I'm a Londoner. To an extent. I was born and raised in the East, on the border of London/Essex and will happily switch between my home place dependant upon the situation. My postcode is Essex, my borough is London. Do you see?
I don't remember much of London city growing up. Days trips here and there only came about in the last few years, and I was only ever able to explore on the once a year trips during my Photography A Level in which my teacher would lead us around the entire city in a few hours. I also trained at the Charing Cross store of my first job, getting the tube to Tottenham Court Road station every weekend and never realising that I was on Oxford Street at all. Skip a few years to when I started getting invited to PR events, and it seems that all of the little London puzzle pieces in my head finally matched up. I'm more than confident to get on the central line in the evening, travel to the West of SW of London, and figure out where I am in seconds and know where the closest Instagramable place is, and how to get there.
I've done the London Eye twice, seen the Madame Tussauds wax figures, and shopped in both Westfields (winning) and yet some days, all I want is to walk around my own city and explore it a little. I have a friend who has lived in her house, 10 minutes from me, her entire life, like myself. However when I'm driving somewhere that's not the road from her house to work, or the shops, she has no idea where I'm going. If she drives somewhere new to her, she'd rather get up the good old google, rather than listening to my advice about which roads clog up with traffic at this time of night. I'm surprised that people can live in a place for so long, and never have seen it at all.
I write this sitting in my dressing gown on one of the coldest days I've think we've had so far this year. I dreamt of the sun when I went to London in my light blue jeans from Missguided, with a thin H&M shirt with pink trainers and my long pink Threadbare coat that I've had since 2016. I grabbed a coffee to warm up and eventually gave in and put gloves on too. Where is the spring please? I LOVE the long coat and trainer look for running around in the underground, and these jeans are the best thing I've put on my body. Ever.
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