BootsnAll Travel Community

too cold (weather and culture) or not?

would you do it? why why not?

just throwing it out there.

I'd do it in a second because I love London - the history, the culture, the people. I know several people that moved there for varying lengths of time - my cousin lived there for almost 2 years and was crushed when she had to move back. However, I knew one person - an ex-coworker - who moved there with her husband, who was British, and hated it. She missed everything about the US and finally talked her husband into moving back after about 8 months. In her case, I think it was more a question of missing her family here rather than disliking the UK, though.

As far as the weather, there are worse places in the US - if you're used to sunny and warm places, though, you might find it a tad grey and chilly in the winter.

not sure what your situation is, but personally I wouldn't unless I was making quality money...London is really expensive, and I'm from New York, never have lived in NYC but go there all the time and London does not compare...Coming from the USA everything is doubled...

I mean it would be really cool to move to another major city in the world and London being extremely diverse would be cool. you are also coming from warm, sunny, california so get ready for rain, cold weather and not seeing the sun for a few months.

A big pro is that you can easily get to other parts of Europe and the world from London...somewhat of a gateway, as it is a major hub for the world to travel through...

All those budget airlines are there.

If you are going there and will make enough money to rent a flat or have a friend you can live with to subsidize the cost of living (rent, utilities) and will basically work to eat and travel then you are probably in good shape.

Well, if all goes according to plan, I will be doing it in a few months. So, I guess my answer would be yes. I would.

But, for me, it isn't all about London itself. It has just as much to do with the proximity it puts me to getting out to other parts of Europe while I am there.

I'm intending to from September Can't wait to be honest!

i live in london and have done for 3 years. i am very ready to leave but have enjoyed it. the key to London is living in the right place and working the city to your advantage. i know people who live for stupidly cheap rent in nice areas - if you find the right place at the right time London can be suprisingly cheap. it is expensive but there are ways and means of doing it inexpensively without sacrifising your fun!

I lived there for a few years. The first year was the best. After three, like sima, I was ready to leave.

Recommended. London is crazy international...and hence lots of fun. My only real serious advice would be to live centrally. Preferably zone 1...or zone 2 as a last resort.

Rogerio: do you have the opportunity?

Actually its not me, its my friend. She'll be heading there as a starting point for her 1 year away from the US. Since she doesn't know any other languages, I think the UK would be a good base, but this would only work if she can find work there to replenish her savings before heading out to other places.

As for me - I could probably do it in 6-10 months. Maybe. My work is flexible enough that allows people to work remotely from across the US, the UK could be a bit of a stretch given the time zones, but if I prove myself...

then nothing would stop me from being anywhere in the world.

this london we're talking about!! i dont think the weather should be something to turn you away from this amazing city filled with so much culture and history. it might be nice to experience something besides the constant sun in california. trust me after a while you'll see the charm in all those black umbrellas and grey cobblestone streets. plus when it is sunny, the people go wild, and theres a energy in the city that is really something.

i moved the UK when i was 18, and london scraed me a bit so i moved to brighton, by the sea. now i cant get another visa. but i do anythign to live in london! go for it!

I've been living here for 3 months now but I don't really know if I like it yet. The weather is not an issue for me as I'm from Denmark where the weather is just as miserable But I find London very stressful, busy, crowded and not very friendly to be honest(especially the public transport is starting to get to me).

I'm working very long hours and hardly have any freetime which is neccesary here to survive as it is a very expensive city. I was living in Dublin for 2 years and I must admit that I prefer Dublin. It's just more relaxed and people are way more down to earth than in London in my opinion. The work culture is more laid back than here aswell. There's alot of cool things about London that I like though. I love how it's so multicultural and liberal. There's loads of cool clubs n' pubs. Great shops and nice areas like Notting Hill, Little Venice and so on. I just don't think I'll be able to handle much more than a year here but I hope I change my mind. I guess it depends on what kind of person you are aswell, so if your friend likes big busy cities I'd say she'd love it.

I've been in London for... well I guess it's creeping up to 5 years now. No idea how that snuck up on me! Sometimes I love the city, sometimes I loathe it but it's never dull. It can get to be too much at times - busy, crowded, fast paced. But then you can always go chill out in one of the countless parks and open spaces around town.

I would advise you though not to live centralling. Rents in central London are crazy and in many areas the city clears out after 5pm. The best thing about London to me is the variety of the suberbs (boroughs). Each has it's own vibe with it's own high street and sometimes it hardly feels like you're in London at all but with easy access to the craziness of the city. London is a lot more than zone 1 and I feel bad for tourists who go there only to explore Soho and surrounds.

Come here for sure but get out to Richmond for a walk in the park, go clubbing in Shoreditch, grab a curry in Tooting, take in a concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire etc etc.

London is ghastly expensive for tourists but if you're living here you'll soon learn where to go for some cheap nights out plus your wage will be a bit higher than elsewhere in the UK.

So at 5 years and counting I know I won't live here forever but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

If your friend wanted to work in London she'd either have to work under the table or get a working visa, and I'm here to tell you, it's pretty tough for an American to get a work visa in the UK. I'm trying to go through this process myself. As Americans we don't qualify to work in the UK under the working holiday scheme, so unless your friend holds dual citizenship with the UK or an EU nation, has a British parent/grandparent (ancestry visa), can qualify under the Highly Skilled Migrant Worker Programme (based on salary earnings, education, age, etc. -- pretty strict qualifications), is a teacher/nurse/IT person with skills not commonly found in the UK, is planning on marrying an EU citizen, or can qualify to come in under the BUNAC program, it's not likely she'd be able to find legal work there.

I've lived in London for 7 years now. I'm the opposite of a lot of the people on here who loved it for a year and starting finding it a bit much after that. I found it very hard to settle in for the first year, being originally from a country town in Wales and then living only in much smaller towns - Guildford, Toulouse, Vancouver.

So, first year was hard - it was less friendly that towns I was used to (but then not many huge cities are all friendly, some people are, some people aren't). After that I started to like it and after seven years in many ways I find some of the world's greatest cities don't even compare for excitment, variety, entertainment, history, the amount of different nationalities and cultures. I have been to New York three times and found it a slight disappointment as ever one always says it's the greatest city in the world, the most cosmopolitan (doubt that's true now with the EU and the strong British economy bringing so many migrants to London). After a month in beautiful New Zealand, I craved the vibe of London, cities there were just too dull.

That said there are pros and cons, but in general I think it's a life and character changing experience to live here. The job opportunities you will have will be amongst the greatest in the world. If not the greatest aside from NYC. Yes it's expensive, but if you're earning British currency you won't notice it so much as a tourist converting everything from the dollar as the pound is so strong against the dollar at the moment, but who cares if you're earning pounds. Eating out is pricier but once you live here you get to know great cheap eateries and websites like www.toptable.co.uk always have a host of great deals. Museums here are FREE compared to the $15 dollars here or so you pay in New York. The tube is a rip off to be fair, but price is halved with an Oyster card which most tourists wouldn't bother getting. Or an annual/ monthly travel card. Rent is expensive but then you find you can cope with a much smaller place here than elsewhere as there's so much to do you'll probably not want to spend much time at home anyway if you're only here for a short while.

Living in central London would be ideal, but there are lots of cool London 'villages' to live in - Angel Islington is a bit cheaper, then there's Bayswater (quite pricey but nice and central), Clapham, Ealing, Wimbledon, Greenwich, Balham, Putney, Finchley, Richmond and Ealing (both the latter are nice green areas, with lots of parks and cool continental cafes and a more suburban feel). London is not just about zone 1.