In a week I’m heading to London for the very first time!! I’ll be there to celebrate the release of Woman Of Color with a party/reading/conversation (with Freddie Harrel) hosted by the Violet Book. It’s my only London event, and unlike the other cities––we’re combining the reading and the party!
I’m super excited to spend a few days exploring and working a bit (rushing back from L.A really left me extremely jet-lagged) after the event. And while I would still love to know what to do, where to go, and what to eat, I’m also interested in what I may feel?
Does that make sense?
I know feeling in any one city depends on the person, but after traveling for a bit, I realize that when my friends say, “You may feel like this…” it’s almost always true. I appreciate it because it prepares me for the city, while allowing me to still be open to the experience. And maybe it’s just my anxiety talking, but I don’t like to be shocked by how a far-off city may feel.
So if you’ve been to London, or if you’ve visited before, what was your experience? How did it feel?!
P.S
If you’d like to attend my event in London, we have very few spots available! So please RSVP to Adrienne@latonyayvette.com and we will send you the address with your confirmation.
That is an incredible trip LaTonya. I am Portuguese and so I have travelled quite a lot all my life. I have never thought about ” how I felt?” you put up some good questions. The one feeling that comes to mind is excitement, like a little kid excited. I guess it sort of rules how I live but in traveling I am in complete awe, excited in just about everything I see, taste, feel and hear.
I really love this, Monica! It’s so funny, I didn’t leave the country until I was in my late 20s, so my experience leaving the city and the country is sitll so very new. I have always been in awe of people who live a travelled life. And it has always left questions (and discoveries) of my own relationship to home, travel, and how I feel when I go anywhere. With London in particular, I am quite exquisitive, I would say. Not so much excited (though I am). More like, okay, I actually don’t know what to expect of the city, really. It’ll be very interesting to say the least. And I feel very lucky to go anywhere!! Thank you so much!
Hi! As the previous poster mentioned, every area is uniquely different. You will be surprised to find yourself In front of historical landmarks at a turn of an unassuming corner, or that very picturesque places you may have seen on TV are exactly just that and are full of life – like Notting Hill / Portabello on a weekend (but very busy!)
Hoping your friends take you to the numerous lovely places to eat. London, like New York is home to world foods… But squeeze in a Sunday Pub Roast if you can.
I think you will feel Happy, to experience another place unfamiliar in general is always a pleasure and a reminder of how blessed we are we have the opportunity of travel. You may also feel some deja vu as London in quite similar to NYC in some aspects but just dressed up in nice Pea Coat.
Happy Trip!
Thank you so much, Nat!
L
I live in London but am not from here. I’d say, you’ll feel the history, it’s all around you, good and bad. It’s a sense of awe/ busy & cosyness. But also depends where you are! Where are you staying? Every area is unique. Have fun!
Hi Elizabeth!
Thats amazing! I tried hard to find a space in Brixton, but had no luck. Oh my goodness, can we talk about the cost of Air Bnb’s in London?! I was so blown away. And nothing surprises me as a New Yorker, really. Except the prices. I am staying in Stoke Newington. But I don’t plan on staying in the neighborhood solely-as the event is outside of it. And I do have a few recomendations from friends.
And so good to know about the history and being in awe. I hope I am Abel to digest it all. Okay, now you’ve got me excited! ha
If you’re free and around, please come to the reading!
x
LaTonya
I used to live in Stoke Newington, it’s great! Try Esther’s for brunch, the food is amazing! If you want to chill out and enjoy some quiet take a walk around Abney Park Cemetery, it’s a beautiful overgrown cemetery with lots of spots to sit. Also the Good Egg is great but there’s always a line… I’m away for work so can’t make the reading, I’m gutted! Definitely echo the others that you have to go to a pub. And go down to Brixton, you will love it! Have an amazing trip!
Hi! Hmmmmm….How would you feel about my home town which I still live in but by the skin of my teeth, as trying to buy a house here (all be it in the burbs) is madness. Me, born in a Latino country in the 70s but as a baby found themselves in London. Well. Let’s see. London is like a diamond in the rough. So faceted, so many different sides to it. The fashion side, the music side, the LGBT+ community side, the gentrification vs the ghettoization side. Rich in multi culture, banter, culture, edge, mostly friendly people who are in a rush at peak hours and if you don’t get out of the way on the tube then we will get a bit arsey. Will you feel the love that true Londoners feel for this hectic, volatile place.
It’s shame I won’t be able to see you, I have been following you for years, since you did that bugaboo bee film! I will be at work!
I’m a fellow New Yorker, and London felt very familiar to me! It is similar to NYC in a lot of ways. One major difference, though, is the people. Londoners are generally much more reserved than New Yorkers. I was there a few weeks before Christmas, so that definitely affected the way it felt to me, but it felt very cozy. Like a pub with a fireplace, or mulled wine.
Thank you so much Lindsay for the New York perspective!! That really helps! You’re the second person to say COZY. And a dear friend that ultimately moved to NYC, said she really loved London and felt like home. So excited to experience it.
L
Hi! Hmmmmm….How would you feel about my home town which I still live in but by the skin of my teeth, as trying to buy a house here (all be it in the burbs) is madness. Me, born in a Latino country in the 70s but as a baby found themselves in London. Well. Let’s see. London is like a diamond in the rough. So faceted, so many different sides to it. The fashion side, the music side, the LGBT+ community side, the gentrification vs the ghettoization side. Rich in multi culture, banter, culture, edge, mostly friendly people who are in a rush at peak hours and if you don’t get out of the way on the tube then we will get a bit arsey. Will you feel the love that true Londoners feel for this hectic, volatile place.
It’s shame I won’t be able to see you, I have been following you for years, since you did that bugaboo bee film! I will be at work!
American living in London, I feel peace and acceptance there. Free to be yourself, your authentic self.
I have only been to London once to visit a friend, but Padella in Borough market is absolutely amazing pasta. I was there two years ago and I still think about it weekly. Bonus is that it’s very affordable! Get there early though to get in the “queue”.
Thank you so much for the tip, MC!!! I will go and will be there early.
x
L
London feels…cozy. The history of the streets and buildings, and the way each block is so different, makes me feel warm and enveloped and like I’m part of something larger than me, that has been around long before me and will go on long after I leave. It makes me feel important and special for getting be part of it even for a few hours.
I’m also a little bit obsessed with London’s gardening prowess? I mean, strolling through the parks will make you feel like you’re full of magic, like everything is a perfect dream for just a moment or two. To me, central Londoners seem very hurried and in the middle of Very Important Serious Things, and the hipsters seem, well, more hip than the ones I’m used to here in New York. I bet you’ll love it <3
Oh, and another thing I forgot to share: as a New Yorker, London feels QUIET. I sometimes forget that it’s possible to carry on entire animated, lovely conversations without fully raising your voice, but Londoners seem to have that down.
When the train is delayed or something else happens that would make New Yorkers vocally angry, Londoners (at least in my experience) keep their composure. They stand there quietly and politely and follow instructions even though they are likely annoyed on the inside. I’ve gotta tell you, after living in New York as long as I have this SHOCKED me. I forgot there was any other way to process emotion than grumbling out loud about it!
I know you are not going to go on a time travel and arrive in London 1998, but my 16y old, afro-german, smalltown self felt: liberated, in a rush of enthusiasm and curiosity as I was wandering around with a feeling of my favourite music playing in the background of the streets.
Thank you for sharing, Camilla! I am on my way back and felt much of the same.
Thank you!!