I've seen that sign twice a day for eight months now, and I'm sick of it.
I don't want to go into it all, but the upshot is I'm beginning to feel very much like I really only live on the weekends. During the week, I go to work, I come back, usually around 7:30 or 8:30, eat, maybe knit a bit, and that's it. I don't do anything else.
During the weekends, we can get into London. There are markets, and really good food options, and movie theatres that don't just play the latest popular shite. There are good bookshops. There are yarn shops. There are knitting groups. We have some friends in London.
Every time we go in, we think, screw it, we should just move into London. My train to work stops at Clapham before it hits Waterloo, so we could move one train stop into London. Clapham would be proper London- it's Zone 2. There are pubs, shops, restaurants, etc. It didn't help that we visited friends of The Limey's who live just a few minutes away from Clapham Junction train station. And it was great!
The bad things about this option:
-Housing would be more expensive, way more expensive;
-my train ticket would be more expensive (update: just checked, the monthly train ticket is actually only GBP25 more);
-it would add 1/2 hour onto my commute, each way;
-we'd spend more money because there would be more opportunities for spending money.
The good things about this option:
-We'd be in London!
-Proper London: it wouldn't cost us GBP10 each to get into London;
-we could take advantage of all the great food markets: right now, it's silly to spend GBP10 just to go in and buy some food. We feel like once we've spent that money, we should make the most of the day. We always feel like we're visiting London;
-The Limey could take public transport into work.
So we keep throwing this idea around. What's stopping us is the expense and the extra hour of commute time for me.
(Also: I've always lived in cities. This is the first time I've lived in a suburb. And I'm not sure I like it.)
5 comments:
I was in London today and thought of you for this very reason as I passed through Clapham Junction on the train.
I understand how you feel. I live in the suburbs and work in the city. It takes me 1.5hours to get to work including commuting and walking. Weekdays are write-offs for me - don't go out as I can't commit and don't know when I will finish work.
Sounds like with the extra commute if you move to London will just mean more of the same and you're paying to do so. But also means you don't have to stare at that "Woking" sign - sounds like something from a Chinese restaurant. Can you move and if it doesn't work out, move back? That's the flexibility of renting isn't it?
And London is sooo much more fun!!
Woking's a kip by all accounts. I say move. Would the extra rent be made up for by lessened travel expenses for the Limey and at weekends?
Could you handle an extra hour's commute each day though?
I'm a city girl as well - and I lived in brooklyn for three years before moving to London. I know Brooklyn is as much part of NYC as manhattan, but it totally felt like the suburbs to me, and it really took a toll. So, I can't tell you how happy I am now to be living in the center of a city, despite any additional expense. I can walk to work!
I believe that my time is worth more than money. Ask me if I still feel this way at the end of July when the job I'm doing ends, however...
For me, it was absolutely worth any cons. Though again, ask me at the end of July (stressed? me?)
you're funny.
The problem is: you're too used to living in a big city... so sure, living outside a big city and wishing you lived in a big city will OF COURSE make you unhappy with the extra time, expense, etc to get a taste of the life you really desire.
See... all the people content in living in suburbs? It's cause they aren't longing for all the things you are. They have dug out their own lives in their own suburbs and with the people and places that are convenient to the suburb.
MOVE IN TO LONDON PROPER ALREADY. It's the only way to make that sad feeling go away. Who cares if it costs more... the combined income between you and the limey HAS to be plenty for that kind of move!!
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