Why I decided to Leave London after 16 years

Hi guys, this is my second vlog. I know you all loved my first vlog with my granddad. So today's vlog is going to be dedicated to something huge that I have made. Finally, my decision on is to move away from London to Spain. Now, if I'm honest with everyone and myself, I have been thinking about this for the last three years. I wanted to move and then I met my ex-partner and I decided to stay in London and then uh we thought about moving to Spain well more like I wanted to move to Spain but it was kind of difficult uh to move because of the work for him and uh we just never moved and now it's been three years and I have a lot of questions that I'm gonna answer I'm also gonna I've got my fruit here I'm gonna try and make this video very useful please excuse me I'm not very great at vlogging videos yet I'm just learning so I've got uh I've got loads of questions over Facebook and Instagram uh so feel free to ask any more questions if I haven't answered them uh just to give you a background story I've been living in London for about well in England for about 16 years now uh I moved to London from Latvia well not to London originally I went to Kent which is like a small town in England like a village when I was 14 I moved on my own and I lived with a guardian it was very very difficult time for me as a child I didn't speak English and obviously the whole culture the food the people it was very very difficult for me to get used to the environment and I cried for about six months wanting to go back to Latvia but my parents thought I would have a much better education here in England when I was 18 I moved to London and since I was 18 I lived in London pretty much all my life I'm 32 now so you do the math I've been in London for a very long time and don't get me wrong I love London I really really do but after you know I've spent all my university years in London you know we partied we went out every night I literally got the best out of London oh my grandma in the background I got the best out of London you know I've been partying I've been going to museums I've done a lot of events I've done a lot a lot of things um the London has to offer and it has a lot to offer you know so I don't feel like I've missed I'm missing out or I've missed out and as I've gotten older you know um I kind of want nicer things in life I want a bigger space I want better food I want sun and these are the excuse my grandma this is a real live vlog you know I'm not gonna edit anything um I just feel like I just want a better quality of life and this is why I am definitely going to try I'm definitely moving to Spain probably March next year and I haven't decided which place yet if you live in any part of Spain let me know in comments where is good I also want to have a mix between the city and a chilled lifestyle because I don't think I'll be able to move from London and live like in a really quiet small town in Spain I will get bored you know my personality like I need fireworks so uh but I kind of want to have more of a balanced lifestyle you know in London everyone's everyone's running all the time and even though I have rest like for example you know I come here I'm in Latvia right now and I'm still working a lot I don't feel that crazy pace here I still am a little bit like that because I've just come back from London I just want to slow down I want to chill out a little bit so yeah so I need a mixed city so I'm thinking Valencia, Marbella, Malaga also close connection to London because i will be moving back and forth because my whole studio of filming everything is in london so i can't like fully fully live in spain just yet anyway okay i'm gonna answer some of your questions now i will put your usernames and your questions down here as well i'll do the editing so it's easier for you to see so uh naz is saying ala dear why don't you live in latvia with your family it's a beautiful place and your family seems to be nice people definitely i love latvia it's an amazing place especially in summer you know it's it's really nice here i have a much higher standard of living here but i just can't live here full time i've left a very long time ago and as much as i love my family and the culture and you know my country my mentality has changed so much you know the mentality here is slightly different to you know English and European mentality and I find it very difficult to be in this environment for a very long time so I hope that answers that question question is from Sami Rithi I might not say it's a similar question why when I stay in Latvia kind of answered that already so hopefully that's kind of clear alex is saying what's wrong with london i mean i don't know where to start london is great i don't think there's anything particularly wrong with london i just think london is very very hectic it's very very fast paced and it's just very stressful um i've noticed that i'm all the time stressed there all the time even though i work for myself uh you know i have so many jobs i've got my online business uh you can't see your friends everyone's always stressed everyone's busy and it has affected my health a lot uh because i'm constantly working 24 7 and there's kind of like no barrier between rest and work and i think it's also because of the weather you know uh it's it's a bit gray and raining a lot and i just kind of want sunshine i want to wake up every day feeling happier when I see the sun feeling motivated I'm one of these people that loves the sun you know and if it's not sunny and it's raining every day and it's gray it kind of affects my mood I'm obviously trying to be happy all the time but it's not possible and I think especially London unfortunately is not the best weather I mean in terms of what I personally don't like about london is