I have offiically moved to London!! Currently writing as I sit on a train to Brighton to take a hot yoga class and cheeky day trip :) Today is Sunday and I moved in on Wednesday so I’ve really only had four full days in the UK. It’s been a lot of running around making random trips to Ikea, Argos, and Boots, attending training and networking events for my job, and taking care of all the nasty life admin tasks that you have to deal with when you move to a new place. I’ve mostly just been listening to Wallflower by Dominic Fike a lot and desperately trying to remember to bike on the left side of the road.
It feels so surreal to finally be here; I was chatting with Colleen last night about how I’ve basically known I was moving to the UK since November 2025 (nearly 10 months ago) when I received my acceptance from Cambridge. Though there would be a lot of events to transpire in the following months that changed the nature of the move (being accepted to LSE’s planning program, a visit to Cambridge/London, getting funding from LSE, applying for my visa, getting a job w LSE ResLife, etc), I’ve still known the move was happening for a really long time, longer than optimal perhaps.
There’s something about anticipation and expectation. When I graduated from college, I had no plans afterwards and so there was nothing to anticipate. I got my job offer from the Fed and had only a month to move before I started, so expectations were incredibly low. I was unprepared and it took me some time to figure out what I wanted from my experience in DC. Sometimes I think I could have gotten more out of my time in DC (or maybe gotten out of there quicker) if I had had more time to anticipate and plan, which is why I knew I wanted to have my post-Fed plans firmed up well in advance. I’ve had a lot of time to visualize and craft an idea of what I want out of this chapter, but I’m not sure if 10 months of anticipation is ever a good thing, only time will tell.
On transportation in London: it has been four days and I still have yet to touch the Tube. I live about a 20 minute walk from LSE and am generally super central so it’s been a lot of walking, a little bit of biking, and a couple buses. I really want to buy a bike but I think I need to spend some more time exploring the city and its bike infrastructure before officially committing. Regardless, I am just so grateful to be here and beginning a new and exciting chapter again :)
