Notes on Moving Country | A Mash-up of Ideas, Tips and Complex Emotions

Notes on Moving Country | A Mash-up Of Ideas, Tips and Complex Emotions

Chances are that if you’re reading this then you are thinking about moving to London, already live in London, or know someone else who is thinking of moving. When I came up with the idea to ‘help’ or give tips on moving to London, I really didn’t realise how much content there would be to consider. I could go on and on about the differences and ways to overcome them, but for now the hurdles I faced in the first few months of living in London is already a lot to read!

I had visited London before moving here, so I already knew the basics, i.e. never ride in a Black Cab (they are super expensive, get an Uber instead) or when on an escalator stand on the right, but knowing how to pretend to be a Londoner, and actually being one felt like a completely different kettle of fish. I’ll let you in on a little secret; no one is really a true Londoner, and even less know how to get around without a map. Fake it 'til you make it is an everyday reality!

Making the move wasn’t easy, and at times not even fun. There were (and still are) times when I just want to scream FUCK YOU LONDON at everyone and come home on the next flight. The funny thing is that after a year I am getting more and more attached to this filthy concrete jungle. I don’t think anyone who lives away from his or her home country for an extended period of time ever looks at the world the same way. When I was little I wanted to grow up in London. Now I appreciate how amazing the quality of life in New Zealand is, and how lucky I am to be a New Zealander.

Here are a few of the things I remember from when I arrived…

The first Day

I arrived into the UK on the Thameslink, the underground train which runs through the tunnel between France and England. This was because I had already spent some time in Europe backpacking before coming to London (check out the posts in my archive). Everything went well with the trains in Germany, which was where I was staying with friends. Bahn is one of the greatest passenger train companies in the world in my opinion. As long as you can get across where you want to go they will get you a ticket. I had the eurail pass, but a ticket on the chunnel was a separate fare. Depending on where you book the prices can be an extra little surprise at the end of your trip, so make sure you’ve budgeted for this. I had to change trains in Brussels from a Bahn train to the English Thameslink. I knew I had found the right part of the train station (which felt oddly like an airport) when I saw the signage. Unlike everything else in the station it was all written in English and there were red and white cartoon drawings of London landmarks all over the walls of the waiting room. Kitschy old England here I come!

One thing to be careful of is getting your residency permit. When the customs officer looked at my passport he asked me for my residency permit card (the plastic card which looks like a driving licence that acts as your visa while you are in the country). I had opted to collect it from the post office once I got to London, but he told me I needed it to clear customs and enter the UK. Oh no. I don’t know if this is a common problem, or if he was just wrong about needing it the first time you enter, but he told me he would “let me off this time”. Once you have collected your permit from one of the designated post offices, make sure you take it with you in your wallet. It’s a useful form of ID (lots of places request 3 forms of ID i.e. the bank) and you also need to have it with you for international travel along with your passport.

I was so damn excited to arrive at Kings Cross. It felt so weird because I was finally here, but I hadn’t taken a plane or dealt with all the airport drama. I’d made it! I had planned to stay with a cousin who lived in Bermondsey, so just like a pro, and with backpack on, I bought myself an oyster card from the machines in the station and jumped on the tube (Northern Line southbound to London Bridge and then Jubilee Line eastbound one stop to Bermondsey).

The First Week

Sleep. Sleeeeeeeeep. I slept so much the first week. I think being in a huge city by yourself for the first time can feel psychologically draining. Be prepared for this. One of my favourite places to seek comfort and feel safe is my bedroom, and if you’re like me then you understand the struggle of staying in a new place. My cousin was very friendly and welcoming, but they were still practically strangers to me (I only remember meeting her and her partner once before about seven years ago) and they have two crazy gorgeous energetic girls. An only child who loves quiet private spaces? I was already out of my comfort zone without leaving the house!

The first few days I was there Emily (Le Cousin) showed me around Southwark, up Bermondsey street towards City Hall, Tower Bridge and over by Maltby Street and the craft beer mile to the east, and Borough and London Bridge in to the west.

The rest of the week was mostly admin. I found the post office that had my residency permit and once you have that you can apply for a national insurance number. I found a bank and joined (Lloyds, but I don’t know if this was necessarily the best one), bought a sim for my phone and got a plan (that was with EE, 16 GBP a month, not bad) and got a key cut. If you know me you might know that I love supermarkets and buying food. I am on a budget so I tend to shop at Tesco or Asda (a bit like countdown and Pack-n-save in New Zealand) but if you can afford to be lux then Waitrose is a good chain. I won’t even talk about Whole Foods Market because I can’t afford it.

