London, UK
“Hey Brandi, wanna move to London?””
I think I’ve asked Brandi at least once a week since 2016 when we can move to London. I no longer get an answer…
Until this point, DC had been one of my favorite cities in the world, but I fell hard for London and I have yet to find another spot on this planet that makes me feel the same way. I have no intention of slowing my search, but in the meantime, I’ll stand by this city. This world within a world.
We had the opportunity to spend a decent chunk of time in London - 14 days to take it all in and still I feel it wasn’t enough. From street markets on the east side to shows at the West End, we made our rounds. Much of what we did during this stint of our trip was facilitated by the UL Study Abroad program (probably the best academic move I made in college). It was really awesome having this kind of structure and support as we got acquainted with being overseas and living out of our backpacks. It also afforded us the opportunity to see more and do more than we would’ve on our own. If not more, than different at least. Brandi and I both took a theatre class with Keith Dorrick which comprised of a West End show a night and a Socratic discussion the next morning with the others who saw it. Realistically, we never would’ve afforded ourselves a West End show a night, but through the class, this became one of the most memorable and wonderful experiences of my time there. In many ways I feel that we grabbed the opportunity of a lifetime by saving our pennies and paying the extra cost associated with Study Abroad. Backpacking through the city and exploring ourselves would’ve been great, but not nearly the experience we had.
Anyway, to this day London holds a special spot in my heart - the city, neighborhoods, parks, museums, theatre, and history. I’ll say, I’m not there for the food, but the fish and chips are great, so is the curry!
One day I’ll be able to convince Brandi to make the jump over the pond, but for now I’ll just keep on chiseling away. “Hey Brandi, wanna move to London?”
