Welcome to the third and final part of this series! Through Part II, we explored the things I did on the days and week after landing. Through this article, I detail some key resources I used to help me in this transition and also my time exploring the city.
To give you some context, this is my first time in the UK and so naturally, London as well. And this was just after the second wave of COVID in India. Restrictions were still in place and India had just come off the “Red” list and gone into the “Amber list” of countries as classified by the UK with respect to travel restrictions. This implied that I had to quarantine non-institutionally at a place of my choice. So though some of my thoughts might relate specifically to this pandemic world, the underlying concepts are ubiquitously applicable.
Inter cohort wisdom
I cannot stress enough how much the alumni guides on settling down in London and what to do and not, helped my transition to London. The amount of wisdom that exists in these lived experiences remains unparalleled. It is, at times, an underrated source of knowledge. Reaching out to alumni to ask for practical tips helps immensely. More importantly, these guides (literal PDFs) already exist! Ones tailor-made to your country, most likely!
So, it is certainly worthwhile to spend time reaching out to people to get a hold of these premade resources. I detail this further in the section below. These guides usually contain packing lists, food spots that cater to your home cuisine, general dos and don’ts, etc. These usually also contain apps and affordable places at which to shop. I latched on to three documents and created a Google Spreadsheet of my own that acted as a master sheet for all this information. But again, that is a “me” thing in the sense that I process information best when I recreate it in a way that suits my way of visualization.
Accessing local communities
The best way to gather information on the different things to do during your move is to talk to people who just arrived. People who are on the same boat as you, or who recently were. The way I did this was to join the LSE India Whatsapp Group. Odds are that a community Whatsapp/Facebook group already exists. If not, go ahead and create one! Having people who went through the hectic process of “Visa application” gave me access to great resources and most importantly, a good space to see that I am not alone in the process! The community brought up nuances that I wouldn’t have thought about and hence made the whole process that much easier.
Another aspect that helped was talking with people from my course. In general, odds are that a lot of your classmates will be relocating for this course too! One of the many perks of studying in a multi-cultural environment like LSE. They will most certainly have great insights into what can be done once you land. Practical tips about accommodation, transportation, and other such aspects will be abundant. Also, it truly is a great way to start building bonds. There is something very intimate about sharing and helping survival instincts, a great way to bring people closer together!
Exploring the city
Once out of quarantine, it was naturally time to spend a good chunk of our time just exploring around town. The best way, in my opinion, to get a feel of what London has to offer is good, old-fashioned walking. A worthwhile investment would be a good quality pair of walking shoes. Exploring the Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street, Leicester Square, etc. by walk gave me a good taste of what it feels like to be a part of Central London.
A planner myself, I spent a bit of time compiling a list of must-see places and left the rest of it open. What this meant is that I would head over with my friend to view these places and then let serendipity lead the rest of the way. Exploring connecting streets, walking into monuments and galleries, etc. as we came by them really helped in connecting with a city like London.
Arriving at the end of summer helped as well! The weather was perfect for sightseeing in my opinion. It was such a great time to walk around! Not too hot, not too cold. Just perfect! And oh, the sun was out, so that truly was a pleasant surprise given the number of stories set in London that start with “it was a cold, rainy day”.
