and wing it.

What I Wouldn’t Do Again

Buy A SIM Card - Here’s something you need to know before you go to London. Every website I looked at told me that the first thing I should do when I get to London is get a SIM card for my phone. Makes sense. I’ve done it before. So I landed, went to the kiosk, and got a SIM card.One small problem.I don’t own my phone.When I got my iPhone XS from AT&T, I signed up for a contract because I couldn’t afford to pay the whole phone off when I got it. What this meant (and what no one told me) is that my phone is “locked” by AT&T until I pay it off. No foreign SIM cards allowed. I needed to pay an extra $10 a day to use their services instead. Granted, everything worked out, but I did end up paying a SIM card I couldn’t use.Moral of the story: Talk to your cell phone carrier before you leave the country so you don’t end up crying outside a coffee shop in Heathrow Airport at 7:00 in the morning. English people don’t know how to deal with crying Americans. Not Take the Time to Check My Bag Before I Left the Flat - One morning, I was at the Sky Garden and ready for a full day of shooting when I realized that I had left my SD card in my computer. At my flat. Thirty minutes away. I was definitely not happy about that one. I was so excited to just get up and go that I didn’t bother making sure I had everything with me before I did. At the end of the day, I wasted more time going back to the flat to get the rest of my stuff than I would have if I had just checked more thoroughly before I left the house. Not Check What Time Everything Opens - I went to Chinatown before everything opened and there were vans everywhere, I went to Harrods before they opened and had to kill thirty minutes in a Starbucks, I planned to try and shoot in Leadenhall Market during lunch rush on a Wednesday. I even missed the Changing of the Guard because I went on the wrong day. You guys, as much as I planned in advance, I definitely could have done more. There are so many resources out there to make sure you don’t make the same rookie mistakes I did. Use them! Take the Tube Everywhere - The Tube is amazing. It’s fast, its clean, it’s everywhere. However, if you have vertigo like I do, sometimes it can also feel like a really bad trip on Space Mountain. But, instead of being 60 seconds, it’s 30 minutes. One of my favorite ways to see London is by bus and, even though it took a little longer to get where I needed to go, I found myself loving my commutes so much more!

Despite everything that went wrong, this trip was still so amazing. It was everything I needed. This photo pretty accurately sums up the joy I felt the whole time.

As I slowly recover from this interminable jet lag, I’ll be unpacking these points a lot more (get it? unpacking? because of the name of the site? i’m hilarious). In lieu of November Announcements, I wanted to take this time to tease the titles of some of the articles I’ll be releasing in the coming weeks. And I mainly say “tease” because, knowing me, I’ll change my mind five times before settling on the original idea again. A few include:

- A First Timer’s Guide to London

- Tourist Traps and Their Alternatives

- In-Depth London: Homelessness and Unseen Tours

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