What I learned living in London at 18

I moved from a mid-sized city in the US to London, UK at the age of 18.

Being an only child with a single parent, this was the most risky, scary thing I could have done at this age. Here are the top 5 take-aways I still have 7 years later.

1. I became more independent- and it stuck!

I learned that there is so much to discover in a city that has thousands of cultures and languages, neighborhoods and local shops. In my daily life through high school, I was relatively always surrounded by the same people and environment. Living in London, I knew there was so much to explore, so I made a point to go do it. I basically forced myself to be independent and try new things even when I may not have wanted to.

2. If you want to do something- just go do it!

I’m a big advocate for going to see what you want to, though it can be intimidating alone when you don’t have someone to share it with. In such a big city though, it may be a bit easier to get over this feeling. After a few weeks of figuring out the Tube system alone and knowing the general areas of London, I began to explore alone. I would honestly take the tube line that I was accustomed to and get off at a random stop. Make sure you are familiar with the general area before you depart, but once you are off. Just explore for a bit! Walk around, putts into shops, go around to the parks. If there was a comedy show that I wanted to go to, but my co-students were busy, I went alone!

Don’t be afraid to do things alone, sometimes it turns out being better. Also, when you do things alone, you are on your own timeline and interest levels. No one is influencing your time in one place or another. Want to stay in a shop longer? Do it. Want to get a bite to eat at a restaurant that looks interesting? Go for it.

3. Get involved with locals your age.

When I moved to London, I lived with 3 other American girls from my University in an apartment in Central London. I was also given the opportunity to join the University of London’s Student Union. At the first day of freshers orientation, I think I signed up for about 15 clubs that sounded interesting. I ended up becoming part of — only one — the gymnastics club — which involved newbies to advanced gymnasts. Sure the gymnastics was fun, but a couple of us after practice each week would go to a pub for a drink after or stay after to chat. This gave me insight into things to do from people that had lived in London and not just be surrounded by my American co-students.

I have still kept in partial touch with them since I left 7 years ago and maybe will connect when I go back in a few months!

4. Go to all the museums.

Now, I am not typically into museums. But, boy did London make me fall in love with some of theirs. Even though I lived in London for 5 months, there is always something new to do. I felt guilty wanting to go to the same place twice because I felt like there could be other, new experiences to be had. Somehow even with my lack of love for museums and slight fear to do things twice, I still went to a few museums twice. Here are the ones that wow-ed me:

• Saatchi Gallery (Chelsea) — Beautiful, modern art by simple artists that changed frequently so there was always something new.
• Sir John Soane’s Museum (Holborn) — House museum by the famous artist with works from throughout his lifetime.
• Museum of Natural History and the Victoria and Albert Museum (South Kensington) — Natural history with interactive and captivating exhibits.

5. Living in a large city at 18 (or really any age) can be intimidating — live somewhere Central and in the most accessible zone to be the most independent.

This made it easiest for me to get to things in a timely manner, be involved with all the local shops and businesses, and be close to all the tube lines. I never felt like I couldn’t do something because of the distance I was or accessibility issue. This made it easiest for me to be able to make the most out of my time there. Once I noticed how easy it was to meet people or find new experiences that did not remotely exist in my town back home, it was almost like a high to try and find another experience like that the next week. Even if I was not feeling motivated to go do something extravagant, there was always a new coffee shop I could go do school work in or courtyard park that I could walk around in when I had a few extra minutes. In these experiences, I didn’t feel like a young, fresh into school student… I felt like I was actually a local figuring out her neighborhood for the first time, in someplace I called home.

I became the most independent that I ever was and it has stuck with me for years down the line. It also gave me an amazing work ethic to try to move back to London in my 20's- which proves difficult as a US citizen with a Master’s in Public Health. Affording life in London could be a whole another topic, but these were my biggest take-aways during my time there.