My Week In London

I'm officially back in America after spending the week in London! I got back one week ago, and have spent the past days getting back into the swing of things: working, school...back to daily life. With my hours at my job, and the craziest trimester of school thus far plus planning for South Africa, (not to mention moving)...it's going to be a busy few months! At least I have the comfort of knowing Africa is definitely happening. It was touch and go there for awhile about the trip being canceled, which would have been devastating. I am happy to report, however, I am worried no more: it is 100% a go!

I traveled and spent the past week in London mostly by myself (there will be a post on this later) so I had the whole week to myself to explore the city I longed to get back to.

With the exception of checking out my university and housing, I had no concrete plans. This was quite the difference from my previous travels where seemingly every minute was planed and an insane schedule was to be stuck to. I was on my own, and had no one telling me where to go, and what to do and how much time I had left. So once I checked into my hostel, I sat in the room thinking...what now?

I spent the next several days trying to map out a basic plan of what neighborhoods I wanted to explore and what things I wanted to see. Each day I kept thinking of new things to see and do and ended up running out of time. Not surprising though, as there is so much to see and do in London. Good thing I'm going back ;)

I would take the tube to several areas around central London and just walk around and explore (and proceed to get very lost). I explored Notting Hill, Marylebone, Knightsbridge, SoHo, Westminster, Kensington...and so on. I saw so much, and yet saw so little of the huge city that is London.

I also met up with old and new friends! I was able to meet up with Sam from Sam's Fifth Avenue (previously Wandering Grad) who is attending my same university. I have been in touch with Sam for several months now. We got in touch because I had heard she was attending my university and we share a mutual love and obsession for London and travel. We met up, and Sam showed me where I'll hopefully be living in September and told me all about her impending move to NYC. It's always exciting meeting someone you've been talking to for a long time, and meeting Sam was no different!

It was a strange experience visiting my school. It's just after thinking about it for so long, then finally being there in person was surreal. I got to meet the director of my program, see my campus and I also visited potential housing sites. All in all, it was a good experience and I am eager to return in September to start.

I feel a lot better about everything having seen what I did in person. It would be a bigger adjustment had I not gone and seen everything, though still a big adjustment just the same once I move.

Now I just have to finish up my last trimester of school, graduate, go to Africa, wait 2 months THEN I can move. Hope time flies!