10 things I miss about living abroad

Hello friends!

Apologies for the late post this week! I had a lot going on, plus this post took me quite a while to write since it’s a bit longer than usual!

If you’ve been following this blog (or for those who know me IRL haha), you would know that I studied abroad back in 2018. I can honestly say that was one of the BEST opportunities of my life so far. The chance to actually get to live in another country for 3 months while, not only getting to, but being encouraged to travel all over Europe? Yes please!!

For those who may be new, my city of choice while studying abroad was London! Feel free to check out some of my posts from my travels if you haven’t had the chance!

Every once in a while, I get to looking back at old pictures and videos of my travels, and I start to really miss it! Of course, I miss the different cities and countries we visited and getting to experience rich history, cultures, etc. But today I wanted to talk about some of the little things I miss about our travels: our favorite hot spots, small differences between my hometown and theirs. And yes, a lot of these are food related!

Gail’s
If I’m being honest, I think about Gail’s probably once to twice a week. To others, this may just look like another coffee shop, but this was our favorite hangout spot in London. This little cafe/bakery was just a couple blocks away from our flat, so it was less than a 10 minute walk for us to go grab coffee and just hang or do homework.
The atmosphere was always so calming, and they had the best bakery items. I typically got the same thing each time I went: a large cappuccino and a honey lavender cake. Their other stuff is so delicious as well!
Seriously, if you ever find yourself in the UK, do yourself a favor and go visit Gail’s!(and bring me back something too lol)

Transportation
This was probably one of my favorite things about the city weirdly enough. It’s perfectly acceptable to not own a car in London! We typically either walked, took the bus (yes, one of those really cool red double-decker buses), or used the Tube (or the Underground, as it’s better known). You will also see a lot of people in London biking or taking a taxi. And yes, while it took some getting used to, I much prefer it to driving around.
London is a very dense city, so walking really made a lot of sense. I actually really miss our 20 minute walk to classes, and even the walk back and forth from the grocery store.
Even the Tube system and the buses were easy to use once we got used to them! We used an app called Citymapper to help us out with getting around the city, and we quickly adapted (and learned to love) their way of transportation.

Theatre shows
Seriously! It was so cool how many amazing shows were running in London. Plus, there was this booth in Leicester Square that sold SUPER cheap last minute tickets for so many of the different shows. Seriously, I got to see The Lion King for like £20!
I also got to see other incredible shows like Les Miserables and Heathers, and also some fun ones like School of Rock and The Play That Goes Wrong (honestly this show made me laugh SO hard). If you ever visit London, I highly recommend making it a point to see several of the shows in London. You won’t regret it!

WOP
Another one of my favorite food spots! I swear, WOP has the best burgers I have ever had. This little food van is located right on the edge of Leather Lane. The owner is actually Italian, so he makes the most delectable burgers with an Italian twist.
This is one that I actually stumbled into accidentally. I was trying to play it safe with what I wanted, and a burger sounded just right. Little did I know that the ones in this little marketplace would actually become my all-time favorite! I typically just went for a classic burger (with a side of their handmade rosemary fries, yum!), but they have several to choose from that look like they’d be delicious as well!

Markets
Speaking of Leather Lane, the marketplaces in London are so cool! Basically, these food markets are a bunch of food trucks/tents all lined up in one specific area (with possibly a few other booths selling other items as well). These markets typically have food from all different cultures, so there’s definitely something for everyone!
The two that we frequented were Leather Lane, which I mentioned before, and Exmouth Market. Exmouth was a bit closer to our flat, but Leather Lane was much bigger and had a lot more variety!

Easy access to other countries
It was honestly so easy to just hop on a flight/train/bus and just travel to another country. Typically, we had classes four days a week, and Friday-Sunday were designated travel/free days. We were encouraged to take the weekend and go visit another city, another country, or just simply stay in London and explore!
I remember for our fall break, we had an entire week off to go visit wherever we wanted to. We decided to visit not one, not two, but three different countries in one week! And it was SO easy! Plane tickets at the time were very reasonably priced, and for those that were more expensive we just opted to take a bus instead. Hostels or an Airbnb were typically where we crashed, and boom, we could go pretty much wherever for not that much money.
I’m still blown away that we had the opportunity to actually go our and explore the UK and several parts of Europe, and that it was honestly really easy to do. Who knew exploring several countries within 3 months could be so simple?

Wagamama
I’m back on the topic of food (shocker), and this one is one that I was actually really bummed to leave behind (and yes, I am aware that there are locations in the US, just none near me sadly). Wagamama is actually a Japanese restaurant and ramen bar that has several locations worldwide.
I am a huge fan of their ramen, and they surprisingly also sell freshly made juices that are incredible. Seriously, this place was the one that made me realize that I actually really love those little green juices.
Plus, I’m just a big fan of the restaurent’s environment, and pretty much all of their food is delicious!

Pubs
You can’t go anywhere in London without seeing a pub! Now, the american definition of pub and the english definition of pub are actually two different things. In American, you think of the word ‘pub’ and immediately think ‘bar’. Well, overseas, this isn’t quite the case. Yes, pubs abroad do consist of bars and drinking (it’s very interesting seeing the masses of people crowded around the pubs drinking at night), but there, pubs are also known for their food!
Pub food quickly became one of my favorites! Most menus typically include fish and chips (my go-to), shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potatoes), and much more. We even had a pizza pub right next door to our flat!

Pret A Manger
This was a staple for our trip abroad! Pret is basically a quick stop sandwich and coffee shop. While their coffee wasn’t always my favorite (I much much prefer’s Gail’s), they somehow always had the best sandwiches! And, it was super easy to just run in and grab a quick premade lunch if you were in a hurry. They had your basic sandwiches, salads, and then had some that were a little bit more out there. They even had fun little Thanksgiving themed sandwiches around November (which is funny when you really think about it)
Of course, this is another one on my list that actually does have locations in America, but again, none that are close to me! Plus, Pret actually did initially launch in London!

Getting to experience all of this with friends
I know I know, cheesy as it sounds, this actually was the coolest part of our trip. I studied abroad with about 25 people from my university, but the 6 of us that lived together in London got really close while we were there. Whenever we travelled, it was with most if not all of our little group.
I wouldn’t have chosen anyone else to get the chance to experience such an incredible time with ❤

Bonus: Beans on toast!!
I’m gonna sneak in a little bonus one here. You may have heard that the British eat beans on toast for breakfast. Which yes, does sound weird at first, but it actually slaps! I legitimately ate it for breakfast so many times while we were there. Don’t knock it til’ you try it!

Let’s be honest, I miss all of it. Even the things that were frustrating at the time–the sore feet, our tiny washing machine in our flat, the anxiety of it all–it was such an incredible experience and I’d give anything to be able to do it again.

I will always tell anyone who’s in college to study abroad when you have the chance. It’s SO much cheaper getting to travel when you do it for school, and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that will provide you with memories for a lifetime. (Plus, how cool is it getting to say that you literally lived in another country? Like?!?)

Thanks for reading friends! If you’ve ever traveled or lived abroad, what’s something small that you miss? I’d love to hear about it!