When in London

June 22, 2016

One of the most critical travel tips that I’ve learned while abroad was to not take the cabs unless it’s a last resort. Learning the night bus and how to use it was a skill many of us on the London dialogue had to learn in order for us to go out past 12 were at the local two services would not run anymore. Our oyster cards (which are similar to Charlie cards in Boston) could be used on the night buses so we would be able to get home for essentially free if our destination was within a certain zone on the tube map. While the cabs could cause upwards of 60 pounds depending on the location of our destination and the number of kilometers we had to travel.
Traveling in London is generally safe during the day and at night as long as you’re with a buddy and utilize the buddy system as instructed there are minimal risks involved in traveling. When on group field trips, however, being in a group of 30 on the dialogue is particularly challenging at times. We often take up a lot of sidewalk space which could get a bit frustrating to some of the locals who are trying to pass on the same street. One of the tips that we learned for when traveling in a group in public was to try to reduce the volume overall of our speech since we can be collectively loud and attract attention to ourselves which, in another country, is not ideal. Any general travel tips that would apply in any country can be applied in London as well. Overall, throughout the month we were able to use these tips to get around London safely and effectively and survive in a totally different country.

Written By

Cynthia Orofo

Living in America for the entirety of my life has blanketed me in a shell of American culture and lifestyles. I aim to expand my limited view of the world that I live and learn in everyday and in having the possibility to study abroad, an individual is granted the opportunity to broaden his/her global outlook by experiencing every aspect of that nation’s civilization, culture and society. With this dialogue, I wish to be thrown past my limits and experience first hand what it means to live, work, and learn in an environment completely different from my own. One of my long term goals in life is to better the lives of the deprived and disenfranchised, essentially helping those who may not have or have lost the ability to help themselves. This I aspire to attain later in life by constructing a free health clinic in impoverished villages in Nigeria. This dialogue gives a global prospect on health care systems which can broaden my way of thinking in progress towards a better understanding of the differences in health care systems.