I lived in London for almost two years after moving there in 2022. The city will always have a special place in my heart, but I decided to leave London and could not be happier.
For me, London resembles many things: growth, change, discovery, opportunity—just to name a few. It was where I started a new life. I could be anyone and do anything I wanted, and I did.
But for many reasons, I decided to say my goodbyes and pursue other things.
In this post, I’ll get into why I moved to London in the first place, the pros and cons of living in London, my visa process, future plans, and in true Bri style – some of the things I learned while living there.
Why Did I Move To London?
I briefly touched on this in my blog post, How Solo Travel Changed My Life, but here’s a more in-depth version of my story.
In early 2022, my family announced that they were moving to Nicaragua and wanted me to come with them. I decided to go because why not? I didn’t know when I’d have another opportunity like this.
At the time, I was living in a studio apartment in Toronto, Canada. I had a full-time job and a custom cake business on the side. I was doing it all, and some may have thought I was living a fulfilling life. But that was not the case.
I was in a toxic relationship, I had extreme social anxiety, and I didn’t have very many friends. I didn’t go out often, and there was a point where I couldn’t even go up to a stranger and ask them a simple question.
I knew something needed to change. So, when my mom asked me to move with them, I said yes.
We moved half a year later, and it was paradise at first. Who wouldn’t want to live by the beach in constant sunshine and work from home?
But a few weeks later, I got tired of where I was and knew I couldn’t stay. There were no life or job prospects for me living there full-time.
So I decided to book a one-way flight to London and not look back. I didn’t stay in London at first as I was solo traveling, but I fell in love with the city and wanted to live there.
I wanted a fresh start and decided not to move back to Canada. After looking at possible ways to move to London, I applied for a visa and finally moved there.
The Pros and Cons of Living in London
I’ll discuss the pros and cons first before getting into how I moved there and what the visa process was like. If you’re thinking about moving to London, then take these points into careful consideration.
The Best Things About Living in London
It’s easy to travel to many European cities
My favourite thing about living in London is that it’s so well-connected to many European cities.
There are not one, not two, but five different airports around London that take you to destinations such as Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, and many others.
Flights are quite cheap and take only a few hours. While living in London, I’ve been on trips to Barcelona, Valencia, Lisbon, Stockholm, Naples, Budapest, and more.
I attribute London to my love for travel and adventure. If I wasn’t in London these past two years, I wouldn’t have been able to travel so easily and wouldn’t have seen much of Europe.
If you work full-time, it’s easy to book a weekend away and have an adventurous two to three days in any number of European destinations.
For booking cheap and amazing hostels, I’d recommend Hostelworld. I’ve stayed at a party hostel in Barcelona, and one in Lisbon, and both were amazing.
For planning trips, I often use Booking.com and Skyscanner for affordable flights.
There’s always something going on
Any event—you name it—is probably happening in London. That’s right; things happen Monday through Sunday.
From pub quizzes to dance nights, London has it all.
London in the summer is truly magical. There are tons of outdoor festivals and concerts going on. It’s warm, the parks are full of people, and it’s a great time to wander around and explore the city.
Not to mention Londoners’ favourite pastime – going to the pub – is now outdoors with tons of beer gardens and rooftop bars open.
It’s easy to meet people
This ties into my point above. I’ve found that it’s so easy to meet people in London, as it’s a huge city.
I’ve met most of my friends through Meetup events, Facebook groups, Whatsapp group chats, and Bumble BFF.
There’s an amazing Facebook group called The London Lonely Girls Club which I’ve used to meet other girls in London. It’s full of like-minded people in their 20s and 30s who are also looking to make friends.
I’ve joined a few meetups from that group and have met some of my close friends from there.
I’ve also even just struck up conversations with people I met in bars or pubs! I don’t randomly talk to strangers that often (unless I’m solo traveling), but it’s worth a shot!
There are so many areas of London to explore
There are 32 boroughs in London and 48 neighbourhoods. Each is different, with its unique crowds and diverse attractions. Some are more academic, others more trendy.
For example, in Camden Town, you’ll find Camden Market, Primrose Hill, tattoo shops, and tons of places for nightlife. In contrast, Clapham is quieter, with parks and independent coffee shops.
Although I’ve lived in London for almost two years, I haven’t fully explored all of the city’s neighbourhoods. I don’t think you really can, as new places are being opened all the time.
The Downsides of Living in London
It is expensive
The cost of living in London is absolutely unreal compared to so many other places in the world.
It’s quite comparable to big Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver. I thought I would be prepared as I’ve lived in Toronto my whole life, but I was not.