Now for the essential apps: the London Tube Map app will tell you delays and closures in real time – and now that the night tube is running on Friday and Saturday nights it gives you info about that too. The most useful one to get is Citymapper (the Londoner’s transport bible), this app is a lifesaver and is right about 95% of the time. Trust me, you can thank me later. BBC News, Tinder, Weather. Spotify Premium - ideal when you’re on the tube with no reception but you want the freshest beats in the carriage, nahmean? Also Time Out magazine is a great place to start looking if you don’t know what to see and do.

The First Month

I finally got out and went for my first run in London! I hadn’t been for a run since Bavaria and it felt so good! I decided to check out Southwark Park, which quickly became my regular route. It has a pond, art gallery aaand outdoor gym equipment. Yep, if you want a free gym in London you will end up being one of those crazy people in tights working out in the middle of a park for everyone and their dog to stare at. I didn’t care – it was free!

I also started applying for jobs. I got a few job trials and finally got offered a job at the National Maritime Museum. I didn’t go through an agency or anything like that and I don’t really feel like it would have made much of a difference to be honest. I found online job searches provided a lot of opportunities. If you’re interested in art-based jobs try artsjobs.co.uk, museumjobs.co.uk, hiive, creative skill set, indeed and gumtree. 

It takes a lot of effort to stay on top of the massive money snowball that it London, so don’t stop applying for jobs even if you don’t think you have a chance. Since I’ve been here I’ve had interviews with The Royal Opera House, Buckingham Palace, and a restored Dutch Barge Kitchen and Bar on the Thames. I didn’t expect to get an interview for any of them! I was faced with the very real possibility that I would have to work in hospitality, an industry which I respect for the amount of hard work everyone puts in every day, but I was so happy when I was offered the museum job, and even more so at my current job at a high profile central London art gallery.

I found the best way of combining exploring central London, feeling like you have something vaguely resembling a social life, and not eating out alone was to go on tinder dates. Now hear me out. You meet someone online. After the obvious safety precautions such as talking for long enough to sus out if he/she is a psycho, facebook stalking to make sure their pictures are legit (life hack, if they have their tinder photos synced to their photo library you can type their phone number into facebook and see their profile) and deciding they are ok, you can meet them in the middle of town, somewhere that they suggest and boom -  you’ve got yourself a free city tour and you now know of one more place to eat or to have a drink (don't be a dick and make sure you split the bill, obviously). They don’t have to know that you don’t actually have any friends or that you’ve never been to this part of town before... or that you’ve spent the day in bed eating chocolate and watching Bridget Jones. You are ‘London You’, you are exotic and exciting, you have a weird accent, appreciation of alcohol and easy-going attitude. You can do this my fellow Kiwi. And if the date went badly you never need to see that person again. So, like, win win, right?

The First Six Months

First comes the job, then comes the house. Getting the keys to my first London flat was one of my big-kid moments. I found my own place (sharing with two others) all by myself on the other side of the world. I was so damn proud. I used spareroom.co.uk because I knew I didn’t want to live with other kiwi’s. Nothing wrong with us, but I figured that if I wanted to live with kiwi’s I could have stayed at home, right? But if you do want that little bit of support then the facebook group Kiwi’s in London is a good place to look for potential flatties. I contacted my future housemates and arranged a time to see the apartment, had a viewing/interview and they liked me. I was in like flynn! I used my backpack and a couple of cardboard boxes (I didn’t have much stuff) and booked an Uber.

A word of warning though about finding a flat; tenancy agents do actually make it quite hard for foreigners to find affordable housing in London. I had a stable full time job paying minimum wage (which is less than the London Living Wage, not cool) which was within walking distance of my house, I’m single and good at saving money, but after my referencing check – which they charged me 180 pounds for – I was told that I wasn’t earning enough to live at the property. I then needed a guarantor that would legally be responsible to make my rent payments if I failed to. But they also had to reside in the UK. I didn’t have anyone I could ask, so that option was out the window too. The only choice I had was to pay my rent in full to the end of the tenancy in one lump sum. OUCH. I am so grateful and lucky that my amazing family helped me with this payment, and because of that I am still here now. London is coming for you, and it wants your money.

I met some amazing friends whom I’m sure I will stay in contact with for the rest of my life. Contrary to what you might thing, making friends and meeting people in London is actually pretty hard because everyone lives so far away. I’ve found work has been the best place to make friends. A bit like school and uni – everyone is forced to be at the same place at the same time. Making an effort to meet up regularly is also super important. Things like Christmas or holidays can leave you without friends for weeks on end – make sure you catch up again, even (more like especially) if you feel like its been too long. If it feels like nothing’s changed when you do meet up again, you’ve got yourself some quality friends.

And don't forget to wear your jandals 

- even if christmas is in  the middle of winter!

Thank you for reading, I hope some of the things I have touched on will help you with your move to the big City! 

Please feel free to message me on here or on

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 if you ever need any help or a sympathetic ear :)

x G x