To miss living in London

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I left 17 years ago in my mid- twenties missed it a bit at first after all there were no 24 hour shops in the provinces then, but I got a regular hit by visiting friends.
Then met a man, got married had baby, friends left London didn't miss it.
Man turned out to be snake in grass in so many ways so it's now just me and DD (10).
Yesterday I took her to Hampton Court, we parked a bit away and walked. Beautiful day London at it's best. I just felt for the first time every for a huge variety of reasons our quality of life would be better there. Sadly I have successful business where we live which is totally location specific so moving is not an option.
Really miss London and all it has to offer.

[Mrswellyboot]

I miss the city I lived in a lot but due to work etc will have to stay where I am. I think it is better to live outside of it but get plenty of visits.

[ThornOfCamorr]

I like London very much although my friends think I am mad! We live about 40 mins away and really love where we live but both DH and i also like a bit of city living YANBU

[HuntingforBunting]

No no no yabu. Quality of life in London is shite. We've just moved out and couldn't be happier with the less stress, better schools and more sunshine although only moved to the south coast. Perhaps you are going through a grieving process about your ex and necessarily regretting some of the big decisions you made together like where to live?

[Burren]

I only left just over a year ago and I miss it too, though I think part of that is down to finding where we're currently living (a small village in which people who don't sort their recycling properly are admonished in the monthly newsletter) uninspiring. I'm a writer, and spend all day on my own, and London was wonderful because I could slope off to an art gallery or just work in a cafe in Soho for a change, and the libraries were wonderful, and there were always operas and concerts and readings... that big city energy was inspiring. Plus having a small child was easier in London - so much free stuff to do, museums for rainy days, any walk was an adventure of sirens, passing ambulances, taking the bus or train etc.

I love the country, too, but where we are is too far from any proper hills or the coast, and I can feel a bit stranded.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I had already lived in current location for four years when I met ex, so I didn't choose to move here to be with him.
DD and I love to visit places and having everything just a tube ride away is the attraction. It's never going to happen due to work so probably makes me want it more.

[AgaPanthers]

YABU, Hampton Court really isn't 'London', it's Surrey really, and it was a nice sunny day, the first for months, and you could have had as nice a day out at any of dozens of similar stately homes around the country.

Cliveden, for example. Or Petworth, or many others.

[Burren]

It depends on what matters to you. Yes, we have more space, quiet and better air, a (slightly claustrophobic) sense of community, thatched cottages, bell ringers and a zero crime rate in the country. But a lot of the time I would swap it all for litter, black snot, our tiny flat, and being within a 20 min tube ride of the NT/BFI/BM/BL, Courtauld, National Gallery, Tate etc etc.

[ThornOfCamorr]

I love the hustle and bustle but it's also good to have the option of really fresh air too.

[GingerMaman]

Yabu. Honestly it is not worth it living in London. You don't really have a life here unless you are uber wealthy.

[NoodleOodle]

I've never understood the appeal of London myself. I've been told "You can get to anything you might want to see" and then found that to get there, it would take a trek, a bus, a tube, another foot-trek, after which yes, we'd be at the destination and still in London- er, woohoo? But, if I had wanted to do similar from where I am now I could just as easily find an attraction, take public transport or DRIVE, and get there in less time going from one town to another than the alternative of travelling within London.

Maybe you have to live there to get it? However, if I lived there I really doubt I'd be able to have the bedroom I have now, which is a bedroom at one end, and a sitting room/dance studio at the other. A place I could afford in London would probably be the size of my bedroom now in total - I enjoy cheap space and the options it affords me for living styles. The major benefit of London is the mix of people, now that is something that cannot be simulated in 'the sticks'.

[DonnaDishwater]

I would hate to live in London unless I was independently wealthy. Which I am not.

[hitechtrainers]

Love living in London - grew up here but moved out in my twenties/for university but came back again. I agree you definitely need to be financially comfortable, and/or limit family size to make the most of it. We have a fairly hefty mortgage and our flat only has two bedrooms, but it's very central.

If you're on a good train route into London then I think you can take advantage of a lot of things it offers - I'm sure it takes me longer to get across town than for some people to travel from commuter towns. I really love being spontaneous (literally don't know where we'll go until we get to the bus stop!) and I wouldn't want to live on the outskirts because of that, but for most people in commuter towns it wouldn't take too much planning to travel in.

[LittleBearPad]

YANBU to miss London but Hampton Court isn't really proper London and the weather probably had a massive amount to do with it.

Next time imagine being on the tube at rush hour this summer being absolutely boiling and with your face in some blokes armpit. It's swings and roundabouts.

[ninah]

yeah I miss it too, but I miss being in my mid twenties!
would I like it now? probably. Can't afford it. May move back into a central shoebox when dc are grown up ...

[Grennie]

I lived in London for a few years. I got fed up of the massive amounts of travelling you have to do to visit the attractions worth seeing.

[GarlicMarchHare]

I'm in! I come from the Black Country but lived nearly all my adult life in London. Moved to a rural market town due to reduced circumstances, and nothing is better here, imo, except that rents are cheaper. I MISS London! Waaah!

[GarlicMarchHare]

Grennie - At least London has attractions.

[ninah]

I never bothered to see attractions when I lived there! I just liked the feeling I could. That's what London is for me - possibility and adventure. I used to love just walking around, and watching.

[DonnaDishwater]

How many times can you go and see an "attraction"?

[Grennie]

:) Garlic, there are attractions outside London as well.

The only thing I miss about London are the museums and art galleries. They are unrivalled.

[ninah]

I could go to the Nat Gall/Brit Mus pretty much every day tbh

[Grennie]

Me too Ninah

[aquashiv]

I hear you. Similar story to yoursn op .lucky enough to go back enough to get my hit .....It really is one of b the best cities in the world.
However I no n longer want to live there.

[GarlicMarchHare]

I'd exhausted the local attractions within a fortnight of moving here :(

I love the interestingness of London, and that the museums, etc, are free. There are so many free things to do there! None at all here. One of the things few people realise about 'the country' until they live in it - public funding's practically non-existent.

[AmericasTorturedBrow]

YANBU I lived in London from age 12, left for Uni and returned with BF then DH in tow. We left 2years ago for LA which has grown on me quicker than I expected and the weather is obviously brilliant but god I miss the public transport, the culture (there's culture here but not as accessible), the pubs, the parks, the Heath and the commons, soho, the south bank, Brixton and Camden, my friends, my work and absolutely the sense of opportunity and excitement

DH doesn't want to live in London when we return to the UK, the only compromise I will consider is Brighton because it feels a bit like London and it's only 40mins away