My Trip to London

I wanna share my experiences and time of my short but beautiful trip to London, also my first journey to another country completely on my own what makes it so special and important to me. People who follow me for already a while must know that I struggle with social anxiety and Agoraphobia but facing fears is the only way to fight against it so this trip was called to give it a damn punch into the face. Weeks before I couldn't stop thinking about it and wanted to plan everything in detail but people told me that I should calm down again so my plan then was it to plan nothing. Constantly thinking about what could happen, maybe I get lost or get a panic attack, fearing the fear but the only way to help myself is to fight against these thoughts.
At first I thought I can't fly as my plans before had changed completely from one moment to the next, I didn't even know where to stay but I also couldn't cancel the flight tickets and was very worried what to do. Luckily my friend from Long Clothing which I modeled for once offered me to stay with him via Couchsurfing, was funny to know that there are also people who I know from the Internet.

DAY ONE

I packed my two backpacks with as little as possible, just the necessary things to stay mobile and light. The airport in Leipzig was really empty and I didn't had any problems to check in, just that my flight was late but it was all fine. I slept on the plane, took a bus from Stansted to London and arrived at like 2am. Then the trouble started as I had no Oyster Card but was able to bring myself into the bus somehow. While being totally tensted, confused and talking with two kind strangers who wanted to help me I missed my station and ended up lost in the streets of London but after walking and searching for about two hours I finally met my friend. I wasn't tired at all what has really surprised me but I slept a few hours anyway. On Sunday my friend showed me around Brick Lane and the Sunday Vintage Markets and checked out some really cool vintage shops like Beyond Retro. Finding vegan meals wasn't as hard as expected. I was surrounded by different options, especially Falafels and Turkish food. 

Vintage Store Beyond Retro

DAY TWO

On Monday I went to Camden but with another way to the King's Cross Station as I wanted to see the Platform 9 3/4 and the Harry Potter shop. It was more like a tourist thing but worth a visit anyway and I took a lil Slytherin badge home with me, yes I belong to the Slytherin house :) On the way to King's Cross a streetstyle photographer came up to me and asked me if he can take photos of my outfit and if I'd like to model in a jacket for a brand. That spontaneous shooting was such a highlight for me, not even that I had loads of fun but the photographer was so cool and I totally love his work. He's called Simpson Kim and you can find his website here. I'm gonna share more if it later.

After King's Cross I walked back to Camden to check out the market and also the locality Cookies and Scream. It's completely vegan and they offer sweet things like cake, ice cream sandwiches, cookies and milkshakes. It took me long to find their place as it was hidden between all the tiny alleys in the market. I got me the choc chip cookie ice cream sandwich, two gooey cookies between melting vanilla ice cream, holy fuck it was outstanding good like the best thing I have eaten in a while! The market there was totally crazy. So much stuff at once and I got totally lost between the tiny alleys. I'm honest, there's loads of rubbish and fake stuff but I also found a vintage area with some really good clothes. It's definitely more expensive in compare to the shops which I'm used to in my town but there's way more good stuff to see. I couldn't take much photos there as it wasn't really allowed. After fighting myself through it I came out exactly at Cyberdog what has really surprised me as I nearly gave up to search for it. I tell ya that thing is crazy! It has three floors full with clothing, shoes, other stuff and even a 18+ floor down there which was so fucking crazy to see, not only the sex toys but the underwear and leather harnesses, ugh ♥ Outside from the market up the street I also checked out a really nice vintage shop where I got me a plaid skirt and had a nice talk with the owners. In the evening I came back to my friend's house and we went out for dinner at Fed by Water where the meals are like 80% vegan. You can get foods from Pizza, Calzones and Pasta to Breakfast and Desserts. I chose a vegan pizza with mozzarella, mushrooms and crushed walnuts and I was so in heaven! I even asked the waitress about the cheese as it tastes so 'real' and it didn't surprised me that it was by my fav brand VBites but I haven't tried out their cheese before yet. I will definitely buy it again and I hope I can find it in Germany somewhere, it's the best cheese alternative I've ever had before! We've completed the evening with a pint of beer in a pub and the day of my leaving was already in front of the door. 

Harry Potter store at King's Cross

SHOE HEAVEN 

Vegan choc chip cookie ice cream sandwich from Cookies and Scream

Vegan mozzarella, portobello mushrooms and crushed walnut pizza from Fed by Water

LAST DAY THREE

I was worried that I'll miss my plane so I couldn't do that much on the last day. I just checked out the area and the grocery stores as I totally love supermarkets. I found vegan chocolate chip cookies at Tesco which I had to take with me. Then the hard part came to me. Still without Oyster Card which is totally necessary for the buses, I had to go miles to the Liverpool Street to get my bus to Stansted, this time with three full and heavy backpacks, thick clothes and scarf to save space in my bags even if it was shirt weather. After walking for about 50 minutes, totally in panic as I was afraid that I might can't find the station for my bus I catched him like 5 minutes before the leaving so it went fine. The Stansted airport was a bit different to the Leipzig one of course. Way more people and bigger. When I wanted to check in I still had my full Blk Water bottle with me: "You can't take it with you throw it away". I looked a while to my bottle and couldn't believe it, threw it into the trash full with normal water bottles...fished out my black beauty again and drank out the entire thing in a few seconds as I wanted to keep the bottle haha, so typically me! I was close to throw up but I did it! If you wonder how it tastes like, it's like normal water but with a kind of mineral/metally touch. The flight back was really quick als well, I'm sitting on the plane right now while typing in, it's the perfect moment to write.(phone died)

Geffrye Museum

As exciting as Asian supermarkets

The plane landed and I needed two hours to reach my home as the trains and buses from the airport to Leipzig came at wide intervals.

All in one, even if it was just for three days, I totally miss London and my dream to live there is bigger than ever. All the things that happened in such a short time, nothing like that happens here in a year. I have even catched a great sunny weather day on Sunday followed by a rainy and a mixed weather day where it changed from sun to rain every half an hour but it didn't bothered me at all! I have learned so much and the best thing is that I lost a big part of my fear for traveling, unknown und unplanned sutations even more and I'm seriously so proud of myself. I can't imagine that I had the idea to stay at home and to waste the flight ticket money and unique adventure.

I wish more people would just do things instead of waiting and dreaming. At least I'm happy that I have the courage for myself but I wish can help people with these words. 

And of course I took foods like Panda Liquorice Torpedos, Pana Chocolate and other things with me but also a few clothing pieces like Levi's shorts, a Ghibli shirt, Pulp Fiction Tee, a vintage cardigan, a blouse, Vans shoes and other stuff home with me. I'm sure you'll see it in my next outfits.
If you have any questions about my time in London, my fears or anything else feel free to drop me a comment and I will answer you!

♥