Living and Working in London | LIFESTYLE

Deciding to move to London was an extremely scary and exciting decision we made. I couldn’t believe how quickly a month of travelling went and before I knew it, it was time to start to look for a place to live and a job. We quickly came to the realisation that London is very expensive to live in. I am very lucky to have moved here with my husband so we will have 2 wages to help us get by.

We are newlywed so we ideally wanted to find a place to ourselves and to call our own. The more we looked, the more we knew that was not going to happen. Not at first anyway. As we didn’t have a job or know what wages we would be getting, it was hard to know what we could afford. We decided we couldn’t commit to a 6 month lease for a small studio flat considering we didn’t have a plan or know how long we wanted to stay. With so much uncertainty job wise, we decided to find a flat share. We now live in a flat with 6 other kiwis who are all very lovely. Adapting to living with strangers was easier than I thought as they are all welcoming and are in the same situation as us. We have our own room to relax in when we need our space which is great. Our only issue is getting rid of our unwanted house guest... a mouse.

Finding jobs is another story. I registered with a recruitment company which I would highly recommend. They found me work within 2 days. It was a temp job with the option to go permanent so it was long term which was great. Unfortunately I really didn’t enjoy working there so I chose to leave in the hope that I would have another job within days like the first. This wasn’t the case. Two weeks on and I still don’t have a job. I have been to many interviews and job trials only to be told "we have found someone with more experience". I know I am a good worker but its becoming very discouraging to keep hearing “no” all the time.

I am not losing hope! There will be a job out there for me. I will continue looking and registering with recruitment companies until I found the right one as well as looking on job sites. 

In the mean time, while my husband is working and I am waiting to hear back from interviews, I get to explore this beautiful city and have lots of afternoon naps!

Amber

Welcome to my Life

Hello! 

My name is Amber. I have recently moved to London from a small town in New Zealand.

Our travels began when we left New Zealand on the 14^th of November 2015. Saying goodbye to my family and pets was extremely difficult. Although it was easier knowing it wasn’t forever.

We arrived in LA after a 12 hour flight. We spent a few days in LA exploring the city and taking in all the sites. The highlights were Santa Monica, Warner Bros Studios Tour (where we went to the Friends set and Pretty Little Liars set!) and Disneyland. 

We then joined our contiki group, jumped on a bus and headed straight to Las Vegas. Vegas was amazing, even for someone like me who doesn’t drink a lot. We continued our bus journey through to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Durango Colorado, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Dallas, Memphis, and all the way to New Orleans.  

We said goodbye to all the friends we made on our bus tour and then we continued to Washington DC ourselves.

I fell in love with Washington DC as soon as we landed! It’s such a beautiful city that is very clean, has amazing parks, and an incredible history to tell. We walked for hours around the parks to all the major sites like the Smithsonian Museums, National Mall, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial Park and of course the White House. I decided I wanted to do some shopping (of course!) so we made our way to Georgetown and it was adorable with its picturesque streets and shopping boutiques.

After our few days in Washington DC we moved on to New York City. Let’s just say that this place is my favourite city I have ever been to! I couldn’t believe how much I fell in love with New York. Times Square, the Empire State Building, the Rockefeller Center, Central Park, 5^th Avenue, the West Village, Brooklyn Bridge, Bryant Park, the food, the yellow cabs, all the skyscraper buildings and it all at Christmas as well! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE New York!!!  

Now it was finally en-route to London... but not without a quick stopover in Iceland first. Iceland was freezing cold with a high of only -6°C during the day and only 4 hours of daylight. What a beautiful place though. We were blessed enough to be able to see an amazing display of the Northern Lights on our first night. That was the most breathtaking sight I have ever seen. I would highly encourage anyone who gets a chance like this to take a moment and put down the camera and just experience the beauty of Gods creation. The next day we explored Reykjavik and on our last day we relaxed at the Blue Lagoon Hot Springs which was also incredible. 

We finally landed in London after a month of travelling the USA and Iceland.

Now to start living and working again.

Amber