Findlater Continental Drift - Settling in to the UK

Prologue: This blog I wrote nearly exactly 1 year ago, and did not publish. So what better time to publish it then on the anniversary of my big "continental drift" (Ice Age movie reference).

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Hi everyone! Since our last adventure across the US border the Findlaters have decided to pick up and leave Canada behind (for now) and chase our hopes and dreams across to the UK.

I have European citizenship and thought that we had better experience the UK before the Brexit finishes and that I can't any more. 

This blog I would like to start by outlining the logistics of moving to the UK as it was very hard for me to ascertain from another country what exactly would be involved. So I would like to go over what you need to do if you are thinking to move to the UK, and then after that I will continue with my adventures thus far.

1. Get an address
If you have friends or family in the UK ask them if you can use their address for mail and to use as a 'residence' address. Absolutely everything that you will need to do will need an address. 
 
2. You need to get a bank account  
This you would think is easy, but it is not! You need an official statement (Bill, rental agreement etc.) with your address on it... If you think about it, this is impossible as you need a bank account to get any of those things typically... So a bit of an "chicken and the egg" situation. This is where you say "screw it" and go to another country! I got one as the law hadn't quite changed yet and my cousin who lived there could vouch for me, but if you're coming to the UK now - GOOD LUCK!

3. Get a phone plan/ number/ sim card
This is where it starts to get tricky. 
So get a phone number - now here is where you need a debit card to sign up to a contract (either month-to-month or for 12 months etc.). If you don't have a UK debit card you will need to go with a prepaid sim until you get one. Why do I need a contract I hear you ask? 
Well if you are planning to live in any country you need to start to build credit. So a phone credit will start to build your credit. (More about building credit later on)

4.  Get your National Insurance Number
In order to work you will eventually need to have your National Insurance Number. 
To get it you can just google National Insurance Number and it will tell you who you need to call - the call takes about 5 minutes they will need to know if you have the right to work in the UK, your name, date of birth and address. Then the person on the phone will book you an appointment to see someone and get you the number. For the appointment you will need the reference number that the person on the phone will give you, your ID, and proof of address. In my case I got a member of my family to write me a letter to say that I am living with them and them I have to provide proof of that person living at that address(so one of their bills). 

5. Start looking for jobs
In the UK there isn't a lot that you can't do online. That said, they are still very traditional with their job applications. It's a "CV" not a "resume", one job asked me to mail my application as a hard copy! So don't be surprised about anything, but recruitment agencies seem to be the way to go as well. 

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Right well that is enough of that! Now for the adventures. 

Below is the map of the flights I took. I went from the Kelowna Airport to the Edmonton one where I had a 15 hour layover then it was off to Toronto for a quick plane-switch and a hop over the ocean to the good old Motherland!
Now before you judge this flight choice too much, I would like to gloat that it only cost me $350 Canadian Dollars so I was happy enough that it wasn't a Flintstones plane that we had to pedal together. 

The next few photos I took over Canada on my way out, it shows just how flat the landscape is in the middle. 

Also before we get too far into this blog I would like to apologize for the image quality. I was not allowed to bring my fancy camera with me as Kyran still needed it back in Canada. I guess this is also a good point to mention that It was only me that has moved to the UK at this point as I have gone to get a job and house and responsibilities while Kyran finishes off some work in Canada. - This turned out to be kyran still works for the same company but from home!

The photo above is of the back of the seat of the plane that I came on. In case it's not obvious the plane was vintage - there were no screens in the backs of the seats and in-fact the reading light for my row didn't even work. But I guess that's what you get for $350. 
 
OK so onward we go.

I left Canada on Wednesday and arrived in the UK on Friday. I was lucky enough to have my cousin pick me up from the airport and let me stay with her for a week before I headed into London to stay with Kyran's brother and his family for a while, which is where I'm writing this blog from.  

The following photos are from some of the adventures that I have been on since I got here.  

Typical on-the-road-again food that you are use to seeing from us. It's cheap and tasty and easy to assemble.

Ingredients: Hummus, tomato, baguette

The following photos are from a walk I did in and around Basingstoke with my very energetic cousin. The walk took about 3 hours.

To the Left: walking around I noticed that the buildings and walls were built of this rock. Then as we ventured out to the fields and walked between you could see the occasional rock like this one that had been split from the machinery to reveal the middle. 

This rock is Flint. 

Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz,categorized as a variety of chert. 

For more info. see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint

This is one example of the funny names that these Brits give theirs streets and lanes. This one says "Goat Lane".













When I first got to London I hired a Santander bike and took a lot of selfies in front of a lot of important places.        

Above left: Big Ben
Above right: London Eye
Below: Tower Bridge

Above: Trafalgar Square
Below: Some London Architecture - the new and the not so new

Above: A Squirrel friend that I made on one of my adventures.
Below: It even snowed one day while I was out in Basingstoke. Nothing like Canada but it was nice to see the snow fall and the melt away.

On the weekend I went with Kyran's brother and family to the Horniman Museum and they had a display called the 'Robot Zoo'

The majority of the Robot zoo display was a means of demonstrating the biological function of different animals. The robot part was to make it interactive for the kids. It was basically an "animatronic" art display. 

Below: The iconic Walrus in the Horniman Museum

 Below: A photo of the typical English sky - grey and foreboding

That's the end of the weekend's adventures and now really quickly I will go over the last few day's adventures.

Basically i'm in a situation where I am waiting to hear back from various jobs that I have applied for, and I am trying to keep myself busy to not stress about things that I can't help. 
So I have been calling friends and family around the world while I walk around London. These are my walking adventures:

Monday: To Canary Wharf 
 

 These are the Photos from Mondays Walk:

 Above: Lions made from chicken wire
Below: Pictures around Canary Wharf

 Tuesday: Buckingham palace, Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey

Above: The platform that is floating in the middle of the river, it is an attempt at removing pollution from the river. 
Basically it is a big floating net that is catching everything as it floats down river.
Below: A Sundial

Now fast forward 1 year to 2018:
This my friends seems to be as far as the blogging got and since it was almost exactly 1 year ago there is not much more I remember doing!

Here is probably a good a place as any to summarize and say that YES I did get a job doing what I wanted. In 1 month I ended up getting a job, buying a car and settling into my new apartment. 

Looking back i'm surprised I didn't find a cardboard box and curl up in it! 

It is stressful, you do need to be patient. English take their time, and love processes they are very by-the-book so know that if you plan to live here. 



One year on and the travel bug is starting to bite again, our next adventure is in two weeks to Mexico just for a holiday but still I feel ready to pack up and get to the next country. 
We shall see how that goes as I try to stay in one place for at least two years - for financial reasons. It seemingly takes you one year to get out of debt and one year to start saving each time you move continent! 

So stay tuned for more of our adventures and who knows there might be another drift on the horizon. 

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