Life in London so far... (hint: it's pretty, but expensive)

About 2 months ago my partner and I decided to take the leap that no other Australian has ever done before and move to the Aussie capital of London, Clapham. Although London is such a vibrant city full of so many sites to see, it hasn't been all sunshine; in fact, it's been more reminiscent of London's erratic weather. It started out strong; we were lucky in our flat search and landed our dream place within a week, which is unheard of! However I must have put all my good luck into the flat search as the job search has been a whole other situation. Since moving, I have applied for what feels like thousands of jobs, and I quickly realised I should consider myself lucky if I get a rejection letter, as most just ignore my applications. I've definetly had a significant blow to my ego, however I'm doing my best to stay positive and it just means more time to look at the park view from my flat (if you told me a few months ago that looking at some trees would be a consolation prize I'd think you were crazy, but here we are).

The upside to being unemployed is that I've had more time to explore my new city and spend £6 on coffees all around London. I was trying to take myself out for a coffee date at least once a day, however it got to the point where I had to break up with myself because I couldn't afford it (it's ok, I took it well). In fact, the coffee prices were taking such a toll on me I eventually got a job at a local coffee shop to fuel my caffeine addiction without sending me broke. Instead of taking myself out, I was now working with kids in their early 20's asking me why I moved to London, and I'm not sure they believe me when I say I just really wanted to be a barista in Clapham! The moment I knew I was really old was when I was the only one taking notes (yes, pen and paper) at the training session, they couldn't believe it. But when I do a job, I'm always going to give 110%, so if I need to remember how to make the Blueberry Matcha with oat milk then god dammit I'm going to make the best one anyone has ever tasted!

Now it's been very easy to get into my head and question myself and this new reality. I keep asking myself, and then avoiding the answer, to the question "What are you doing here?!" and "Why are you so stressed about matcha", however I know I need to just remind myself that everything is a process, and this is just a step in my journey. On this note, I thought I'd collate some of my images of beautiful London and put them together, to 1) share with you and 2) remind myself why I moved to London in the first place - because London is really effing cool!

The galleries in London are some of my favourite I've ever been to, particularly the Tate Modern. We went and saw the "Capturing the Moment" exhibition, which was about how"The arrival of photography changed the course of painting forever. In this unique exhibition, we explore the dynamic relationship between the two mediums through some of the most iconic artworks of recent times." We also went to the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photography Awards which was an amazing experience and that's an area of photography I often overlook as I focus more on people and buildings. But yeah wow, nature is pretty cool, who knew??

So I thought Australians like to drink...but we've got nothing on the Brit's! Apparently it's totally normal to drink on a Monday...Tuesday...Wednesday...and definetly a Thursday afternoon. Just last week I was so proud of myself because I only drank on the weekend, which was my norm only a few months prior. But alas I have to experience the British culture don't I!? Now as for the food, despite their less than glowing reputation, it's obvious that Gordon Ramsay visited a lot of the restaurants because the food is actually pretty delicious (although I could definetly find some places that Kitchen Nightmares will have a field day at). It may not beat the food back home, but I will say, they seem to love goats cheese as much as I do which is a big positive in my eyes.

I love how you can identify the different areas of London based on the architecture of the buildings. For example you can tell if you're in Chelsea versus Notting Hill based on the colour of the buildings. Although some areas have more obvious charm than others (I'm looking at you Mayfair), it's still important to seek out the beauty in each area you visit (you might have to look realllllly hard in some areas, but it's there!)

Look, it has to be done. I still get giddy whenever I pass a red telephone box or get a glimpse of Big Ben from the bus. It's pinch-me-moments like that when it hits me "Oh yeah, I actually live in London!!!". Yes it's easy to get annoyed at the masses of tourists blocking your path and think "Argh don't they know I'm a LOCAL", but in reality it wasn't that long ago I myself was a tourist here and I know for sure I was just as serious about getting THE shot.

The flowers in London are next level, with bright petals spread across the city in the trees, in the gardens and in the flower stands. The best thing about the amount of flowers here is that you can pick up a beautiful bunch on tulips from your local supermarket for £3, which begs the questions why isn't my partner buying me more?

When my partner and I started our search, I was adamant that I didn't want to be a typical Australian and move to Clapham, and that I wanted to live North. So I'd like to introduce you to my new neighbourhood of...Clapham. When I realised we could get twice the amount of space for the same price I decided to accept defeat and look South, and I haven't regretted it once. I fully understand why so many Aussie's are here; the space, the greenery and the lack of crowds is a nice break from central London. So if you're moving to London, yes it would be very cool to move to Angel and Islington (and I'll be very jealous of you), don't forget to look South as sometimes it's ok to be a stereotype, and it always breaks the ice when meeting Londoner's as they'll definetly make fun of you for it.

My dreams of getting a cool creative job in London aren't dead yet (although they are withering) and I'll continue to apply for jobs I know I won't hear back from and making matcha lattes until one day, I finally hear back (this is me manifesting).

xx Maggie