Hello, my name is Julie Knox, and I am a travelling nurse from Sidney, Australia. I have been living in Whetstone, North London, for seven months now, and I couldn’t have been happier with my choice of destination. London was not my first choice as my initial destination in my life journey, but looking back, I am confident it was the best one. And I will give you my top three reasons why.

The Language Barrier – Or Lack Thereof 

It may sound like the most trivial thing, but knowing the language is a huge plus when you have to worry about accommodation, learning your new urban surroundings, transport, and meeting new people. Sure, most of my new colleagues find my accent terribly funny or sassy, but I don’t have to worry about stuff like “Did I say this correctly?”, “Did the patient understand me?” or “Am I making stupid grammar mistakes?”

You Don’t Have To Worry About A Cultural Shock

I admit it is personal, but when you come from a big cosmopolitan city like Sidney, London smells, looks, and sounds interestingly familiar. A close friend of mine with whom I graduated and also chose the travelling nurse life went to a small town in Paraguay. The biggest shock for her (she is a devoted foodie) was the total lack of diversity in cuisine, not to mention the non-existent cultural life. In the end, she came to terms with it and found the people welcoming and incredibly grateful – but London did not force me to face anything of that sort.

The Travelling Options

What I mean here is short and mid-distance travel – you can reach Paris by train in a few hours, and Belgium and the Netherlands are also within easy reach. The whole of Europe is just a couple of hours away by plane – and when you have five international airports within and in the immediate vicinity of London, I can choose pretty much any dream destination I’ve only read about (I’ve already visited Madrid and Rome!).