The 2 Best Tips for Traveling With the Tube
Let’s start from the beginning. I was set to leave the country on December 30, 2014, and I had been extremely anxious as to what I was supposed to do with my luggage when I arrived in London. My biggest concern was carrying two full size pieces of luggage and a carry-on while navigating my way through an underground metro, while my Mom’s concern was me doing it alone.
I ended up booking a car company to pick me up at the airport instead, but after living and navigating the tube for six months, I realize how much this decision was a mistake. Don’t get me wrong, it was so much easier having a car to come get me at the time. It gave me time to contemplate the next six months of my life on the ride there, as well as provided me with an easy way to ensure my stuff stayed together, but I really do wish I had experienced the tube straightaway upon arriving in London.
My First Encounter with the Tube
If we’re being honest, I was terrified prior to experiencing my first trip on the tube. In America, public transportation is a scary thing. I had never experienced a place such as London, where taking the tube was the norm and it was strange to see people with cars. My first day at Queen Mary, my friend and I ventured out to experience the underground. We had received the keys to our flat and realized that there were a lot of things we needed to get. Having heard that Primark was right around the corner, we decided to venture our way over to Stratford, which we were told was only one stop away. We went down to Mile End, figured out where the Central Line was and got on the first train that came to the East platform. While we were aware of the fact that we needed to go East, we were not sure if all the trains went to Stratford. My friend and I rushed onto the first car we saw, and then in a panic after jumping on, got nervous we were on the wrong train so we jumped off. I went first, and my friend followed. Unfortunately neither of us realized that the loud beeping noises on the train meant the door was closing, and my friend got her body and coffee trapped inside of the train door. Luckily, the tube will not move if it knows something is stuck, so after panicking for a few moments, the doors opened and my friend was free from the door! After we regrouped for a couple of minutes, we realized that even if a train had a different ending destination, the stop we needed didn’t change because it was immediately after Mile End.Being able to navigate the tube and give directions to tourists truly made me feel like a Londoner.Other than this, I never experienced any other trouble with the tube. By the end of my 6 months in London I was an expert and there were times when strangers would come up to me asking which direction to go in. To me, being able to navigate the tube and give directions to tourists truly made me feel like a Londoner, which had been one of my many goals going abroad. In order to help out future IFSA-Butler students studying abroad in London, I have decided to let you in on the two best things to have when tackling the underground.