To think I’ve missed out on an exciting life by never living in London?

[uuuuup]

Just that really. I can’t get it out of my head. I’ve lived in a large city and loved it and it makes me wonder how much I would have loved London. I’m all settled now with a child elsewhere. I feel I’ve missed out on so much?

And I mean culture, diversity, experiences, the shows, the life and buzz

London is a hole

Missed nothing.

Absolutely not! Lived in London, couldn’t wait to get back to the coast!

London used to be great. Now it's an expensive and overrated. All the things that made it great have disappeared.

I moved to London when I was 22 and I'm 57 now. I really love London and it's my home, but I think you're overestimating how much time and energy and money most of the people who live here have to do all the stuff you think we're doing!

This won’t make you feel any better but I have lived in London for 13 years and I actually agree. Its an amazing city to live in and I genuinely still feel so excited to live here.

It is very busy though, and it’s hideously expensive. You NEED money to enjoy it, or it’s miserable. I absolutely love the excitement, but all of our friends who live elsewhere own much bigger houses than we do. It’s just a choice I guess and you have to decide what is important to you.

Anyway OP, London isn’t full. You could still move here if you weighed up the cost-benefit analysis and decided it is what you want! I would highly recommend.

I've lived in Central London during a time of my life where I was single, childfree and living with great friends...personally I don't think you're missing out on very much but that's just my opinion. It wasn't exciting to me at all, it was busy, sweaty, smelly everyone pushing and not waiting in queues for the buses etc and very chaotic and I did not feel safe on my own at night at all...this was 12 years ago and I feel it would be even worse now. I know some people love it but not for me. I'm a northerner at heart and couldn't wait to get out of there. What do you feel is exciting that you can't find elsewhere in the country? Is it worth really delving in to what it is you fear you are missing? It's highly possible that if you can work that out that you will somehow be able to find it just where you are. I encourage you to try not to look back on life with regrets but instead look with gratitude at where you are and make life what you want it here and now with the people you have around you.

Other cities are available!

I have not lived in London, but l have lived in other, very different countries for several years. There are other ways to get a good experience of life.

I love it, I can’t imagine being anywhere else. Having been to a few towns and cities around the UK recently, I don’t even think it’s overpriced! Everything is on my doorstep, transport is cheap, lots of free events and museums, amazing food. Beautiful architecture, one of the greenest cities in the world, amazing for children (I do so many free things with my toddler).

I am lucky to have travelled quite extensively and I still think it’s the best city in the world. It’s never too late OP!!

London is an amazing city. I have lived on the outskirts for 23yrs now and I’ve loved it having grown up in the sticks with nothing to do. It’s expensive though, so I will be heading back up north once youngest goes to Uni.

I have lived here all my adult life and absolutely adore it. My kids were born and brought up here. They are at uni but say they will return here to work.

However, I don’t kid myself that it’s the right place for everyone. Some areas are better than others. It’s a tough place if you don’t earn well. Things are so so expensive.

The diversity suits me as a non-white person.

There are many places to lead a full and happy life. I am sure there are many great things about where you are now.

I agree that living in London is a pretty wonderful experience. I've been here a long time now and find it very inspiring.

But anyway, it's not for everyone, you can't do everything and if it stays as a longing you could do it for a while when your child grows up?

I think children can make us feel a bit trapped wherever we are...

This is how I feel. Been all around the world. London blows every other city out of the water in so many ways. It is fantastic.

I’m not even from here! I’m never leaving though.

Where do you live in London? I think where you live makes a big difference.

I've lived in London for almost 18 years now.
Public transport is frequent and reasonably priced.....but that's the only really good thing about it.
Crowded, noisy, dirty..... it's nothing amazingly special.

I love London - have lived here 30 years now - but if for some reason I had to leave, as long as I had a happy family and some nice friends, I’d be fine. You can always move here when you’re older. My husband and I have a plan to move further into Central London when the kids have left home. (Currently we are in a quite far out suburb)

I love London but there are plenty of other places you've also missed out on; Mongolia, Ethiopia, Greenland. There will always be unique and special places, and there isn't time to see them all.

You've lived in a big city, you've had a lot of what London offers.

London is awesome, but if you've lived in a large city I wouldn't worry that you've missed out. It isn't as if you always lived in the back end of nowhere, and you can always visit.

It probably isn't about London at all - just the fact that you are settled and have a child and are not as free to make changes as you used to be.

I love the diversity of London and the fact that they is an open shop within a few minutes of anywhere. But it’s busy, the tube is claustrophobic and smelly, central London is soooooo busy and everything is extortionate. Yes, I occasionally go to great concerts or shows but I also live in an area with high crime rates, the schools close to me are awful and it’s never quiet or peaceful. I’d love to live in a nice quaint village by the coast, that would be my dream.

I have spent decades living in London & I agree that it’s an amazing city. I particularly felt that in my late teens when I first moved here. There was a feeling that anything was possible (partly an age thing I think). I do however sometimes regret never having lived abroad. I think there’s always something!

I love London but I'm glad I live in Greater London, where we have amazing green spaces right on our doorstep and the sights of London just a few tube stops away.
I'm always taking the kids either to an exciting museum, gallery, park or just a walk around places like Trafalgar Square and we also get to do bike rides in the woods, blackberry picking and see swallows, rabbits and cute goslings growing up.

London is the greatest city in the world (I have lived in Paris, Boston and New York, but I fully admit I'm biased).
But it's not the only city, and there are plenty that offer similar (if not the same in character) amount of culture, excitement and buzz, within the country.
You can always move at a later date, but to be honest my day to day life here is very similar to when I lived in a large town: school run, supermarket, park for dog walks, cafe for meet ups. Sure I'm closer to the West End for a museum visit or theatre, and my local shopping area is buzzier, but I don't go to central London except on the odd occasion.
Still prefer living here, but it's not exciting 24/7!

I adore London and have lived here for over 20 years. Centrally and now much further out. It’s a wonderful city. I loved that I could see something new every day. Loved the opportunities - going to Wimbledon to see the tennis after work, the Olympics was amazing, the museums, the parks. So many different restaurants and bars. The markets. It has its downsides obviously but it has always made me excited and feel free.

But I never have and probably never will live by the sea or in the countryside and I feel I’ve missed out on that too iyswim….we can’t live everywhere. Make the most of what you have.

I live up north and travel to London regularly as the buzz is definitely there and I always enjoy it. I love what London has to offer but I think property is ridiculously over-priced. I love wandering around, going to the parks and venturing out into places like Windsor, Richmond and Kingston. I'm going next weekend so already looking forward to it.

I definitely couldn't live in central London though. I'd probably live close by in a quaint little village in Surrey. It does get a bit much (in terms of the numbers of people).

The way I see it is... I live in a northern town surrounded by 3 beautiful national parks where houses a lot cheaper than in London. I can catch a train and be in London in 2.5 hours (or 40 minutes if I flew down). I like to put my feet in London every now and again but that's all. So, I have the best of both worlds and don't have a crippling mortgage.