the weather the air the quality of the air the quality of the food you know you can't really get like really good stuff without paying a lot of money for it like food wise and the hectic lifestyle you know um but there's a lot of things that i love about london you know like opportunities uh all the places that are open and that's why i'm not sure if i'm going to move fully you know i will move to spain uh for two three months to test it out but i'll be going back and forth to london anyway because all my friends are there my sister will be there maybe i don't know she might be moving as well um so everything is a bit like up in the air you know uh hopefully that answers the question next will you keep your flat in london as a safety net what will your sister do question from michael uh one of my favorite people it's really funny how i grew so close to some of my followers they're like best friends to me now because you know we often see each other in live streaming classes or they make my recipes and we chat often so it's just amazing but um to answer the question i probably will keep the flat in london because it's always good to have you know a place to come back and what i usually do when i travel this is something that usually people ask me like how do i travel so much i always rent my room out and then i go traveling um i found that that is the best way and safe way and you always have money to cover your expenses so even if i rent my flat in london my room for you know 800 pounds i'll be able to rent something in spain half the price for two months does that make sense so i've done the maths already i don't know what my sister will do um she might be moving to portugal as she's also kind of feeling a bit tired of london okay next question alina asking interesting to hear why spain uh spain i don't know i just really loved it i went i've been to Malaga several times i've been to malaga i've been all over spain i've been to valencia as well i've been to madrid and barcelona i just like i like the the pace of life i like the weather i like the air i like the sea i like the fresh vegetables and fruit and i think that's what i kind of want i want a different lifestyle um a bit more healthier and calmer i'm definitely getting old okay next question Carlos Vela can you speak spanish no i cannot speak spanish but i have decided that i will be learning spanish it's a new challenge for me and i will start learning spanish next year and especially if i move i would like to speak at least basic spanish so yeah good question I hope they'll speak a bit of English you know to get by I can't say your username why are you moving will you always stay online YouTube and social media yes of course just because I'm moving doesn't mean I'm stopping doing everything I'm doing you know I've been doing my blog for the last seven years so that's still gonna carry on I doesn't matter where I live in the world I'm still gonna do you know virtual cooking classes you're still gonna be able to make my recipes and my membership and of course i'm launching an exciting new online course which i will discuss very very soon so um i've got big big big plans for all these yummy food to grow and hopefully majority of my work will be online so then i can live anywhere in the world at the moment i have to do many other jobs uh to pay my rent and pay my bills but you know i'm kind of moving towards that so don't worry you're not gonna lose me just because i moved to Spain Laurie Paul is asking i would love to hear a little more about your story from Latvia to London to moving to Spain i kind of briefly mentioned that in the very beginning so i hope that answers your question uh Luda is asking are you leaving Inga behind in London well uh technically yes we have been living together for the last i think five years now which has been amazing but you know she's turning 30 this year i'm 32 we're kind of like older ladies now and it's time to separate and i guess have separate lives i think Inga wants to move to Portugal maybe but i don't know uh but London will always be our base i think for now Refrigory you're building an English business why moving to non-English speaking country well i mean if the business is online so it doesn't really matter where i live i can live in Thailand or Peru or anywhere really the business is online for English speaking audience and that will remain um that way for now anywhere unless i learn Spanish and become absolutely fluent and you'll see my recipes in español although i really doubt that Alexini how old were you when you moved to the UK i did answer that as well i moved when i was 14 by myself it was very difficult i highly not recommend anyone to do so can't say your username sorry what made you choose spain out of all the places to move uh like i mentioned i just really liked it there i like the environment and i wanted a place where there is like mountains and the sea and you have like 300 days a year where it's sunny and not too hot as well i don't want to live in a country where i'm like sweating 24 7 so it's of like a good middle there take me with take me with what take me with you wife okay uh next question i am definitely not taking anyone with me um uh captain jack is asking what about australia thinking of going back yes i loved australia you know i loved australia and i loved america if i could move to australia or america i would probably do that however i do need a working visa and i can only visit those countries for 90 days a year so i can't really go there and live there i can go and visit and spend three months but i think spain is i can live and work there with my eu passport which means no complications with work no complications with living and i'm not going to be deported but if if i if i meet an american or australian guy let's say