Moving from New York City to London in my 20s

September 1, 2025

TOWER BRIDGE — A little over 3 months ago, I packed my life into a few suitcases and moved myself across the world to London to chase a dream more than 5 years in the making.

At the end of 2019, my plan was to live in New York City for a year, then head across the pond for grad school. But in 2020, the world shut down, so I plunged myself into work instead. It was the early days of TikTok at Yahoo News. I taught myself how to speak on camera without my voice shaking, to edit videos and analyze data and iterate strategies. I failed fast and hard, over and over, until one day I woke up to millions of views and old friends’ siblings telling me they had watched my videos.

As New York came back to life, I fell in love with the city again. I biked through an empty Manhattan. I found a dream job. I experienced an immense grief and stumbled out of the fog, rebuilding on wobbly legs. I found new hobbies and communities, spoke at my first conferences, taught my first university class, and became very comfortable. Whispers of living abroad got softer, faded into the back of my mind.

Time passed. Friends left for London or Berlin, and I congratulated them while biting back jealousy.

One day I woke up and found myself staring down the end of my twenties and quietly promised myself that I’d find a way to Europe. I applied to international fellowships, extended work trips, and spent hours looking into visas.

So this year, when I got the chance to move to The Wall Street Journal’s London office as a senior editor and work with our journalists in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the answer was easy.

Yes.

New York will remain the magical city that shaped much of my twenties, my most chaotic and beautiful years of becoming. It’s where I met people who believed in me more than I believed in myself. Where I was constantly inspired by storytelling and art and humanity. Where I learned grit, that being kind is free and infinite and easy, and, as any New Yorker worth their two cents knows—that you can always get back up again.

There are a lot of dreams I’ve given up on—dreams that have lost their shine and dreams that I’ve let go of for other responsibilities, other people, and other opportunities.

I’m glad I didn’t give up on this one.

And now, hello, to all my connections and colleagues on the other side of the Atlantic—if you want to show a new Londoner around or are passing through town, let’s grab a coffee or tea. I’d love to talk and learn about all things related to journalism, content creation, tech that improves the world, your latest thought-provoking read, and innovative forms of storytelling. Plus, I’m more than happy to guest lecture at your class or speak at your conference.

Cheers to the next 5 years of dreams.