You need to know just how expensive London is and make this a big factor in your decision to move there. You need to be sure that you can really afford it.
I regret not doing enough research before moving to London about the cost of living and the neighbourhood I would live in – as that plays a major factor in price as well.
When I moved to London, I was living paycheck to paycheck, worried about how I would pay for my rent and bills each month. Not to mention, I had spent all of my savings on the visa and actually moving there.
The average rent for a one-bedroom in London ranges from about £1,500 to over £2,500, depending on where you live in the city. That’s just for rent! It doesn’t include all the bills you need to pay in addition to that, like electricity, water, internet, and council tax.
To give you an idea, I was paying about £1,100 or so each month for rent and my share of bills. I lived in a two-bedroom flat in a nice area, but it was quite outside the city center.
In retrospect, I could have found somewhere cheaper to live if I had done more research, but after getting my visa, I needed to find somewhere as quickly as possible.
Oh, and don’t even get me started on the nonsense of flat-hunting in London. It took me about a month to secure my flat, after going to countless viewings, sending hundreds of messages, and even getting as far as signing papers for a place but it falling through.
Flat hunting in London is crazy, but just don’t do it in September or October when I did, as the market gets even worse with uni students looking for accommodation.
It can get tiring
It can get quite tiring living in the hustle and bustle that is London after a while – at least for me, it did.
There’s always so much going on in the city, and I felt that I needed to be a part of it, or I would miss out. Especially since I knew that my time in London had an expiry date, I wanted to soak up as much of it as possible.
But doing so means spending quite a lot of money and very likely burning out. I’m speaking from experience.
Don’t get me wrong, London is a magical place in that something’s always going on, but if you do too much, you will burn out.
I loved going to music festivals, summer concerts, rooftop bars, and clubs every weekend, but I did too much too fast, and now I’m ready for a break.
It’s a go-go-go city
London is a go-go-go city for the ambitious. Everyone is very career-driven and focused on being successful.
There’s nothing wrong with that, and to afford living in London, you kind of need to have that mindset. But it can get tiring after a while.
After almost two years of living in London, I’m realizing now that I prefer the “slower living” lifestyle where I’m not too concerned about how much money I’m making and if I’m going to be able to afford my lifestyle.
I want to take time to enjoy my life, travel, and do what makes me happy. I can’t really do that while living in the city, because I need to pay rent and bills every month, which are sky-high expensive.
My Takeaway?
At this point in my life, living in London is not for me. The city will always hold a special place in my heart, and I know I’ll always come back to visit, but I’m destined for other things right now.
I worked in hospitality, which doesn’t pay super well. Hospitality isn’t a high-paying field unless you start your own business or become a super high-up person in your company.
Near the end of my time in London, I got a pay raise and was no longer stressing about money every day. However, I still wasn’t making a huge amount that justified my being able to stay there long-term.
The Visa Process and How I Moved to London
I moved to London on a whim, and I’ll admit that I didn’t do enough research before actually deciding to do it. I made some mistakes on the way but I got my visa in the end.
In this section, I’ll briefly explain how I got my visa and give you some tips so you don’t make the same mistakes I did.
What Visa Did I Get?
I applied for the Youth Mobility Scheme visa, which allows you to live and work in the UK for two years. You must be 18-30 years old and from Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and a few other countries.
It costs quite a lot of money for the visa itself, the healthcare surcharge, and the biometric residence permit. On top of that, you need to have at least £2,530 in savings. I think I spent about £2,000 in total – which is A LOT.
I applied for this visa while I was in the UK, and I did not consider the fact that you can’t be in the country during the application process.
At the time, I was house-sitting in London and thought I could continue doing that until my visa was approved. But no, I had to leave the country for the entire process.
I was told that the process could take 7-10 weeks. Since I had to leave the country, I stayed in Brussels, Belgium, while waiting for them to make a decision.
Thankfully, it only took a few weeks, but it was difficult not knowing how long to book my accommodation for and not being able to travel during that time (as they take your passport).
If I remember correctly, I got a decision after about two to three weeks. I was told visa processing times were quite high, so it could take a minimum of seven weeks for a decision.
This was around the time when the queen died, and I thought it would affect everything, but it didn’t! I got a decision within three weeks, sent in my passport, and got it back about a week later.
A few days after arriving in London, I picked up my residence permit card. You need to do so within a few days.
After this whole process was over, I began searching for a room or a roommate – essentially a place to rent for two years. I found my roommate, and as we began our flat hunting.
