Going to London for three months

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Jack K

Jack K

Puritan Board Doctor
I need advice from those with expertise. My wife and I, with our two young teenagers, plan to go to London (England) in September and stay for three months, partly for business/ministry reasons but also to broaden our kids' life experience.

- We have a place to live there.
- We have a church.
- We've made arrangements with our kids' schools to teach them "at home" and get credit.
- We're zeroing in on housesitters for our home here.

What have we forgotten, or aren't aware of, that we ought to be taking care of immediately? What other issues should we take care of before we leave that we might not be thinking of, not having ever lived abroad or been to London for more than a week in a hotel?
 
Have you made banking arrangements?
Have you ordered any rail passes and English/Scottish/Welsh Heritage passes that you might want? (some of them should be ordered from the states)
 
Strongly recommend getting an international drivers' license (and make sure your car insurance will be valid in both the UK and the Continent). Our SOFA drivers' licenses are fine in Germany, but the rest of Europe wants us to have an international drivers license. So we had to contact AAA and send them stuff. Would have been better and quicker to just do it before we left the US.

Also - regarding cell phones - if your present phone doesn't have worldwide calling, don't worry about it. When you get to the UK just pick up a cheap prepaid phone (I saw them at Heathrow, or you can just go to your nearest electronics store). Unlocked phones are all the rage here. Then you just pop in a SIM card and away you go. Well, my wife picked up an old iPhone 4 for $45 and uses a monthly plan from Fonic. The cost is only € 9.95 per month for unlimited minutes and data. Not bad.

You should drive to Stuttgart. I'd show you a good time.
 
Our plan so far has been to figure on not driving, though I've wondered if that will mean missing out on opportunities to explore. The place we're renting does come with a parking space, but it's also a short walk to a major Tube stop.
 
Jack, not driving will likely result in fewer missed opportunities than one would think. Most parts of London itself are walkable, and even much of the surrounding countryside is reachable by train or bus. You can also find maps of walking paths.
 
Jack K said:
Our plan so far has been to figure on not driving, though I've wondered if that will mean missing out on opportunities to explore.
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The tube service is excellent and, if you have a decent map (and you can get good tourist maps for free) you can easily orientate yourself round the major sites. I used to have a phobia of London until recently, but once you overcome the phobia you realise it is dead easy to get around.
 
 
The tube is really expensive. I don't think there is a problem bringing food in, as long as it's not fresh. Post offices offer the best rates for money exchange; avoid the corner shops as well as the kiosks at the airport.
My husband and I spent 9 months in Bangkok where they drive on the left. Neither of us ever drove while there, but we took public transport and were out in city traffic a lot. When we got back to the States, both of us tended to drive on the wrong side of the street for our first month back.
 
Get a good umbrella.

Not quite sure if I would say most parts of London are walkable.

What part of London are you you going to?
 
jambo said:
What part of London are you you going to?
Click to expand...

We will mostly be in the Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush area, but also going out to Southall a few times a week. And of course we'll want to visit many of the tourist sites.


Ask Mr. Religion said:
Identify some food you may want to bring with you that you are permitted to bring.
After a month living in Hammersmith, I was fairly bored with brown and white food.
These are your friends: American Food Store - American Sodas UK, Sweet, Crackers, Candy {Expat Made Easy} American Grocery Stores in London | New Yorker in London http://www.buzzfeed.com/robfranklin/...ter#.dv4myAeVG The London Expat American Meetup Group (London, England) - Meetup Where Homesick American Ex Pats Can Eat In London | Londonist
Click to expand...

Of all the things I've considered, being unable to get decent peanut butter was not on the list until now! Helpful sites.
 
Jack K said:
I need advice from those with expertise. My wife and I, with our two young teenagers, plan to go to London (England) in September and stay for three months, partly for business/ministry reasons but also to broaden our kids' life experience.

- We have a place to live there.
- We have a church.
- We've made arrangements with our kids' schools to teach them "at home" and get credit.
- We're zeroing in on housesitters for our home here.