and i get married then yes i will probably move there but for now i'm just gonna move to spain because it's easier and my kids fully support you i want to move out of london too hopefully soon thank you so much i am really excited i'm gonna share the journey of moving i have already doubted myself this morning already and was a bit you know worried and i'm really scared because moving to a new country again because that's how it feels to me right uh without friends without family without speaking the language is kind of like challenging it's scary i'm not sure about a lot of things but i decided that i just have to do it you know we can't grow uh if we don't move forward we can't grow personally and mentally if we don't get out of our comfort zone and i think i'm just kind of ready i'm trying to look at this positively i'm ready for the new adventures i'm ready for the new things they're gonna happen new people maybe new jobs or opportunities i don't know so i will definitely take you with me on that journey first i wanted what are the steps to moving to a different country i have no idea i guess the steps are to first figure out can you live there without visa you know what passport do you have for me i just need to find a place rent a place and make sure that everything that i want like know the sea the gym you know things that make me happy shops uh will be around and i guess then i'm just gonna have to go and and join some groups where i can meet new people so i can make friends and hopefully just start from there i suppose who knows i don't know captain jack uh are you moving with your sister no i am not but she might visit me you know a northern girl are you moving to spain alone what about your cute puppy yes i am moving to spain alone as I mentioned earlier I did want to move with a partner because that would be a bit easier I guess you know but then I thought I can't wait until I meet the perfect guy to move to my you know favorite or ideal destination and then so I'm just gonna go for it whatever happens you know and with Milo that's my dog my little puppy I will move there first alone and then if I'm gonna stay there of course I'm gonna take him with me he's coming with me me and Inga already discussed it we are gonna share custody so milo is gonna live with me for three months and three months with inga or six months we haven't figured out the details but you know i'm not leaving him behind he's coming with me Master Digger uh what don't you like or are you tired of in the uk i kind of answered that already um it's not that i don't like i just think i just need a change i need a change for my mental health any change for my uh physical health i think i just i just need to change you know tijans no questions but you're awesome and good luck wherever you end up thank you so much i appreciate that i've got few more questions left and i'll have to run actually because it's a long video now but i hope you're finding this interesting and it's busy days here even though i'm not in london i'm really busy here as well pihata you said london is not for you why is it the weather people yeah like i've i've answered that already it's it's it's just a bunch of things veronica please talk about the comfort of living in london in terms of the flats that is a really good question i think um for anyone who wants to move to london you need to understand that london is a very very very very expensive city and you know when i was 20 paying you know rent and living with few people in in a tiny apartment and you know eating you know not very good food cheap food and and just you know going out was great but now that i'm 30 i want a higher standard of living i'm earning money i'm working several jobs my standard of living is so poor comparing to how i could even live here in latvia you know with the same salary or in any other country so i think if you're young and you don't care about where you live who you live with what you eat and you just want to go out enjoy the city enjoy the lifestyle enjoy the nightlife then it's definitely for you everything in london is amazing the choices of food places to go out but if you're someone who wants more space uh better food better weather you know then probably it's not for you you know because you will be surviving in london and that's the feeling i have all the time and i generally thought that when i reached 30 i will be very comfortable or at least in a place where i'm like okay you know like i'm living in london it's quite comfortable i can afford most things and this and that but you just unfortunately never reach that level unless you know you make a lot of money like i did even my friends who are on 80 100k salaries that's not even that much after the tax which is half of your money then the rent which is a couple of thousand if you're living you know alone let's say uh you're really left with like 2000 to live in london one two thousand and that's really not a lot if you want to go out for dinner or go out bars and whatever that's like few nights out and otherwise london is great uh last question tava why won't you stay in latvia i've answered that one already i think it's a great place and i come here as much as i can to see my family and my grandparents but i just i just can't imagine living here for a very long time for many many reasons and i'm actually just gonna eat my fruit now but guys i really hope you enjoyed this vlog i know i'm talking a lot in here but i hope this was really useful and helpful and again if you have any more questions leave them down below and i would love your advice if you know anyone in spain friends family i don't know some random people you met uh that are living in spain or moved to spain just let me know drop the comments introduce me i would really appreciate it okay guys see you soon