18 months. One-and-a-half years.
That’s the time we’ve been living in London, and the ‘recurrence’ was last week. We didn’t do anything to celebrate it (I actually remembered about it just now!), but we should have. It seems a long time now that I think of it, but it’s like yesterday that first week…
Back then, we didn’t have any accommodation, we only booked a b&b for a couple of days, in the hope to get a room as quickly as possible. Finding a place to stay is a very tiring quest, you know that. We had some areas in mind, mostly due to tube connections to my Uni and Gioia’s work, but we didn’t know the city well, so we ran up and down, calling landlords and booking viewings with no breaks.
The whole process was not helped by the fact that Gioia was starting to work on the Thursday (we flew in on a Monday afternoon), and we were lucky enough to find a room in Bethnal Green late in the afternoon of Wednesday!! The space was available from the Sunday, so Gioia started working while we were still in that tiny room in the b&b, round Victoria. I managed to find a job the following day, close to where we would have lived, which I started the very same day.
We stayed there for about 9 months, but more about this will follow.
What we’ve learned. Tips for you.
It’s never easy to move to a new city. London is no different in this: it’s big and scary, although you can be helped by the fact that you could know someone to help you finding a caouch/room/flat, especially in the very first days. A positive aspect is given by the fact that maybe you know the city to a certain extent, or at least are familiar with the tube map (although London and Underground London are two very different entities). Before we moved, the tube map was my desktop wallpaper on my laptop, for me to get used to the areas once we got there. It worked for me, you could try it too.
Also, it’s very important for you to get a UK mobile sim as soon as possible. Just get a pay-as-you-go one, as you’ll need it to call the landlords. Try to avoid the ones by brands you don’t know, they might be difficult to top-up. Go for O2, Orange, T-Mobile or Vodafone, they’re all about the same. You can change your plan later.
Get a weekly Oyster card for the Underground, for the zones you might need (likely 1-2 or 1-4). You’ll need it, as you’ll likely travel quite a lot in the first days. Also, consider putting some pay-as-you-go cash on it, especially if you get the weekly for zones 1-2, as you might end up further than you originally thought. In these digital days, be sure you are familiar with the Transport for London website and their journey planner.
Use the web but don’t rely just on that. There are hundreds of tools to help you with your quest, you have to find the one most suitable for your particular case. If you’re planning to share a flat/house, than Gumtree is probably the best solution (although you’ve got to be careful). If you want to stay on your own, and find a place through a agent, use a property search engine, where you’re going to find properties from different portals. My suggestion is use Nestoria (which I work for, but, honestly, it’s probably the best tool out there). But don’t just stay on the web. Go offline. Which bring us to the next tip…
Buy Loot. It is issued three times a week, make sure you buy it in the morning on the day it comes out (any newsagent will do). Early in the morning. Sit down, with that and a pen. Circle the places that you want to view, and call. And then call. And then call.
And finally…
You will find a place. It might take a day of a week, but you’ll find one. Just be patient.
These were just some thoughts about our first days in London, and some suggestions for you not to make the same mistakes we made. Do you have any other tips of your own? Is there any other little secret you migh want to share with us?
