What to know before moving to the UK.

In this article, I go through my first experience of living abroad. I hope this will give you inspiration for your project and help you prepare it. I will do a summary of my journey and will put links to more detailed articles on some topics. What to know before moving to the UK.

This exciting experience started, after my degree in purchasing. I was 21 years old and a bit lost on my professional path. I didn’t know what I wanted to do as a job and I was disappointed by my last internship. The only thing I was sure of is that my level in English was poor. To get a good job in my field I needed to do something radical about it. So, I worked for 6 months and saved money to move to the UK and learn English the hard way. By just living there and force me into speaking the language.

There are a few things to take into consideration before the big move. First choosing a location. I choose the UK because back then (before Brexit) it was easy to travel and settle there. All I needed was my ID. Also, because they speak English and the economy was good so they would welcome foreigners warmly. Then I struggle a little to decide which city I wanted to go to.

The UK is very expensive compare to France especially to where I am from in Britany. London is one of the most expensive cities in Europe. I choose to avoid it to be able to afford to live in a nice enough place and still eat. Then I also wanted to stay south for the weather as it gets properly miserable in the north. I heard about Bristol, its great vibe, diversity, and quality of life so I decided to give it a go. There are many more amazing places in the UK though it all depends on what you are looking for.

Then the second thing I did is understanding the cost of living over there to give me an idea of a budget and also finding affordable accommodation. When I think back with more experience today, I can say that I didn’t make the best choices. You learn from your mistakes and I have a better idea now of how to get to a new city in a new country. My advice would be to spend some time researching information. Such as what are the best places to live, what are the safest and not too safe areas, how easy is it to commute, what website shall I use to find a place to live, how open is the city with diversity, am I going to be able to find a job… I’m going to give you more information regarding these topics in the articles: https://elvinechloe.com/how-to-find-your-place-in-bristol-and-the-uk/

Before getting to the UK I wanted to find a place for a short stay first. To understand the city while being there and go for something long term after. I find a place for my first month using two different hosts on homestay https://www.homestay.com/but I guess Airbnb would be quite similar maybe a bit more expensive. I had a month to start discovering Bristol.

Once you find your accommodation and you get to the city, you will need to through a little process. First, to work, you will need to get a phone number, your National insurance number, and to open your bank account. For all of this, you need an address and a proof of address especially to open your bank account. This one can be a bit tricky.

For the phone number, if you already have a phone, I would warmly advise giffgaff https://www.giffgaff.com/. It’s a non-contract, cheap, and flexible operator. You subscribe monthly for the amount you want. For 10 pounds you have unlimited texts and phone calls and 10 GB of data. It works well even the internet is good so if you want something easy and convenient, go for it. I used it for more than 5 years and it was perfect. Then if you want to know more about the bank account and insurance number, I go through the process in this article: https://elvinechloe.com/insurance-number-and-bank-account/

From there you’re pretty good to go, one other thing worth understanding will be the transport in the city. London is amazing for it, there are so many options but it’s pretty expensive. Bristol on the other hand is not so handy, very expensive, and not reliable. If you need to get to a certain place at a certain time, make sure you go earlier. There are only buses in Bristol and they hardly make it on time. Some applications are worth it though. The first bus app will allow you to buy tickets, give you the itinerary, and the timeline. There also is a new bus company who’s free I never used it as I left before it existed but there is a link to find out more about it: https://www.tssa.org.uk/en/Your-union/Your-company/company-pages/bristol-free-bus/index.cfm

And then if you need to go further away like to Bath, you can take the train. The train service in the UK is pretty good, a bit expensive though but for some destination, it’s way faster.

Another topic worth talking about is safety in the UK so in Bristol honestly, as a woman, I never felt safer. It blows me away how I hardly ever experienced street harassment in 5 years. I would walk back home at night alone without even a once of fear (I was living in a safe area though). That said, there are some places where you need to be careful. I talk about it in terms of places to live in my article: https://elvinechloe.com/how-to-find-your-place-in-bristol-and-the-uk/

Back to my first month in the UK. If like me you don’t speak the language when you arrive in the country, you can take classes. There are many schools you can pay for and go for a few hours a day. It’s good to meet people and to learn but it’s expensive. I didn’t do it so I won’t be able to recommend any school.

I decided to find a job and learn from there, I work in the door to door sales for the first 2-3 months. It was very easy to get the job, they hire anyone really but you won’t make money and it’s a massive getting out of your comfort zone. I took it as a fun experience and as much as I wouldn’t have done it for any longer it was worth it. In this article, I explain more about the job situation in the UK: https://elvinechloe.com/finding-a-job-in-the-uk/

Once you are fine in your new place and have your jobhunting plan, the next most important step is meeting new people and having fun in this new country. There are many ways to do so and I will go deeper into the topic in the article: https://elvinechloe.com/meeting-new-people-abroad/

Moving away is such an exciting time and you will make mistakes, you will feel lonely, lost, sad, and angry sometimes but it is all so worse it. Challenging yourself by leaving your comfort to the unknown is what will make you feel proud and confident. And more than anything it will create Incredibles memories forever.