honestly it’s gotta be London. don’t get me wrong, I still have a very soft spot in my heart for Dublin, which was the first city I ever fell in love with, but in terms of presence in my life and memories and impact, London can’t be matched.

before COVID happened, I was lucky enough to spend up to six months of the year living in London, and every single time I went, I would still love it just as much – probably more. there’s something about the energy of the city that I vibe with very well, like we’re on the same frequency. the kind of energy I possess when I’m in London is unparalled, and I love every moment of being there. I barely sleep and I’m never bored. there’s always something to do, somewhere to go, things to see. even mundane things like doing housework or going shopping seems to be more fun there. I love everything from the nice and shiny tourist streets to the dodgy areas I have to scuttle through on my way home at 1am. the sight of the light spilling out onto a dark and rain-washed London street from my local pub where my friends are waiting does something to my soul that I can’t quite describe.

I think above all it’s London’s timelessness that does it to me. you really do feel like anything is possible there; that truly the veil is thin, and that all time kind of exists side by side. this includes the future; the possibilities seem endless, and I’ve noticed that in a lot of writing about London, this quality is often outlined. it’s like London reaches out and grabs the people that it wants and like or not, you’re stuck there until it’s finished with you. it becomes your city, every single person there has their very own London, and it’s nothing short of magical. meet any person on the street and ask them what they think of the city and no matter if they’re in the honeymoon stage or they’re telling themselves they hate it, they’ll still turn into a complete bard on the 11:43pm to Reading.

after an absence of two years thanks to the pandemic, I went back late last year. the weather was miserable and everything was 100x more expensive and I wasn’t there for long, but it was like no time had passed at all. on the drive in from the airport my Uber driver was talking about how London is constantly changing, constantly shifting, constantly adapting, but how it’s always still London, and he was right. there’s a solid foundation under it all that peeks out across a distance of two thousand years to the present and tells you it’s still your London; all across that time, if a person who loved the city was picked up and dropped down in the present day, they would immediately know where they were by feel alone. London has a phenomenal sense of identity. even if it’s pitch-black outside, I can tell when we enter the airspace above it, or when the train enters its outer limits, from the way the air alone becomes charged. I imagine this is what people mean when they talk about “coming home.”