What have we forgotten, or aren't aware of, that we ought to be taking care of immediately? What other issues should we take care of before we leave that we might not be thinking of, not having ever lived abroad or been to London for more than a week in a hotel?
Click to expand...

Traveller's health insurance.
 
If you bank with one of the majors here, look on their web site to see who their affiliate is there. The cheapest way to get cash may be to use an affiliated ATM. It's Barclays for BofA. I don't know if this info is still current.Avoiding ATM Withdrawal Fees When Traveling AbroadThe Points Guy

Also let your credit card issuers and banks know your travel plans so they won't shut the card down for suspected fraud.

There are a couple of credit cards which waive the usual conversion fees. I think both Chase and Citi offer a card with that feature. I haven't gone that route, so I'm not sure if there is a cost benefit.
 
If you are resolute on staying in London then you probably won't need a car. But if you want to explore outside of London...
 
I bank with USAA. My card is accepted at every ATM I encounter. The ATMs in Germany give an exchange rate that has virtually no fees.
 
I stayed with my aunt who was living in Southall at the time. This was on the Piccadilly Line which also went through Hammersmith and on through the city centre. I was also in Shephard's Bush watching a football match. I would be inclined NOT to get a car as insurance would be expensive and so would parking. There are also congestion charges applied to vehicles when they pass through inner London.

There are a number of varieties of peanut butter available and on the subject of food, don't mention creme eggs.
 
We're pretty sure the trains will do nicely for our typical, daily travel, and we picked our Hammersmith location partly with that in mind. We may decide to rent a car for a few days or a week to explore outside of the city. We haven't decided about that yet.
 
As some have mentioned, get cards with no international fees.

Oddly enough, State Farm is one of the few places to get a checking account with no international ATM withdrawal fees. I also would recommend a credit card with a chip in it (expected in Europe, but still not super common in the USA). I recommend the Chase Sapphire preferred as it has no international ATM fees and also a chip. PM for a link if you want it.
 
SolaScriptura said:
My card is accepted at every ATM I encounter. The ATMs in Germany give an exchange rate that has virtually no fees.
Click to expand...

The issue isn't acceptance, it's the fees. Online banks do tend to be better about out of network and ATM owner fees. (USAA FSB has one physical branch in San Antonio, USAA Savings Bank has one office in Las Vegas. Not sure which one issues cards - the FSB is by far the larger but Las Vegas used to be USAA Credit Card Bank.)
 
Edward said:
SolaScriptura said:
My card is accepted at every ATM I encounter. The ATMs in Germany give an exchange rate that has virtually no fees.
Click to expand...

The issue isn't acceptance, it's the fees. Online banks do tend to be better about out of network and ATM owner fees. (USAA FSB has one physical branch in San Antonio, USAA Savings Bank has one office in Las Vegas. Not sure which one issues cards - the FSB is by far the larger but Las Vegas used to be USAA Credit Card Bank.)
Click to expand...

I never ever use a credit card for an ATM cash withdrawal. I just use my ATM card for my spending account. I have yet to hit an ATM that charges me a fee, and the exchange rate is so close to the "official" exchange rate that (for instance) on a recent €300 withdrawal, the bank made a mere €1.45 in terms of what it gave me as a rate. Of course, USAA doesn't charge fees for ATM withdrawals... :)
 
Travelling on public transport is cheaper with an Oyster card. Meridian peanut butter is excellent - just bashed up peanuts - available in most health food shops. Hammersmith is very Polish so there will be plenty of interesting food shops. I don't think a car would be helpful for London itself, places like Oxford have good rail links

We are in Nottingham (East Midlands) and you would be welcome to stay with us for a few days. We have good rail links to Lincoln (a must see city), Skegness (traditional sea side resort) and the Peak district area of natural beauty. My cvhurch provides good solid preaching
 
Great information and suggestions above. Having served in several cultures and relocated amongst them (most recently from the Philippines to South Africa), I would just add two, which I have had to learn (even for short-term visits like yours): patience and flexibility!
 
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