Relocating
I have been living mostly in London for the past four years. I love the city - for its diversity, the fact that there is always something going on, its cultural heritage, and the lifestyle. I always recommend that if someone from abroad visits this country, that they should go to London for London, but go elsewhere to experience England. London isn't comparable to anywhere else in the UK. That's not necessarily a bad thing!
London has always been highly ranked as one of the most expensive places to live in the world. According to Mercer's list of expensive cities in 2010, London ranked 17th - tied with Paris. The list is written from the perspective of American expatriates. Due to the falling value of the pound, London has slipped down considerably. Compare that to 2004, when it ranked second - only beaten by Tokyo.
For this reason, I always knew that London wasn't going to be a long-term thing, so we're relocating to the country. We are renting a two-year-old, two bedroom house with a garden for £116 a month less than our one bedroom apartment in London.
We are moving to Salisbury. It's a medieval city with the tallest cathedral spire in the UK, and the famous 4,500-year-old stone circle, Stonehenge. It's extremely quaint and full of historical and cultural significance, but has all of the shops and amenities you'd expect from a modern city, and we'll be living only ten minutes walk from the centre of it all. Oh, and about an hour bus ride to my parents' in neighbouring Dorset.
We're officially making our move on Tuesday, and we're almost packed. I can't wait to get to know my new home, and hopefully learn to love it at least as much as I love London. It's certainly going to be... different.