Ten reasons you need to spend a year living in London in your 20s

AUSTRALIA is amazing, but if you don’t spend a stint living in London you’re missing out. Here are 10 reasons you need to do it.

The appropriately named Ash London says we should all have a stint living in London.

YEARS after spending the best two years of my life in London, I find myself walking its streets once again surprised and delighted to find that it’s only gotten better.

So while I don’t think any young person should need convincing when it comes to having their own London adventure — here’s 10 reasons why every Aussie in their twenties NEEDS to do a stint here.

1. EUROPE IS ON YOUR DOORSTEP

Living in Australia is amazing — but let’s be honest — we are a million miles from the rest of the world and international travel takes a year of saving your hard earned cash (Bali doesn’t count, it’s pretty much domestic).

A relocation like this opens up a world of possibilities! Morocco, Spain and Croatia are all less than three hours fight away, and the Eurostar train means you can spend the weekend in Paris and make it home in time for work on Monday morning with a belly full of French bread and red wine.

2. IT’S RELATIVELY EASY TO GET A VISA

If you’re between the ages of 18 and 30, you’re eligible for a visa under the ‘youth mobility scheme’ which means you’re free to travel and work for up to two years, hassle-free.
The application process won’t break your balls, and should only take about three weeks. Once you’ve got that stamp in your passport, you’re free to let the adventure begin!

As a side note — who knows what kind of impact #brexit will eventually have on immigration — so get in while you can.

Imagine being able to get on a train to Paris for the weekend. You could if you lived in London. Picture: Ash London

3. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BREAK THE BANK

I know what you’re thinking. London is “soooo expensive”, but I’ve lived in both Melbourne and Sydney, and am convinced that the cost of living is not much different.

While it would be easy to drop a whole lot of cash living it up like a cast member of Made in Chelsea, there are heaps of ways to live cheap. An ex of mine used to follow the man with the pricing gun around Marks and Spencer every afternoon, taking advantage of the ‘reduced to clear’ sandwiches that inevitably went on sale for about 50 pence.

Having said that, nobody likes a tight-arse and I eventually dumped him.

4. YOUR CALVES WILL THANK YOU

Thanks to the handy “health” app on my iPhone, I’ve managed to track my daily walks and these days I’m rocking at least 10km. Can someone say CALORIES BURNED?

Unfortunately this healthy lifestyle is balanced out by the excessive amount of beer I find myself drinking, which brings me to my next point …

5. IT’S A BEER DRINKER’S PARADISE

Your local pub will have at least 10 beers on tap — everything from lagers to ales to stout or Guinness. And the beer is served in pint glasses. And it’s cheap. And even the chicks down a couple after work. And it’s totally worth the beer gut.

And if you’re not into beer there’s this little marvel. Picture: Ash London

6. YOUR CV WILL SCORE A MAKEOVER

Overseas experience always looks fancy in the eyes of a potential employer. It shows you’re independent, well-travelled, adventurous and sure as hell looks better than four years at the Baker’s Delight down the road.

7. THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON

London isn’t suffering under the evil chains of lockout laws or restaurants that close at 9pm on a weeknight.

Feel like seeing a gig on a Tuesday? Brixton, Camden, Soho and Shoreditch are full of venues with everything from jazz to reggae and metal all week long! Want to grab a late night feed on a whim at 10pm? Everywhere is still open! Most trains still run a full service until midnight, and buses go well into the morning.

Your Instagram feed will transform from “dinner on the couch watching The Bachelor” to “last minute tickets to see James Blake for fifteen quid” in no time.

8. TRUE LOVE

London has a population of around nine million people. The average Australian city has around three million inhabitants — so if my calculations are correct, living here you are three times more likely to find a like-minded hottie to spend your weekends kissing in Hyde Park. Simple mathematics, people

9. THE BERRIES

OK, OK this is a silly one. But imagine how rich you’d feel downing an entire punnet of raspberries on the bus every morning? Two quid will get you a large punnet big enough to fill your body with all the antioxidant happiness your soul desires.

Seriously. They are so good. Picture: Ash London

In Australia, that kind of behaviour would require a remortgage of your home — but with the berry prices over this side of the word you can afford to throw the old raspberries out, as opposed to just eating around the mould.

It’s the little things.

10. BECAUSE YOU CAN

Let’s face it. One day you might get married, might have kids, might have a mortgage or a career that requires you stay put in Oz. But now? Now you can be selfish. Now you can hop on a plane to the other side of the world and have an incredible adventure. You can spend all your money on weekend trips to Greece and concert tickets, and come home after a year or two flat broke with a full heart.

At the end of your life, you’ll never wish you travelled less — but you might wish you saw more of the world while you were young enough to do so.

Follow Ash London’s adventures on Twitter and Instagram, and check out her YouTube channel.