UK vs US [101 things to know before you arrive]

Miscellaneous

📝 London felt extremely protected and we seen there weren’t plenty of homeless folks/beggars. They weren’t practically as aggressive as some we’ve got encountered in Chicago.

📝 LOOK UP! A lot lovely element!

🙆‍♀️ I extremely suggest doing calf stretches each morning earlier than you ever go away your lodging.

⛔️ Don’t observe the gang when crossing streets, however look ahead to the stroll/don’t stroll sign. It’s the one strategy to navigate the streets safely! Take note of the LOOK RIGHT/LOOK LEFT painted on the bottom at most intersections.

🚦 We seen the stoplights flip yellow proper earlier than they had been going to show inexperienced, which we actually favored.

🚶‍♀️ There appears to be no rhyme or motive for which aspect to stroll on, and greater than as soon as, we overheard different People touch upon it. Aside from standing to the suitable when on an escalator, or a shifting walkway, it’s sort of each man for himself!

✅ Carrying a moveable charger is important! In case you are an avid telephone consumer, take many images and use your telephone for navigation, I’d suggest no less than a 20000mAH moveable charger/energy financial institution. They don’t seem to be low-cost, however they’re price each penny to get a very good one which lasts. Learn our information to what to put on and what to pack for London.

🔎 Google search every part! We weren’t certain how you can use the washer in our unit, however there was a YouTube video that walked us by it.

🧺 Our washer was really a washer and dryer combo which I’ve by no means seen earlier than. It was very tiny and the wash and dry cycle mixed was over 5 hours, we discovered to do one small load each night time so we didn’t fall behind.

🧺 Laundry tends to come back out extraordinarily wrinkly, so plan accordingly. You most likely can’t take away one thing and put on it instantly.

💧 I carried a really small spray bottle and would fill it with water then spray the hems of capris so I may flatten them and we hung them to dry on the drying rack in our lodging.

❓ Ask questions on something you don’t perceive – the vast majority of Brits we encountered had no downside answering our questions! I had a pickle and cheese sandwich and what we People contemplate a pickle will not be with the British contemplate a pickle!

🧃 Nearly all of the straws we encountered within the UK had been paper. Contemplate travelling with a metallic or silicone straw when you don’t like paper straws.

🚽 With a few exceptions to the rule, the UK loos are very small. At any time when doable, go away your jacket, purse, luggage, and so forth., with somebody in your travelling get together. The loos should not locations you go to to clean up or brush your hair or contact up make-up… they’re practical bogs and locations to scrub your palms. We do love that the loos provide nice privateness with no gaps of their stall doorways. We additionally actually favored that the loos mechanically mentioned “occupied” when the door was locked just like in an aeroplane.

🚽 We solely noticed one pay lavatory and it’s once we had been within the Camden space. Whereas People are used to loos in virtually each retailer and fuel station, within the UK, they’re few and much between. (They’re plentiful in museums and ticketed points of interest and eating places.) We had been very purposeful to make use of the lavatory anytime it was obtainable.

💷 We may have gotten away with out bringing any money to the UK, and we ended up utilizing lower than 50 kilos over the course of two weeks… virtually all of it was further tricks to numerous folks. We did see just a few indicators in some smaller retailers advising of a minimal cost for a bank card… it was sometimes very low. (£6 – £10)

❓ We repeatedly requested the guides and volunteers, and even the beefeaters, and so forth. their favorite a part of every attraction/focal point we had been at – you will see some very enjoyable, hidden gems and lesser-known data about every location! They by no means steered us improper once we would ask them, “What usually will get handed by that we shouldn’t miss at [XYZ location]?” 

💳 We opened a bank card with no worldwide charges particularly for our journey to the UK. We ordered one card within the title of every traveller, however it was all tied to the identical account. As a result of every chip was completely different, we had zero points with that once we had been tapping out and in of the tube. We had significantly better luck hovering our card over the reader versus laying the cardboard on the reader. 

🗣 Most individuals know this… Brits say “chips” and we are saying french fries. Brits say “crisps” and we are saying chips. Brits say “biscuit” and we are saying cookie. Brits say “carry” and “brolly” and we are saying elevator and umbrella. We are saying “pants” and Brits assume “underwear.”

🗣 Aubergine is an eggplant and courgettes are zucchini. Please do NOT check with your waist pack as something apart from that. “Fanny pack” will not be acceptable because it’s a crude phrase for the feminine personal components.

✅ By holding these variations in thoughts, you’ll be higher ready to navigate the UK’s cultural nuances and benefit from your go to.

🇬🇧 ❤️ Embrace the distinctive experiences and revel in your time on this fascinating nation!