Sharing my London commute...

Once a year, I record my journey into London for work - but I’ve never actually shared one of these videos... until now. In this POV vlog, I take you along for the ride, cycling through the City of London, grabbing a coffee, and sharing some thoughts along the way. It’s a mix of travel, London sights, and a glimpse into the routine of working in the city. If you’re curious about what a London commute looks like, or just enjoy a casual, first-person perspective on city life, this one’s for you. 

Come with me for a trip into London for work.  

Why I share my London trip to work with you...



TRANSCRIPT: (CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE)

THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT - CLICK PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE!

Hello! This is an odd little video, but about once a year, I record what it's like walking into work.

Cuz I... I don't work in London every day. Uh, it's about, I don't know, a few times a month—sometimes more, sometimes less—and then about once a year, I... I record my journey in.

I don't think I've released any of these videos. Maybe this will be the one.

I'm releasing this not on my birthday, um, but I'm actually recording this on my birthday. So it's a bit of a... a birthday treat to myself. A little gift to remind myself in the future what it was like traveling into work, into London, on an occasional basis.

So, I get the train in. This is... this is the train pulling into Waterloo.

Basically, there's the—I'm... I'm not a... a hygiene freak. It's just that there's a man in front of me who's breaking wind so heroically, I've had to put a face mask on.

Do you know what? It actually works. Look how happy I am!

Oh, you can't really see, but, uh, it does block most of the smells, which is a good thing.

It's a win so early in the day!

Okay, so I'm now riding in. Uh, just left Waterloo and going to try and cycle to St. Paul's—see if I can get a coffee in St. Paul's on the way in.

So, I treat myself day.

I love using these bikes because I've got the... the thing that releases them, and it means that I'm only capped at 3 pounds a day.

So, I'm only going to use... use it maybe once, might use it on the way home, I don't know.

And it's, uh, it's better than walking.

So, it would have taken me about 10 minutes to get to here, I think, and I've done it in two.

Oh look! National Theatre.

I record this every time I walk past it with a camera, but, uh, when I was growing up, this was a very special place.

On the right-hand side, you can see, uh, there's a production unit for some movie.

That's the only, uh, TV being made around here now, but when I was growing up, this was really special.

It's the, uh, London Weekend Television building—LWT Tower.

Weirdly, it wasn't called LWT Tower. It's called, um, Kent House for some reason, even though it served London.

Always wondered why.

On that, it says Thames Television on there. I don't know if you can see that.

They used it as a film set, um, to be the Thames TV studios, which is heresy!

They were arch-competitors.

It was bizarre.

Anyway, going to concentrate on the cycling now.

So, I'm still getting better at this, but I've just bike... I've just biked the dock—I've just docked the bike.

And it was really lucky, cuz the docking station was full, but the guy in front of me took the space in front of me.

Turned out to be a worker for Santander Cycles, and freed up some spaces.

Uh, so the... the bike gods are smiling on me this morning.

I, uh... I should have filmed it.

I'm still getting used to this, even though I've been doing this for about five years now—no, six years.

And I think I need something I can wear here on my rucksack.

I can wear the camera like this, and then I'd be able to show things rather than tell them.

But anyway, bike's docked.

And, uh, instead of getting the dock that's right by the Café Nero I'm heading to, I, uh... I deliberately docked it back there so I can have a nice little walk.

Oh! Get run over by a kamikaze cyclist!

I've never been down this street.

It's like a little cut-through from Farringdon Road, uh, around to the back of St. Paul's.

Probably should get on the pavement—should.

So, yeah, this vlog is... is just an experiment.

Just to see if I could capture my way into London.

Just capture, uh, you know, part of the sights and sounds.

I've just realized—that's... that's the Old Bailey, I think!

I didn't realize.

Look at that!

So that little cut-through ends up at the Central Criminal Court.

Okay, I'm going to go this way to St. Paul's now.

So, I finally make it to the coffee shop.

I've... I've noticed everyone in the coffee shop is doing this.

I... I prefer it in a takeaway cup.

I, uh—oh, excuse me.

But everyone in the shop has ordered it in... in takeaway cups, and the takeaway cups are cheaper.

So I think everyone's doing—usually, I say, you know, "Can I... It's to drink in, but can I have it in a takeaway cup?"

I'm not trying to scam Café Nero or any coffee chain, but this day, because it's my birthday, I... I didn't mention that I'm drinking in, so I just got the, uh... I just got the takeaway cup, takeaway prices.

And I thought I'd treat myself to a table.

It's good to get my head together.

I do some work in there.

Um, it's nice to have a table, and this one's got a really nice basement.

Plus, I know the code for this particular branch!

It's, uh, secret security code for the toilet.

I think I've actually got a little, uh, note in my phone of, uh, as many toilets as possible that I can... I can harvest.

And, uh, it comes in useful today, even though I’d probably get the code anyway, cuz I... I've actually bought my... my drink—albeit it on takeaway prices.

So that's a nice 40 minutes—just get my head together.

And, uh, time to move on.

Wow! That was great!

Uh, I needed that to get my head together.

So, uh, I'm going to now walk on.

So, I'm going to walk on now to the studio where I'm working today.

I love the city in the morning.

Again, I've mentioned this before, but I used to go to school near here, so I get that little... that little edge of nerves that, um, I'm, uh, going in for a school day.

Even now, so long, long afterwards—so many decades on—it feels... feels like a school day.

I've gone for funky trainers today.

I have a feeling they're actually dad trainers.

But, uh, usually I wear formal shoes.

Uh, in my head, this will help me be taken seriously—more seriously—at work.

But, uh, I got thought—sod it!

It's, uh... it's my birthday!

I'll go with the dad trainers today.

I'll treat myself to some, uh, comfort wear.

I actually prefer these!

I think I might actually perform better in this footwear.

So, this is the top-secret street where I'll be working today.

This is where the studios are.

Uh, uh, it... it doesn't feel right to film the... the security procedures here, but I'll have my face—my photo—taken.

I was going to say my face taken!

I'll have my face taken, and I'll wear that as an ID badge.

I might give you a shot of that, and then I'll show you the studio.

Here we go.

I just thought I'd share this.

There's, um, police bikes—there's police cyclists.

This is on the walk on the way home.

I just dropped this into the video.

It's quite, uh, exciting!

Look over here!

Know what’s going... going on there?

They've got... they’ve even got flashing... flashing blue lights!

It's pretty cool.

I think I—who knows, but maybe it’s for jumping red lights or something.

All okay.

There's more... Oh they're stopping scooters.

So, thanks for coming with me on this journey!

I'm back outside again just to put on screen something that YouTube knows you want to watch next.

Thank you for hitting the thumbs up or the Subscribe button.

I have no idea if I'll finally release this video, but if I have, I really appreciate you seeing it through to the end, and I hope there's something here that you enjoy next.

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