There were about 12 days in the middle of August that honestly felt like pure bliss. It’s funny, because if you had caught me at the moment I was thigh-deep in mud pushing my kayak downstream, you might think otherwise. Or the moment I raced home to meet someone who was buying a piece of furniture and then didn’t show. Or the moment I was awake at 3am worrying that I had upset a friend. My baseline was so positively buoyant that those types of moments couldn’t detract from my overall mood. It felt like I had finally unlocked how to live well in the UK. I guess absence does really make the heart grow fonder :p.

Below are reflections from the third chapter of my seasonal migration experiment and my first time returning to a place in the seasonal migration rotation.

Reflections

This summer I really fell in love with the UK. I can’t say that it was ‘again’, as my relationship with the UK didn’t begin with love at first sight like Hong Kong. It also didn’t get serious as quickly as Mexico. It’s been more of a slow unfolding. Some friends have started describing my relationship with cities as polyamorous, and I can see why :]. There are a few things about my lifestyle that certainly make loving the UK easier. First, I am only there in the summer, when the days are long. Second, my flexible schedule allows me to take advantage of good weather if/when it appears. It also allows me to plan more space between activities, which makes me less reliant on timely public transport. Last but not least, I tend to do a lot of socialising during the week, which frees me up to spend weekends in the countryside hiking or paddling without interruption. 

In the past, I was the type of person who organised my day in 1 hour increments, trying to meet with as many people as possible. This summer, I found my previous behaviour very unnatural. It was interesting to navigate this tension because we are also influenced and limited by other people’s schedules. At times I was able to resist the temptation, other times I fell back into my previous pattern. I was very grateful for friends who could spend multiple hours hanging out. We could both do an activity together and have meaningful conversation. Also, those conversations were able to meander and didn’t need to be quite so “productive”. 

Packing up my flat was also an interesting experience. To me, this change felt minor and practical. It won’t impact the amount of time I spend in the UK going forward, which will probably be even more than I spent this summer. Also, I didn’t feel an emotional connection to that flat. In fact, I felt more of an emotional connection to my first UK dining table, which I sadly had to leave on the pavement outside. For others, this change clearly symbolized something more meaningful, which they reflected back to me. Perhaps to others it feels like I have less visible, concrete ties to the UK. To me, it feels like the reasons to return have multiplied.

Interestingly, it doesn’t seem like the number of new people I meet is a function of the number of people I know. Instead, the time I have available to meet people and socialising preferences play a greater role. Unsurprisingly, the ratio of people I saw 3 or more times in CDMX was higher than in both London and HK. My network there is much more interconnected because of the coliving community.

The Stats

Here’s the data from this chapter of the experiment (including trips to Europe, etc.):

• Days I spent in London: 109
• Days of family time in London: 0 :[
• People I saw in London: 149 (my existing network is much larger in London than HK or CDMX)
• People I met for the first time in London: 121 (on average >1 per day, similar to both CDMX and HK)
• People I hung out with 3 or more times in London: 56 (19% of total people, much more similar to HK-14% than CDMX-40%)
• Kids I met/saw in London: 23
• Visitors passing through London that I was able to see: 21 (>1 person week, similar to HK)
• Total number of people I connected with in London: 291

Here are my “Stop Start Continue Change” reflections for London:

Stop

• Scheduling trips to Europe immediately after arriving in the UK :/
• Socialising in 1 hour increments whenever possible
• Overscheduling myself with back to back meetings all day long

Start

• Using an eSIM for my London number
• Co-hosting dinner parties in other people’s homes (a potential evolution of the dinner series experiment)

Continue

• Doing lots and lots of hiking, paddling, and wild swimming
• Doing functional training (e.g. F45)
• Spending time in the UK countryside
• Hosting dinner parties
• Using above-ground public transport (e.g. overground, buses)
• Co-working with clients and getting face time with students 
• Renting one place for the whole time I’m there 

Change

• Unfortunately, I’ll have to change where I live next time I’m in town. Very tempted to stay in North London, but being close to the river in Richmond is also pretty great! 
• Consider having a flatmate—it’s nice to share all that in-between time while you’re brushing your teeth or making coffee with people you care about and only see a portion of the year 

That’s all for now! If you’re interested in more stats and reflections, you can find them for Hong Kong here and Mexico City here. I look forward to sharing what it’s like to return to HK shortly. The experiment reflections will continue until I’ve had a chance to return to each place, which means at least until I leave Mexico City in June 2025.