So here I am, back in London, the place where I've spent most of my adult life. As I type I'm looking out the window of the room I've just moved into for the next couple of months, on a slightly more uplifting prospect than the overgrown garden at the back of my not-beloved Airbnb in Bethnal Green.
This is the second time I've moved back. The first time, arriving in 2006 after two years away, I was a little surprised by how little had changed and how easily I dove right back into my old London life. This time, I'm not as disconcerted by the familiarity, as I've been back to London every year since leaving, so I'm up to date with the things that have changed and the things that haven't. And I know to expect the easy transition back.
Of course, reminders of the previous tour of duty here are all around. For one thing, Bethnal Green is where I spent four and a half years, off and on, so I was aware of how to get around and where all the important things were (Tube station, ATMs, McDonalds, Nando's). For another the flat I've moved into today is next door to where a friend of mine was living when I came back in 2006 - it didn't sink in until after I'd come to see the place the first time, but I was having all this weird deja vu while walking up to it.
In any case, it's nice to be settled somewhere and not living out of a suitcase anymore, at least until March. And it's nice having a little more space than I did at the Bethnal Green Airbnb. There was no living room there (it having been converted into my room) and there was no comfortable place to sit and write. Now I've got a nice desk, and a comfy bed in my room, as well as a kitchen, living room and bathroom to share with just one other person. It's hard to overstate the sense of well-being from having a place to sleep in that you don't mind hanging out in.
My last post was downbeat but cautiously optimistic, and I think I remain in that mindset for now. But I'd say things are looking up. Time to see where they lead.
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