Since I didn’t have a permanent place to stay yet, it became very expensive. Thankfully, I was able to do house-sitting and stay with a friend until we found a place, but I would NOT recommend applying for a visa and being in the country when you don’t yet have a place to call home.
Would I do this process again?
Maybe, but from Canada. Knowing what I know now, I don’t think I would go through the entire process of moving to the UK, but I’m glad I had this experience.
I’ve learned so much from this process – from moving halfway across the world, solo traveling, not having a permanent home for weeks on end, and making it work all on my own.
Visa Extension Options
This was not an option when I applied for the Youth Mobility Scheme visa, but you can now extend this visa by a year if you are from Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.
Besides extending the visa, there are a few ways you can stay in London.
- Skilled Worker Visa: This visa lasts for up to 5 years, can be extended, and requires your employer to sponsor you.
- Ancestry Visa: If one of your grandparents was born in the UK, you may be eligible to stay for up to 5 years with this visa.
- Spousal Visa: There are a few different requirements for this, but none apply to me.
To be completely honest, I’d rather not go through another visa process for the time being. I’d rather travel or go back to Canada where I can get a similar job in hospitality, live in a big city, and do the same things I did in London, but in my home country.
What Are My Future Plans?
When I first moved to London, I thought I would stay forever. I was entranced by the city, the lifestyle, and the ability to get a visa to stay here for a few years.
However, I realized a few things:
1) Just how expensive it was, and that I could not keep up with paying so much and living my lifestyle on my salary. Since moving to London, I’ve had multiple side hustles alongside my full-time job.
2) I realized that I likely would not be able to get a work visa (which is one of the viable options for me to stay here) from my employer due to it being a small business and neither of us having the funds for it.
Realistically, I could get a job at a larger company that would sponsor me with a work visa, but I liked my job, and I’ve realized over the years that I like working for small businesses, not large corporations. I didn’t want to change my job and be miserable just so I could afford to stay in London.
I also realized that I needed a change. I don’t want to continue working for people forever; I like being my own boss, having side hustles, and working on my own schedule.
In the short-term future, I see myself traveling, working on side hustles and my freelance career, and exploring the world, myself, and what I want to do.
I’m lucky to have a family who will have me in their home for as long as I need, and I can use them as a “home base” while traveling. I don’t have to move anywhere or make a rash decision as soon as I leave London.
In the long-term future, I see myself potentially moving back to Canada. But who knows? Plans change all the time.
Ultimately, at this time in my life, I prioritize travel over everything. I know I won’t have the opportunity I have right now in a few years.
I won’t have as little commitments and responsibilities as I do now. I’m not stuck in my job, and I don’t want to climb the career ladder right now. I feel like this is the perfect time to explore the world and just be a free spirit.
Eventually, I will probably stop traveling and want to settle down, but for now, the world is my oyster.
What I Learned From My Time in London
Now, you guys know I love getting a bit deep. I believe that every experience you have is an opportunity for growth, and my time in London was nothing short of that.
These are the things I’ve learned from living in the big city:
I discovered my love of travel.
Living in London and being fortunate enough to take multiple trips around Europe, plus two trips back home to see my family, has ignited my passion for travel.
I always knew I wanted to travel, but I never got the chance to before moving out of Canada.
After taking multiple city breaks, most of them solo, I realized I wanted to see the entire world, one place at a time.
I reinvented myself.
You can do anything and be anyone you want to be. This is especially true when you move to a new place, as nobody knows you.
I’ve changed a lot since moving away from my family and the city I called home for the past 21 years. I’ve made friends, put myself out there, and taken risks bigger than ever.
Since solo traveling and moving to London by myself with no financial help from anyone, I’ve learned that I can do ANYTHING. I managed to support myself financially and emotionally, and I came out the other side a better person.
You can find a community anywhere.
Your family and community back home will always remain the same. What I’ve learned is that you can put down roots and find community anywhere, as a sort of “found family.”
Since moving to London, I’ve made friends I know will stay in my life for a long time. I’ll always have my family and friends back home, but these new friends also have a special place in my heart.
So, there you have it! I hope this will help if you’re considering moving to London. The biggest downside is how expensive it is, but if you can afford it and want to experience living there, I would say just go for it.
Although I have spent so much money on rent, bills, and transportation when I could have been saving it if I moved elsewhere, living in London in your early twenties is an unparalleled experience.
There’s so much value in moving somewhere completely new and stepping out of your comfort zone.
Check out my latest post to read about the greatest lessons I’ve learned from solo travel and moving abroad.
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