Expat Life

London Is Killing My Desire to Travel

This city has the whole world inside it

A few years ago, I heard about The World In One City.

This is a project that Owen Powell and Alex Horne started on October 24th, 2006 (United Nations Day), and finished on October 24th, 2007.

Their aim was to prove that London is the most cosmopolitan city in the world, by endeavouring to meet and chat to a citizen from every country in the world who currently lives and works in London.

They managed to meet people from 189 countries. According to the UN, there are 192 countries in the world, so they proved that at the very least, London contains over 98.4% of the nations of the world!

After three years of living in London, I have not counted the number of different nationalities I have met, but I definitely feel like I have experienced something close to those numbers.

Because it doesn’t have to be a full on meeting to experience the culture of another country in London. London has a million touchpoints with all the cultures, and it undoubtedly does feel like the world in one city.

Tasting Traditional Foods

Going and eating at an authentic Peruvian restaurant feels like I’m teleported into the country for that evening.

And the next evening I could get delivered at home Indian food and teleport to the other side of the world.

Let’s not mention the Italian pizza, the Japanese sushi, and the Turkish kebab that are in every street.

To understand diversity is to understand flavours, mysticism, tradition, innovation, colours, textures, culture, sustainability, nature, health, traceability, ecology, the history behind each ingredient, and above all, our identity. — Malena Martínez, Chef

Witnessing Traditions

When a friend was visiting me, I showed her Chinatown right before watching a French musical, Les Misérables.

And then the next day we saw a Buddhist ritual at the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park, after walking the Albert Bridge, named after Queen Victoria’s husband, most famous British Queen.

This mix of cultures shouldn’t work together, but somehow it does.

In this city 300 languages are spoken and the people that speak them live side by side in harmony. This city typifies what I believe is the future of the human race and a future where we grow together and we share and we learn from each other. — Ken Livingstone, Politician

Observing Diversity

The streets of London are sometimes so diverse that it’s beautiful to witness. Just in a walk to get to a place you can see people with visibly different races, religions, ethnicities, physical abilities, etc.

It’s like this city welcomes everyone with open collective arms.

We live now in a global village and we are in one single family. It’s our responsibility to bring friendship and love from all different places around the world and to live together in peace. — Jackie Chan, Actor

Experiencing Lifestyles

You want the busy and fast city life, growing a successful career? London is the place for that.

You want a calmer life in a cosy neighbourhood, near a park? London is the place for that.

You want to go out, have fun and spend time with friends? London is most definitely the place for that.

Whatever lifestyle you want, name it, and London has something for you.

At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time.― Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

Learning History

There are many parts of London which are an open-air museum. On top of that, there are over 250 museums that this city offers. Majority of them with a focus on other countries.

I planned once that I wanted to go to a different museum every week. And then I realized that it would take me around five years to go to all.

I think the whole cultural diversity and the arty side of London is really, really great. And how it’s so historic as well. — Lily Allen, Actress

Exploring Nature

London was named the greenest city in the world based on the square footage of green spaces. So much so that it falls under the UN’s definition of a forest.

Yes, you read that correctly, a forest. London is 40% public green space, including 3,000 parks totalling 35,000 acres.

Whenever you need a break from the skyscrapers, the tube, or the buildings, you can escape for hours and hours inside a big park, even in central London.

Cute plants and wild animals will be waiting to be your friends.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. — Albert Einstein, Physicist

One Thing Is Missing

Wait a second, you would say, you forgot a big reason why people travel. Sometimes we are not looking for new things or cultures to explore, we are just looking for a warm, sunny place.

Ah, you got me there. London is everything, except that. But fortunately, I get that in every visit to my home country, Albania. As it’s home, it doesn’t count as travel for me.

Everything in London is quite good, apart from the weather: it’s cold and rainy there, and the winter is long. — Sayed Kashua, Journalist

All of this has led to me having no desire to travel any more. A part is the convenience of having access to everything in one place (plus sun back home).

The other part is that I’m overwhelmed by having to experience the whole world every single day.

What my brain calls vacation now is not seeing new things for a little while.

Before living here, I would travel to at least three new countries every year. Since I moved to London, I have not travelled anywhere new, besides a couple of times for work.

Nonetheless, I feel like these three years I have met hundreds of international people, tasted food from every corner of the world, learned about diverse cultures, traditions and history, and got lost in breathtaking nature.

If you have been wanting to travel, but it isn’t possible right now, this might be a sign to you to see if your own place of living can offer that for you.

Even if you don’t live in a big international city, here are some simple tips that could work almost anywhere.

• Order some new foreign food. Or think of an international friend you might have and ask them to try cooking their traditional cuisine together.
• Look if there’s a neighbourhood, street, building, museum, or even an event like a theatre play centred around another culture and go check it out.
• And if different cultures aren’t the thing you are craving most now, you can go and try any new restaurant, a cultural activity or a new hiking trail.

There’s nothing extra special in the places we usually travel to. What’s special is that they are new to us. But we don’t need to get on a plane to find something new.

I’m sure there’s a lot you can discover if you decide to spend a day as a tourist in your own city.

Something new might be just around the corner. Take that turn!

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