Day in My Life in England

I’d gone to Canterbury for lunch, come home, put my sweatpants on and got back to work. On the train home, I’d been thinking about how lucky I was that an afternoon like that could fit into my life. Visiting Canterbury from Canada would have meant booking flights and travelling internationally. Here, I’d just hopped on the train.

This was a Friday in March 2022, six years into living in the UK, when I filmed a day in my life. I deliberately chose a day when I was leaving the house, because that didn’t always happen. Lunch with a friend wasn’t my everyday routine, but the work on either side of it certainly was.

Coffee before the home office

My working life in England had gone through a few different stages. First I’d taken the bus to my job, and I hated that bus commute. Then I’d started driving. The traffic in the South East could be frustrating, but at least in the car I could sing obnoxiously along to my music without anyone telling me to stop. By this point, I worked exclusively from home.

I spent a lot of time on Adventures and Naps, including YouTube, Patreon and Twitch, while also doing online work for a small business. That included marketing, social media and customer service, and it was flexible work where I was left to get on with things. Both jobs needed me to organise myself.

Before any of that, I came downstairs for coffee and a big glass of water. My favourite new mug was insulated, which helped because I didn’t always finish my coffee before it got cold. I also started the day with Wordle and several of its variations, including one with sixteen puzzles. That was my morning wake-up instead of a crossword or Sudoku; once the puzzles and coffee were finished, it was time to work.

Editing in my pyjamas still counted

My partner and I both worked from home, so we’d made a room that I thought was supposed to be the master bedroom into our office. I was grateful to have a desk where I could edit videos and do my livestreams. At around 8.30 that morning, I was doing the emails and other bits and pieces before properly getting going. I was in my pyjamas, but I was working.

I did all my own video editing, for better or worse, and sometimes it took a long time. My usual approach was to do an edit, walk away to do something else, then come back for a second full edit. If I did both straight after each other, I found I could miss things as my eyes got tired. A desk planner also helped me keep track of what needed finishing and when videos needed posting.

Getting out for lunch

Once I’d tackled some of the time-sensitive work, I showered and got dressed. The forecast was eight degrees with a high of twelve and possible rain, so I chose jeans and a soft jumper that wasn’t too heavy for walking to the train and around Canterbury. Even on days when I wasn’t going anywhere, I tried to get dressed rather than stay in pyjamas for days.

I took my small backpack, which I preferred to a purse because I kept putting purses down. In went my light umbrella and a little card holder with my cards and driving licence. I usually paid with my phone, but liked having a backup. I bought my train tickets through the Trainline app and set off to collect them at the station.

Lunch in Canterbury was wonderful, and afterwards we walked around and went into a couple of shops. One had refill stations for things such as laundry detergent and flour, which was something I hadn’t seen before. It was really cool to discover somewhere new like that.

The weather got windy and rainy, so I made my way back to the train station and got an iced coffee. Even after six years in England, I didn’t want to take that easy afternoon trip for granted. I came home feeling happy and grateful, then took my earrings and necklace off and did more work.

Pizza and another lost game

My partner had made cookies while I was out, but I eventually settled on leftover pizza for dinner because I didn’t feel like cooking. While we waited for it, we played Carcassonne, a birthday present from one of my best friends. I loved the game, but had only won once, and this was another evening when I couldn’t win.

The plan was to curl up on the couch, watch some television or YouTube, do a little reading before bed and have an early night. There would be more editing and video planning tomorrow, but I liked the work. I liked a quiet life, too, and that had been a very good day.

Watch my original video about a Friday working from home and visiting Canterbury.