Living the London Life: Thriving and Dodging Buses Abroad

I almost got hit by a bus in London today. Yeah, one of those red double decker ones. The driver honked and everyone gasped.

Oh yeah, I forgot they drive on the other side of the street here.

London2016_ChristineChang

I’m in London for the next 3 months. I decided to come here because I am expanding my business to cover more travel and lifestyle photography.

I could have done this back at home in LA, but another reason, maybe the more important reason I came, was because I’ve never spent an extended amount of time overseas. I’ve been lucky enough to visit more than 50 countries, but each trip has never been longer than 2 weeks. Enough time to see things, but not enough time to really soak it in, in my opinion.

It’s easy to become comfortable with what you know. At the same time, it can become harder to learn new things because habits make you rigid. That’s why I constantly expose myself to new things.

I have to use my brain a little more when I’m here (like, uh, look both ways before crossing the street). Simple things like looking at a map to study the area, Celsius to Fahrenheit, eggs not being in the refrigerated aisle of the grocery store, British slang (my favorite so far is “dangly bits”)… I love it all.

People do things differently and I like to learn.

I also have to re-network. My core circle of peeps are back in LA so naturally I don’t have to be as open or work as hard to create opportunities. I have a system in place but it’s time to create a new one. Being somewhere I don’t know many people forces me to say yes and go after new opps. The last time I did this was when I was starting my business 10 years ago.

It feels good.

London2016_2_ChristineChang

If I’m not constantly growing and evolving, I might as well be dead. Sure I’d be going on with my daily life, but I wouldn’t THRIVE being the same person I was yesterday.

What makes you thrive?

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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Valerie

    Watch all vehicles – including bikes! They won’t stop for you! Hopefully you’ll get out of London at some point and explore the rest of the countryside. Check out my home county of Derbyshire – glorious countryside, amazing stately homes and gardens. Visit Yorkshire and the Lake District. Just stunning and you’ll meet incredibly friendly people – but you have to make the first move! If you do get up there and need help or advice, my bro and sister in law live in Milford and I’m sure they’d help you out. (I’m Valerie – we met once at one of All You Need is Love Weddings.

  2. Jennifer Venter

    Between my photography and love for travel, this gets me up every morning and makes me strive harder and harder to succeed. The two are very linked and intertwined as I work harder and harder so that I can travel and travel some more. Would be nice if the travelling could be more often, but ultimately my long term goal is to see as much of the world as I can before I need a zimmer frame to get around. We all need to have hopes and dreams, it is food for the soul.

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