Uniblog 1: Commuting

Imperial, for those who don't know, is my uni. I've been going there for about two months now, and, amidst the intense lectures and deadlines, has been rather enjoyable. I'm glad there's no strict uniform, sardonic teaching, or endless pursuing of results like at secondary - sure, there are exams, but in a way it feels less stressful when you don't have a teacher telling you about it every other second.

At my secondary, I had by far the worst commute, consisting of various buses that often got stuck in traffic, and it could take me about an hour thirty at worst to get to school. This meant I got up early every day, and it still wouldn't be certain if I'd get there on time or not. Occasionally my parents would drive me to school, which was always nicer.

Now obviously this is no longer a problem at uni - no one is going to hunt me down or stop me from having lunch if I'm late. And that's another reason why I love uni; there's way more independence here, which is simply freeing. I'm in control, and I know what's best for me, not some random teacher who I'd have never met otherwise.

(Maybe I just really hated school...)

That's not to say I haven't regretted some things, though. The main one is that I've decided to continue commuting from home to get into uni. Most people have gone into accommodation, even those who already lived in London, and I'd like to imagine their lives are so much easier than mine right now. After lectures, some of them have a quick walk or tube ride back home, and they can spend more time relaxing and studying. And that's not even mentioning they don't have to wake up too early. Meanwhile I've often found myself getting back home very late from societies, which are right now my only way to socialise, since I don't have any flatmates to look forward to. 

Now I am aware that commuting also means I save lots of money. I only pay for a travelcard - I renew it monthly - and that costs about £200 a month. I don't have to spend money on rent or food or anything like that. But it does mean I'm rather cut off from uni life, in a way, which can feel isolating. At times it feels like I'm coming back home from secondary, both mentally and physically - the commute can get tiring. 

Commute details

I won't go into too much detail, I'd rather keep some things about me private, but in general:

• Two transfers. Not the worst thing in the world.
• The commute is actually quicker now. This is because I use the train and tube to get to Imperial, the latter being extremely foreign to a south Londoner. It's quite remarkable how fast the tube actually is.
• I commute in through Victoria, which isn't the worst station ever. To be honest, my train operator could be much better, but overall it's fine, aside from the times when there are massive delays, and it's not so good. Changing from the train to the tube isn't as catastrophic as I'd imagined it would be.
• No buses! This is by far the best bit, I have trauma from having to be on a cramped route every day going home.

This train is merely for illustrative purposes

It also invariably means that I'll have ended up using more tube lines in a few months than I typically would in a whole year. The main ones for me have been the Circle and District; the latter has grown to be my favourite tube line, probably because the trains are lovely and the places it goes to are very convenient. Sure, I'll never end up in Upminster, but I'm glad there's a direct route through central into south London. The Circle is also good, but I wish it was more frequent than it currently is. 

Other tube lines I've used include:

• 
  Central - possibly the worst thing to ever be constructed in London. I've only used it because Imperial have a campus out in White City, and I've had to go there a few times. God it's a miserable experience - the trains are often dirty, and it just feels extremely claustrophobic inside.
• Victoria - best frequency by far. I don't use it often, in fact it's more that I happen to have used it on days when I've been to uni earlier that day. However I like the trains, and the route is also very convenient.
• Northern - I used to live along the Northern line, so I'll always have a soft spot for it. Even if it can be inconvenient at times, and I sometimes have to change at Kennington because for some reason TfL are really insistent on Battersea customers getting direct services through Charing Cross.

And yes, I have been on all the tube lines before, aside from the Waterloo and City. What do you expect, I write a blog about London. So it's not like I'm new to the tube, but either way it's been quite nice being able to use it more often than before.